Top Five MLB Games of the Last Decade

[Juiceman]

Last time I bought OOTP (3 years ago maybe) it came with generic rosters, is it different now? There were MLB rosters that you downloaded and added to it, but the base game was generic. Maybe I'm thinking of a different game (Puresim or something like that).

Real rosters come with the game.

[Altimus]

Re: Top Five MLB Games of the Last Decade

You know, I typically feel Christian's content is so off-the-mark when it comes to the sports genre, but this isn't that bad as a list. The exclusion of HH though is just... head-scratcher, close to being number 5 or not.

HH pushed sim-style gaming harder than most other baseball titles did out of the box.


Strongly disagree. The game had a sim slider for a reason. They left it up to the user to decide.

While some tweaks were nice, I could change minor things to my liking because I wanted less reliance on my input and more reliance on ratings... which were typically very well done. Players performed like you expected.


You don't know what you're talking about. WSB 2k3 was right up there with realism compared to HH.

Sure, it had an issue where all the catcher's arms were over powered making steals difficult. But you always had realistic results, and players performed how you would expect right out of the box.

I loved that game. Couldn't wait to get out of school just to play it. ESPN presentation made it that much better as well.

[BrownsFan72]

How can the High heat series not be in the top 5!

[Bumble14]

You know, I typically feel Christian's content is so off-the-mark when it comes to the sports genre, but this isn't that bad as a list. The exclusion of HH though is just... head-scratcher, close to being number 5 or not.

HH pushed sim-style gaming harder than most other baseball titles did out of the box.


Strongly disagree. The game had a sim slider for a reason. They left it up to the user to decide.

While some tweaks were nice, I could change minor things to my liking because I wanted less reliance on my input and more reliance on ratings... which were typically very well done. Players performed like you expected.


You don't know what you're talking about. WSB 2k3 was right up there with realism compared to HH.

Sure, it had an issue where all the catcher's arms were over powered making steals difficult. But you always had realistic results, and players performed how you would expect right out of the box.

Pared-

As I said before, HH was up there on this list, and would come in at #6. As much as I loved the series I could not justify it over my other 5 choices.

Sorry you feel that I am "so off the mark" when it comes to the genre- I call it like I see it and don't sugar coat a lot. Feel free to PM me as I;d welcome your feedback.

Chrstian

[Pared]

Re: Top Five MLB Games of the Last Decade

PM'd.

How can the High heat series not be in the top 5!

That seems to be the general consensus and I think it's very justifiable to see at least ONE of HH's titles there. (IMO, probably HH2003 or 2004)

[bcruise]

Re: Top Five MLB Games of the Last Decade

Strongly disagree. The game had a sim slider for a reason. They left it up to the user to decide.

Good point, but I think the sim slider had more to do with outcomes than what the game actually looked like (which is the point I was making with the floaty curveballs). What I mean is, with that slider to full you could swing late on a fastball with Barry Bonds and pull it 450 feet, just because he's Barry Bonds. On full sim slider it just kind of felt like the game played itself sometimes, with user input having a very small effect on outcomes.

The tune file allowed us to change things that actually changed the way the game looked (throw speeds in MPH for example!!), not just the results the game put out.

I loved HH too of course and am also surprised it didn't make this list.

[Pared]

Re: Top Five MLB Games of the Last Decade

I agree with you there. You're more focused on the look... but this was HH we're talking about. C'mon!

I think most kind of turned a blind eye to the graphics. Mike Piazza did what you expected him to do, ya know?

Most games at the time didn't have such a strong grasp on their ratings=outcomes. And it felt like HH had just the right balance between ratings and user input.

The Show has emulated it well and that's part of why I see it being so popular.

[Bat]

Mvp 05 is the most overrated baseball game ever! *WITH MODS* on the PC, it is solid. Other than that, nothing special.

High Heat definitely should be in this list. Also Ncaa Baseball (the first one) was awesome. Pitching with Lincecum on the UW Huskies was a blast. Best hitting mechanics as well.

Basically give me The Shows graphics, and gameplay, Allstars franchise mode, 2k rock and fire pitching with Ncaa hitting , and the editability of High Heat and it would be the holy grail of baseball games.

[BunnyHardaway]

Re: Top Five MLB Games of the Last Decade

MVP is the best sports game of all time IMO. Lord knows how many hours I spent playing it.

[duke776]

Re: Top Five MLB Games of the Last Decade

ASB, had a fabulous franchise mode, plus expansion mode, which no one has ever been able to match, But was lackluster on the field. It really didn't "play" a very good game of baseball.

I was really dissapointed that game had no sliders so we couldn't tweak it to play better. I absolutely loved the franchise and expansion mode on that game, but the on the field play turned me off.

[bkrich83]

Re: Top Five MLB Games of the Last Decade

Mvp 05 is the most overrated baseball game ever! *WITH MODS* on the PC, it is solid. Other than that, nothing special.

High Heat definitely should be in this list. Also Ncaa Baseball (the first one) was awesome. Pitching with Lincecum on the UW Huskies was a blast. Best hitting mechanics as well.

Basically give me The Shows graphics, and gameplay, Allstars franchise mode, 2k rock and fire pitching with Ncaa hitting , and the editability of High Heat and it would be the holy grail of baseball games.

Agreed on all counts.

[AndyP]

I consider the MLB The Show series to more or less dominate all 5 positions in the "Top 5 of the decade". That said, I'd give an honorable mention to all of the games mentioned - ASB, which before The Show was the game that incorporated many of the nuances of baseball more than any other; MVP and High Heat. Of course, I think 2k have finally stepped up their game with 2k10 this year. I never really understood the obsession with MVP05 as a great game - good, but not great.

[bh446066]

For me (and I haven't played all the titles, mind you, the list would be:

1. MLB 08 The Show
2. High Heat 2004
3. MLB 10 The Show (might end up being #1 by the time it's said and done)
4. MVP Baseball 2004

[TheMatrix31]

Re: Top Five MLB Games of the Last Decade

MLB Power Pros 2008 belongs in the discussion.

[hitstreak13]

Re: Top Five MLB Games of the Last Decade

MVP is the best sports game of all time IMO. Lord knows how many hours I spent playing it.

I'm still playing it lol. If this game had 40-man rosters, waivers, Rule 5, etc. I truly believe this game will still be in most peoples game systems. The owner mode is just fantastic.