This review was originally published on Gaming Horizon, GameBump's predecessor. Its format does not match our own but we support its content. It was written by Brian Mohr.

It’s not hard to tell that baseball season is back in full swing as spring training is going on and a new book has been released detailing Barry Bonds’ steroid use. Just like that situation, Sony’s version of MLB 06: The Show has been pumped up in just about every respect for this season. Thankfully we can say that the game has not been growing any bosoms.

MLB 2006 was arguably the best sports game that released last year when the PlayStation Portable launched with impressive graphics showing off the real power of the handheld, but the game lacked just about everything else. This time around the developers at Sony decided to really put just about every mode possible in the game that is seen in the console counterpart including a full career mode, a fun mini-game and better all-around gameplay.

The newest aspect of the game is The Show where the goal is to get your created player to the big leagues. You start out by getting plenty of options to customize your character including the usual various clothing, hair and facial options, batting stance, and walkup music. Once you’ve made your player, you then join up with your team of choice and start out in spring training.

From there you’ll sign a contract and start at that team’s AA organization and then move to AAA and on to MLB. Over time your character gains points that you can spend on various training rewards including speed, arm accuracy, arm speed, hitting skill, base running ability and more. You’ll also gain more points by obtaining certain goals in a game, month or season. Thankfully you have plenty of options in the game including simulating games or the entire season if you so desire. Players also have the ability to complain to your manager for multiple reasons including a desire to be traded, moving up the batting order and more. 

Besides the career mode, MLB features a season mode as well, which is pretty sophisticated. You control contracts, draft players, sign free agents and plenty more on your way to the pennant. If you have a little less time, The Show understands and gives you another means to play with the new King of the Diamond mode. Basically this mode puts pitchers against hitters in a limited timed game where you try to rack up the most points you can. It’s very customizable and is a great addition to the series. If you want to play something else different there is also the home run derby.

The gameplay for MLB has only been slightly improved, but that is a good thing considering it was great last year. First off the game still uses the classic one button press for hitting and the now standard meters for pitching and speed. This time around though, players have more at their disposal since you have more control over hit placement and sliding as well as watching your pitcher’s confidence amongst other things. Some other aspects that have been improved in relation to the gameplay include another level of difficulty and a more complex process of predicting pitches that more accurately represents real baseball. Overall if you’ve played MLB before, you’ll be able to pick this game up and play it right away.

Finally, you can’t overlook the game’s impressive graphics. There aren’t nearly as many cutscenes like in the PlayStation 2 version, but the game still looks stunning and nearly identical to the console title. The PSP title includes scanned photos of players and pretty good facial detailing. Meanwhile the player animations are improved from last season too as they look realistic and natural. If that’s not enough the stadiums are great once again, but I think what really makes the graphics on the handheld standout are the little things like the wide variety of batting stances featured in the game. An example of this is for Johnny Damon who twirls his bat in circles while he waits for a pitch. The only real problem in relation to the graphics for The Show is the generic fans in the crowd which really need to be improved one of these years.

There are just a few problems with MLB 06. The first of these is the sound. The commentary isn’t bad, but is relatively generic. And sadly, like last year’s version, it’s slow at times as the announcers will still be calling the play while your next player at bat is already swinging. Besides the commentary, the crowd noises in the game are pretty generic and limited too. One nice touch is the occasional P.A. announcer mentioning team history and other events. The only thing that saves the sound for MLB is the soundtrack for the game which is solid as it is just a port from the PlayStation 2 title.

One other slight problem with the game is the load times. It isn’t a huge problem, but when you’re loading up a game, the wait takes approximately 30 to 45 seconds before you can play. That isn’t too bad if you’re doing a regular nine inning game that’ll take you a half hour to play, but can be a little agitating if you’re playing King of the Diamond for five to seven minutes.

The biggest problem though has to be the online game - not in the actual features which are varied and plentiful, but in the lag. MLB 06 gives online gamers plenty of options as you can play King of the Diamond and exhibition games. The online mode does include a nice News2Go feature that will update rosters and give you league news, but as I mentioned above, once you’re actually playing a game, problems persist with a lot of lag issues that are particularly a problem for a baseball game that requires precise timing when batting and pitching.

MLB 06: The Show is a decent improvement over last year’s version of America’s Pastime. The developers really picked it up this season with the new career mode, improved graphics and a great mini-game in King of the Diamond. The only place the game really falls short is in the sound and online play. The commentary is still a little slow and the crowd noises are generic. Meanwhile, the online play has some lag problems. Despite these few issues, MLB 06: The Show is a wonderful game that is a near port of the PlayStation 2 title. It is a great handheld game that we can say with confidence is worth the full retail price.

Controls are easy to pick up and play, but have been expanded for those who want more challenge

Player animations and stadiums are very impressive, but the fans are still poor looking.

The commentary and in-game music is solid, while the crowd noises are pretty generic.

A lot of fun to play and the career and mini-games add new and improved elements to the series.

There is plenty here to keep you busy throughout the baseball season.