So close, yet so frustrating. Not tweaked for portable play.
User Rating: 6.8 | MVP Baseball PSP
Had I not been so in love with MVP for the home console I would have lauded this game as great. I play MVP at home everyday keeping up with my favorite teams schedule. EA has nearly nailed the feel of baseball for the console. So it was I couldn't wait for MVP to be released for PSP. Most aspects of the PSP game are identical to previous iterations of MVP. Sometimes this is great: The players and stadiums all look great. The play by play is pretty diverse and timely. The fielding controls are very intuitive responsive. Sometimes this faithfulness is horrible: The pitching meter is demanding. Hitting takes patience, timing, and a good eye. What is so bad about this? Try playing a game on the train or the bus. I started on Rookie mode and decimated the opposing team. I moved to Pro and the play was near impossible. Playing on the go became very frustrating. I don't mind losing, but throwing nothing but mistake pitches is too much. Hitting has the same problems. The PSP's screen is too small to tell pitch type and location before it whizzs by. I was able to use the tuning sliders to help remedy some of the hitting problems but nothing adjusts the pitch cursor. EA should have looked for new ways to play MVP that compensate for the screen size and the fact that people may not be sitting on a couch while playing. In all the quality of this game depends on where you will be playing it. If you are going to be at a desk or stationary; this is a great, faithful baseball game. If you intend to get you hardball fix on the go, stay away.
