Despite the fact that The Show was always the premier baseball franchise over 2K, I was always an MLB 2K fan from its technical World Series Baseball debut up until the final MLB 2K13 release.
MLB 2K's best parts were the presentation and pitching system introduced in MLB 2K9. Players select a pitch and use a fighting game like input with the right thumbstick to throw pitches. The speed and accuracy of the motion reflects how fast and accurate the pitch is thrown. Pitches even have a number rating next to them which can lower throughout the game if the pitcher repeatedly throws the same or causes the batter to get too many hits off of one.
Presentation was even great for the time with good commentary, detailed statistics and overlays in-game, ESPN-like presented menus and an MLB today feature which would update rosters and changes from real-life MLB.
Every other aspect was so-so. Graphics were not the best and players had very weird facial looks to them. Batting worked fine with a swing of the stick. Fielders would often make errors and the closest fielder wouldn't always be selected when the ball was hit infield or outfield. Even worse, fielders would sometimes throw to the wrong bases. Quite a few bugs and glitches existed that would strangely made the game play more arcade-like than an actual baseball sim, which made for some odd plays and sometimes lop-sided game scores.
MyPlayer mode was a fun RPG-like mode where you created a player and developed his skills throughout a career, but leveling up skills was annoying since it was based more on completing bonus objectives over how well you actually performed and played your position.
MLB 2K peaked with MLB 2K5, possibly the best baseball game in the series and fell downhill from there. 2K10 through 2K13 tried to step up to the competition, but were literally the same game with the only difference being the cover athlete, the soundtrack, rosters and uniforms, and the number year behind the 2K.
R.I.P. MLB 2K (1994/2005-2013)
MLB 2K's best parts were the presentation and pitching system introduced in MLB 2K9. Players select a pitch and use a fighting game like input with the right thumbstick to throw pitches. The speed and accuracy of the motion reflects how fast and accurate the pitch is thrown. Pitches even have a number rating next to them which can lower throughout the game if the pitcher repeatedly throws the same or causes the batter to get too many hits off of one.
Presentation was even great for the time with good commentary, detailed statistics and overlays in-game, ESPN-like presented menus and an MLB today feature which would update rosters and changes from real-life MLB.
Every other aspect was so-so. Graphics were not the best and players had very weird facial looks to them. Batting worked fine with a swing of the stick. Fielders would often make errors and the closest fielder wouldn't always be selected when the ball was hit infield or outfield. Even worse, fielders would sometimes throw to the wrong bases. Quite a few bugs and glitches existed that would strangely made the game play more arcade-like than an actual baseball sim, which made for some odd plays and sometimes lop-sided game scores.
MyPlayer mode was a fun RPG-like mode where you created a player and developed his skills throughout a career, but leveling up skills was annoying since it was based more on completing bonus objectives over how well you actually performed and played your position.
MLB 2K peaked with MLB 2K5, possibly the best baseball game in the series and fell downhill from there. 2K10 through 2K13 tried to step up to the competition, but were literally the same game with the only difference being the cover athlete, the soundtrack, rosters and uniforms, and the number year behind the 2K.
R.I.P. MLB 2K (1994/2005-2013)