Video Game Review: MLB Power Pros 2008

By Harold Goldberg

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What Parents Should Know
Parents need to know that while little kids can play the game with the Wiimote in home run and exhibition mode, teens and adults can have a deep experience when managing or playing a season. Occasional glitches can be maddening.

Families can talk about all of the diverse aspects of baseball that are included here, especially stats. Did you feel like you were really part of the game. Did you like pitching or batting better?

2K Sports put a lot of game into MLB POWER PROS 2008, a graphically-challenged offering that was originally a big Japanese hit. If you're looking for a story with your baseball game, you'll find it here as you move from Double A ball to the majors. A peppy announcer heralds your achievements all along the way making you want to find out what comes next in your ascent to sports stardom.

There's a lot in the game as far as modes and stats go; plus, you can play the game in four ways: with the Wiimote only, with the Wiimote and Nunchuk by pressing buttons, with the GameCube controller, and with the Classic controller. The superstars and workaday players look like little Miis, perhaps one notch down from the graphic quality of WiiSports . Most people will want to try it out by using the Wiimote, and that way lies true simplicity, more so than in WiiSports. You can throw different kinds of pitches, but you can't seem to vary them in any appreciable way. Hitting is easy in novice mode, but ramps up appreciably in the next mode up. It can pretty pretty hard to time a hit, and forget about AllStar mode, at least for the first week. Because modes beyond the Wiimote style of baseball are so deep, the makers include a very detailed booklet that tells you the ins and outs. After you come up through the minors, you can create your own team, right down to the logo. You'll earn points after each game to buy baseball cards or help your team through the season with new equipment or trades. You'll have to keep track of your player's motivation and vitality or he won't be picked up by the big leagues. In the minors, you may even take a part-time job to get through, including working at a restauarant.

The subpar graphics may be a turnoff, as may the glitches that happen occasionally in a game. You may start an inning and suddenly, there was an out before you do anything. Or, there is someone on base before you take your first pitch. This doesn't happen all that much, but it's very strange and annoying. Sadly, there's no online mode, either.

Ultimately, the game is as good as any of the bigger sports games like Major League Baseball 2K8 minus the great graphics. Again, this is not a kiddie game only. It can be as deep as you want it to be, just like MLB 08: The Show .