What I'm Playing (Volume 135): MLB The Show 19

I got the bug again. It was a day in September. Baseball was in full swing and my beloved Cubbies were struggling, but still in the hunt for another division title. And I wanted to play The Show. Fortunately it was a few months after the most recent version of the game had released, and Gamestop was having a $30 sale on the game, normally priced at $60. Overjoyed, I ordered it online for in store pickup. I excitedly called my wife, who was out at the time, and asked her to swing by Gamestop on the way home to pick it up for me. She did, brought it home, and I had a joyous few weeks with it before the news hit. MLB The Show 19 was the new free game with PS Plus in October. My $30 bargain which had brought me so much joy only a few weeks earlier was now an albatross around my neck, yet another sign of my impatience and foolishness with money. Me, the man who will spend $40 on a trip to Chik-Fil-A without thinking, was seriously depressed about this waste of money. All of this is just to remind you that I am a total maniac when it comes to video game deals.

Anyway, 19 is just flat out awesome. There's not a ton here that I haven't covered before in my hagiography of this series, so go check that out if you want to see why this game is so great. The physics are flawless, the commentating is superb, the graphics are excellent, and the AI in the game is magnificent. It's the best baseball game series ever by a mile, the best sports game series ever by a mile, and it's one of my all-time favorite games. I now own several years worth of The Show, and I buy one way more frequently than any other series, with 2K as a close second.

Out of all of the series, The Show is by far the most fair with microtransactions. Like Madden and 2K, they have an ultimate team mode with collectible cards you unlock through packs which can be bought with real money. But you will actually get free cards and packs by playing this game (a minimum of one every ten days for login bonuses), unlike in its peers. And the currency you earn by playing will truly allow you to field a serviceable competitive team within a few weeks. Paying money is definitely an advantage, but you can feel fine about your team without doing it.

The commentating is perhaps a little more stunted than in the past. I heard the same line about what happens when the weather warms up and the ball starts jumping out of the park a lot. That was probably exacerbated by me slugging 60 homers every year. I also heard a lot of discussion about my character leading in all three of the stats in the Triple Crown. But they will constantly surprise you with new dialogue, and compared to other series, the commentating is MILES ahead.

One new addition (the last one I played was 16, so I'm not sure how "new" it is) that wasn't entirely great to me was the new progression system for players in "Road to the Show", in which you pull a minor league player up the ranks to the Show, and compete for new contracts, playing time, and eternal glory. Previously, the game would grant you points based on your performance, which you could spend on whichever attributes you want. Better at-bats mean better points means more advancement. Now, the game uses a system in which you advance in certain skills by using them more. So, if you crush a homer against a righty, your power versus right handed pitchers goes up. This makes a lot of sense in theory, but it has some gaps in practice. In baseball, righties almost always hit better against lefties, because they can see the ball a bit better coming out of the pitcher's hand, and, in my experience, the momentum of the ball coming towards the righty makes it easier to drive than a pitch from a lefty, which naturally carries away from the hitter's body. In the Show, this will never be the case, because you just don't get as many at-bats against lefties. You can always train certain stats in between series, but you'll never be able to close the opportunity gap that this system creates. I enjoyed advancing my character, but I think that the system in 2K is a bit better.

Some of the presentation options from 2K could also be incorporated into the show. It's pretty tough to know when changes happen with your team's roster in The Show, for example, but you get notifications of major roster moves on 2K a lot more clearly. Freddie Freeman once got traded off my team and I didn't realize it for weeks. There's also a great feature in 2K that I wish they would adopt in The Show, which is a tracker that follows your Hall of Fame chances. It keeps track of records you have, accomplishments you've achieved, awards earned, etc., and shows you what your chances of making the Hall of Fame are. In such an individually driven sport like baseball, this feature would be incredibly cool.

Regardless of a few tiny flaws, The Show is still the greatest sports game ever. I was thrilled when I heard that The Show would no longer be a Playstation exclusive. The developers deserve all the money they can make, and I'm excited for an entirely new group of people to be able to experience its greatness. I'll give The Show 19 a 9.5/10.

Up next is a game I've already teased (and completed), so stay tuned!

-TRO

What I'm Playing (Volume 134): Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2

Lego Marvel Super Heroes 2 is the sequel to my favorite Lego game ever, Lego Marvel Super Heroes. I had been a bit hesitant to play through and review it because I didn't want to be hurt. The newer Lego games have been a big disappointment to me, and particularly those games that are based on a film license. Fortunately for me, this game featured a brand new story set in the Marvel Universe, so it didn't struggle with many of the same issues as Lego Marvel's Avengers.

