Sports Game of the Year in 2020: MLB The Show 20

[ChaseB]

This year, the staff voting was tough to get a handle on because a lot of...

Written By: Chase Becotte

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[Caulfield]

Madden must be rolling over in his grave, didn't even register in the voting. MLB the Show 20 was easily my favorite sports title of 2020. tip of the cap to the Studio, they got this certain game of base down cold

[hyacinth1]

No doubt.* Easily best sports game of 2020.

[LastActionHero]

I’m seriously running out of gameplay improvements and that says a lot. I would love:

-a more cat and mouse game for pickoffs
-bring back fielding difficulty options seperste from what diffeculty you have the rest om
-more intuitive baserunning controls if this is possible for a baseball game, the devs probably have thoughs about this for a million times.

[The EVHL]

A few things that stand-out to me:*
1. Great to see an indie, or whatever MetalHead is considered to be, game finish on the podium! The sports game genre is lacking quality "little guy" or "mid-major" titles that can provide an element of fun that AAA sports games have been lacking for quite some time now.

2. PES finishing high is also a great sign! It's clearly the better game for offline players who want to play a more methodical game of football. Their ball physics are still incredible and their edit mode is a creationists dream.

3. NHL being the only EA game receiving votes is not surprising to me. I still find NHL to be frustrating as a diehard hockey fan like football players and soccer/football players would find their respective games, but I also think NHL is the closest to the real thing with the correct sliders when comparing FIFA and Madden. FIFA feels like the 90's MLS. It's kind of soccer/football, but it doesn't really want to be true soccer/football. It wants to be the "call of Duty" of soccer which is fine for online players I assume who fant to do 100 step overs and show off their twitch skills, but it makes it rather hard to turn a game with that approach into a sim. Everything is just way too fast and perfect for me. Madden struggles from the same thing NHL does but at a greater extent imo + it has a much more revered and modern game to be compared too which further fuels the the community's fire. Like I've said before on these forums, I think NHL Hitz Pro is the gold standard for sim hockey and that would leave 99% of people laughing as 99% of those people played 2002 and/or 2003 and never touched or even heard of Hitz Pro which was the only 5-on-5 game of the series. Madden will always have to fight the pop culture icon that is NFL 2k5 which still does many things Madden doesn't. I don't see madden winning any of these awards until some drastic core improvements happen, as even a casual football fan like me can watch a Madden "pocket" form and find it rather sad compared to my experiences with APF 2k8. I think both Madden and FIFA are really not in great places atm, and not to say NHL is in a great place, but I think if that game had the resources Madden and FIFA had, they'd be miles ahead just based off the current direction of all three titles.*

4. Good to Great gameplay + a customizable offline experience is present in the podium. The Show is more rigid than it's competitors, but it's still a top-3 experience for customization in AAA titles which is easily good enough when paired with even good gameplay. 2k still has the deepest mode in sport's game history, and SMB3 is the franchise mode of the year winner which shows the community 100% backs their offering as well. I hope we games focus a lot more on letting the user's create their own offline "worlds" and experiences in sports games, because that's where the magic truly happens imo.*

[jada855]

I need to understand how this game continues to win Sports Game of The Year on these forums. When basic mechanics in the games instructional menu do not work try a pic off play as a short stop! The controls have been listed incorrectly for years!
One* basic key examples. The first not being able to cover the bag on a non-scripted play and make a tag as a SS in the games most popular mode RTS or any other base for that matter!*
Very basic fundamental baseball fielding mechanic. And should be included when you are trying to replicate a baseball game simulation. Allowing the CPU to jog into second base you have all seen this and know it is true.*
Please understand this is not a frustration comment just a reference to one of many basic functionality mechanics which can be listed that should be implemented in a baseball game simulation. So if basic key gameplay mechanic fundaments are not represented in this game. Then what do we have?

Been playing since 13 so I know the game extremely well and the progress it has made over the years. While MLB The Show does somethings very well.*Baseball is more than hitting home runs and nice graphics!

[tessl]

The Show is the only 2020 sports game I played so I agree with the decision.

[CujoMatty]

Quote: Originally Posted by Caulfield

Madden must be rolling over in his grave, didn't even register in the voting. MLB the Show 20 was easily my favorite sports title of 2020. tip of the cap to the Studio, they got this certain game of base down cold

John Madden isnt dead. lol