Reviewed on PlayStation Vita
→ April 10, 2014My beloved Arizona Diamondbacks have improbably finished exactly .500 (81-81) in each of the past two seasons. That means my Snakes have been good, but clearly not good enough to make a serious postseason run. Such is the case for MLB 14: The Show on PlayStation Vita, an enjoyable handheld baseball sim that, for another year, has enough holes in its lineup to keep it out of legitimate championship contention.
The Vita version of MLB 14 shares many of the same features and, fundamentally, all of the gameplay of its big brother on the PlayStation 3. The one that matters most is Road to the Show, which a riveting mode on the PS3, but an even better fit on the Vita thanks to its quick five-minute rounds. Create your amateur and get him drafted by a pro team, then work his way up through the minors and make it to the major-league club. The hook is that, like always, you’ll only ever participate in plays that involve you. So for stud Houston Astros (sigh…) 2B prospect Ryan McCaffrey, that meant 4-3 putouts, pop-ups, and double-play balls, as well as my at-bats. And to this end, Cross-Save support (but not Cross-Buy) means you can take your same budding RTTS star with you no matter which version you’re playing.
Miggy can walk around the bases...and all the way to the bank after signing his mega-deal.
MLB 14 looks good, but not great, on Vita. Stadiums and player faces are particularly lifelike, though they’re somewhat juxtaposed with the odd body shapes of many players (seriously, take a look at Phillies outfielder Marlon Byrd and then wonder why they decided to model him after Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot). The framerate also takes a noticeable dive at times, though fortunately not during critical gameplay moments like the delivery of the pitch, the swing of the bat, or a ball in play that you’re trying to field.
What matters most is the key batting, fielding, and pitching mechanics, and there MLB 14 mirrors the great console edition – with an enormous caveat in the latter department. Classic, Pure Analog, Meter, and the Pulse Pitching style introduced last year all make their way over from the PS3, but the Vita’s thumbsticks are so sensitive that it’s almost impossible to put a pitch exactly where you want it. Only Raylan Givens might have hands steady enough to paint the corners the way you can with a proper DualShock controller. On the PS3 version Pulse Pitching is my go-to control method, but here it’s completely unviable, so Meter has become my preferred and recommended pitching method on Vita.
The hair is in there somewhere.
Hitting and fielding, though, feel as slick and empowering as they do on the PS3. The new Quick Counts feature makes its way into the Vita version, and like Road to the Show, it’s especially useful on the handheld. Activate it before a game (though sadly not during it) and every batter on both teams will start with a deep count (i.e. at least two pitches, usually 3-5). It’s a smart, fair way of accelerating the pace of a nine-inning game without sacrificing strategy or realism.
More...
→ April 10, 2014My beloved Arizona Diamondbacks have improbably finished exactly .500 (81-81) in each of the past two seasons. That means my Snakes have been good, but clearly not good enough to make a serious postseason run. Such is the case for MLB 14: The Show on PlayStation Vita, an enjoyable handheld baseball sim that, for another year, has enough holes in its lineup to keep it out of legitimate championship contention.
The Vita version of MLB 14 shares many of the same features and, fundamentally, all of the gameplay of its big brother on the PlayStation 3. The one that matters most is Road to the Show, which a riveting mode on the PS3, but an even better fit on the Vita thanks to its quick five-minute rounds. Create your amateur and get him drafted by a pro team, then work his way up through the minors and make it to the major-league club. The hook is that, like always, you’ll only ever participate in plays that involve you. So for stud Houston Astros (sigh…) 2B prospect Ryan McCaffrey, that meant 4-3 putouts, pop-ups, and double-play balls, as well as my at-bats. And to this end, Cross-Save support (but not Cross-Buy) means you can take your same budding RTTS star with you no matter which version you’re playing.
Miggy can walk around the bases...and all the way to the bank after signing his mega-deal.MLB 14 looks good, but not great, on Vita. Stadiums and player faces are particularly lifelike, though they’re somewhat juxtaposed with the odd body shapes of many players (seriously, take a look at Phillies outfielder Marlon Byrd and then wonder why they decided to model him after Oswald “The Penguin” Cobblepot). The framerate also takes a noticeable dive at times, though fortunately not during critical gameplay moments like the delivery of the pitch, the swing of the bat, or a ball in play that you’re trying to field.
What matters most is the key batting, fielding, and pitching mechanics, and there MLB 14 mirrors the great console edition – with an enormous caveat in the latter department. Classic, Pure Analog, Meter, and the Pulse Pitching style introduced last year all make their way over from the PS3, but the Vita’s thumbsticks are so sensitive that it’s almost impossible to put a pitch exactly where you want it. Only Raylan Givens might have hands steady enough to paint the corners the way you can with a proper DualShock controller. On the PS3 version Pulse Pitching is my go-to control method, but here it’s completely unviable, so Meter has become my preferred and recommended pitching method on Vita.
The hair is in there somewhere.Hitting and fielding, though, feel as slick and empowering as they do on the PS3. The new Quick Counts feature makes its way into the Vita version, and like Road to the Show, it’s especially useful on the handheld. Activate it before a game (though sadly not during it) and every batter on both teams will start with a deep count (i.e. at least two pitches, usually 3-5). It’s a smart, fair way of accelerating the pace of a nine-inning game without sacrificing strategy or realism.
More...