The game follows the same basic structure as the other Lego games. You have twenty big missions to complete with a roster of hundreds of Marvel characters, many of which even serious Marvel fans will not be familiar. The story is basically that Kang the Conqueror has ripped apart the barriers between different Marvel timelines and universes, bringing all of them together in a big new universe he calls Chronopolis. You must do your hero thing, beating his followers, solving puzzles, and exploring Chronopolis on your way to saving the day.

First, the story and presentation for this game are light years ahead of that of Lego Marvel's Avengers. Traveler's Tales really shines when they're producing original, very goofy stories in fandoms they care about, and this shows here. The writing is again crisp, the characters are funny, and the design of the levels and world are top notch. The gimmick of packing all of the dimensions together in one locale is genius, as it gives you lots of distinct areas to explore, but also avoids the drab nature of having separate overworlds, as in Lego Marvel's Avengers. If you want to go from Egypt to Lemuria, you're going to have to do it the old fashioned way. Swim. There are no load times, no self-contained worlds, just a huge bundle of joy to walk around in. The game is also the least buggy Lego game I have ever played, and that's always been an issue with this series. In comparison, these elements are definitely less good than they were in Lego Marvel Super Heroes, but the total package here suggests that Traveler's Tales still have some really good work in them. For the record, I still miss the inventiveness of not having the figures speak, but I think that ship has sailed.

Combat is much improved from Lego's Avengers. You can no longer just spam your super moves, but you still have the option to use them if you build up a bit of meter. This is a nice half measure between making cool characters and having balanced combat.

The puzzles are significantly better in this game as well. Each level is filled with fun little tasks to do, and some of them will actually require a modicum of brain power! This is a great game to play with children as a result, as they will be challenged by the puzzles, and you can help them out if they're struggling.

The game definitely struggles with feeling extremely similar to previous entries, so it's far from an all-time classic, but it's just a good Lego game, and it's been a while since I've played one. It's a simple game that is great to play together with children, and that's a really big chunk that's missing out of the modern video game scene. I'll give it an 8.7/10.

Up next on What I'm Playing is...another game I've already teased! This is the month for finally finishing up all of these games I've teased in the past. See you soon!

-TRO

What I'm Playing (Volume 133): Super Mario Sunshine

Super Mario Sunshine is the flagship Mario game for the Gamecube, and the next game in the 3D platformer part of the series following my beloved Super Mario 64. The premise of the game is that you find yourself on a paradise island, but a shadowy version of Mario is polluting the island. Using you new found water dispersal device, FLUDD, you have to clean up the island, stop Shadow Mario, and rescue Princess Peach (of course).

The game controls very similarly to Super Mario 64, with FLUDD and its various upgrades taking the place of Mario's powerups from 64. You'll go through a series of instanced levels, undertaking different challenges to get enough Shine Sprites to have access to the final dungeon and rescue the princess. You have a few different abilities here, but the jumping is very similar.

The game's visuals are surprisingly good today, with a ton of focus obviously being given to the water, which looks great. All of the enemies look nice, and the polluted materials just jump of the screen as extremely sticky and nasty. The environments are diverse enough, but all have a tropical island feel to them, in keeping with the theme of the game.

The controls are pretty slippery, and playing this after playing Super Mario Odyssey makes this game feel like an absolute dinosaur. The FLUDD controls make it impossible to both be precise with your firing of the water while also staying in motion, and any future remake/remaster (they should definitely do this) would absolutely demand a twin stick approach. The wall jumping gets very ornery at times, as you're not limited to jumping in the opposite direction of the wall. This allows for some very creative uses of the wall jump, but more often than not, you'll go flying in a direction you didn't quite intend. Odyssey does a better job with the FLUDD idea in its one watery level featuring the mechanic, and the wall jumping is wildly better. It's a bit unfair to compare a game to another one released fifteen years later, but I also feel like the controls are significantly better in 64, which is a much more fair comparison.

The soundtrack is excellent, and is one of the best in the Mario series. The main theme of the game that plays in the overworld is iconic, and it exemplifies the quality of the music very well.

The game feels far too similar to 64 in its structure, with an almost identical concept and execution. The fact that the gameplay is worse really nails the coffin for this one as a quality game that just lacks behind its peers in most ways.

The camera is very bad as well, and is also something that I would love to see fixed in an updated version. You'll get killed by the camera countless times if you play it. I will say that this is a very common issue for 3D platformers of the time, save for those that take a fixed camera option like Crash Bandicoot.

Despite these critiques, this is a solid game. The challenges to find Shine Sprites are frequently fun, the environment is delightful to explore, and it has a boatload of Mario charm to it. It's just hard to recommend to someone in a universe in which 64, Odyssey, Super Mario Galaxy, Crash Bandicoot 3, Donkey Kong 64, and numerous other, better 3D platformers, exist. But those options do exist, and smart players will spend their limited time there, first. I'll give this one  an 8.0/10.

I already teased my next game, so stay tuned! Hopefully I'll be reviewing it next week at some point.

-TRO