MLB '06: The Show First Impressions

MLB 2006 was the best baseball simulation last year, so I have high hopes for MLB '06: The Show. Sure, it's the same title year of last year - and they finally got it right, because it's stupid to put next year on your baseball games cover. They do that for football games because the season actually ends in another year. Baseball obviously takes place during one - April to October.

So far, the graphics and overall aesthetics are nice - the menus are faster, players don't look like blocky torsos with arms attached and the animations are as smooth as ever. Plus, it doesn't freeze like the last year's game did.

King of the Diamond mode is a fun time and offers a ladder of difficulty - I recommend most newcomers play this mode first to get the swing mechanics and speed down. I still don't know if it will be the best game of the season, as 2K6 has yet to release. Unfortunately, S2K Sports' game doesn't hit selves until late march. Still, it'll be hard for 2K to improve their game drastically enough to overcome Sony's offering.

As for my AoE review, let me add an ammendment: I like games that gradually introduce you to features, especially when they fall into the RTS-esque genre. The AoE series didn't throw every unit and upgrade at you once - it was saved for later on in each campaign. And it works well because gamers are elated to get an awesome new unit just in time to defeat the enemy. However, Age of Kings on the DS allows you to see everything in the beginning levels in most situations. This is due to the fact that it takes over 100 turns to finish some of the earlier levels - this allows you to get every single upgrade an unlock every unit - "spoiling" the surprises, if you will.

That's it for today - I have some sidewalks to shovel (literally).

-Casey