A few years back, if you were a PSone owner and the question was asked, "What's the best baseball game?" Your answer was MLB. On the PlayStation 2, it took two baseball seasons to pass before 989 got on board. Unfortunately, it turns out the game, while having some really nice spots, feels like a title that launched with the PS2, not a second-generation title.

Graphically, MLB looks like a high resolution PSone offering, with subtle uses of flash and PS2 power. What MLB does nicely is the player's faces for starters. Not only are all the player's faces represented, but also they are mapped very well, and even have emotion and animation. Players chew gum and argue with the umps, and you can see this in the faces. The front end is also done superbly, with nice large fonts, vivid colors, and great presentation shown throughout the whole game. You are even treated with a FMV of each home stadium before the game starts. Think Triple Play 98 and you'll know what I mean. It's pretty impressive. Lastly, the crowds are the best crowds I've ever seen in a baseball game so far. Sure, they look like they all shop at Old Navy, using only the colors represented by their teams, but each person in attendance is doing his/her own thing. Also, they will clap, stand, and react according to what's going on in the game. It's an impressive thing to see. On the down side, the player models are, how do I put this, marshmallow-like. While the stadiums look like their real life counterparts, the textures are flat, bland, and the grass doesn't look much like grass. Little additional touches like dirt clods and clouds make things look great, but the care and attention doesn't seem to be there overall. Lastly, one thing MLB easily has going for it above every other ball game is their HR celebrations. In a word, WOW! In more words, it makes you excited to actually hit the long ball in this game. You are treated to actual stadium animations, like the apple rising at Shea, the train rolling over the top of the wall in Houston, and even fireworks that vary in size and color, and they have a nice explosive impact in sound as well. To top it all off, the HR celebrations are done in cinematic fashion, and not just a pull back from the plate. They need to be seen to be appreciated. Overall, the game may go down as the most unattractive of the titles this year, even with its little details, unfortunately, they are outweighed by the unimpressive engine overall.

Audio shines bright in MLB. One review I read said the game had no atmosphere. I suggest that reviewer play the final version, as this version had sounds that outshined the visuals. The game has very interactive crowds, who cheer, and boo, in the appropriate parts of the game. The play by play is decent, but doesn't stream together at times. There are also great stadium sounds, with batter walk up music, hecklers, and even ambient sounds that are pretty good. As mentioned before, the fireworks that go off for HR's and home team wins are loud and impressive. This is a fresh experience, as World Series Baseball's HR fireworks are suspiciously silent. They must have used those special stealth fireworks for the folks with sensitive ears. All in all, MLB's sounds are nice, and keep the game fresh and appealing through all nine innings.

Gameplay is where this series has always blown away the opposition. Unfortunately, while the traditional game play holds true, 989's absence let other developers surpass their efforts. Nothing is really wrong with the controls, unless you're not a fan of cursor batting. Even so, there is a cursor less option as well. Everything is done correctly here, just not impressively. The A.I. is what really hurts MLB, as there are a few snags here and there that are questionable. For instance, the CPU will bring in a relief pitcher, and one pitch later, sub in another reliever. This is an odd bug that shouldn't have gotten passed testing. I've seen it happen more than a few times. It's not that it affects gameplay; it's just unrealistic and wrong. Also, the amount of walks in the game are pretty few when pitching to the CPU. They just won't take many pitches to the outside. There's nothing here that really says, unplayable, but it is just annoying.

MLB 2004 brings to the table a nice amount of options. You have your traditional HR derby, exhibition, season, and franchise mode. MLB brings back their famous Spring Training option to their franchise mode, allowing you to bring up a young rookie and make him a superstar. The franchise mode is fairly deep, providing a nice amount of stats, but pales when compared to High Heat, All Star, and WSB. Not bad for a first attempt, but it's hard to trail in anything especially with this genre so crowded this year. While 989 brought the GameDay series online, you've got to wonder why online wasn't offered in MLB. This could have been the feature which attracted gamers to MLB over the other titles, if it were implemented. As is, MLB shows us a strong first year in options, and will hopefully grow in the future.

MLB is one of those titles that will be lost in the shuffle. With MVP's gorgeous graphics, High Heat's game play, WSB's depth, and ASB's combination of all of the above, MLB may get overlooked. That would be a shame, as it may not out do any of these title in any category, but plays a great game of baseball in the end. Not to mention, you can get through a game in roughly 20 min. Quite enjoyable, just not playoff bound yet.