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Top 5 MLB Games of the Last Decade

As the 2010 baseball season gets underway, it's kind of hard to believe that it is already 2010. Looking back, the years 2000-2010 were truly a golden era for baseball gaming. Out of all the sports that were digitally re-created this past decade, baseball games faced the most competition, which led to many outstanding titles that were created by multiple development studios.

In celebration of baseball's opening week -- and in an effort to compile the top five baseball games of the decade -- I have spent the last three weekends huddled in my basement feverishly playing some of the best baseball titles from the past 10 years.

With so many worthy candidates, narrowing the list down to just five was no easy task. It should be noted that each game chosen not only had to demonstrate superior gameplay, but also had to leave a distinct impression on the genre as a whole.

Three weeks of intense baseball gaming, a broken Dreamcast controller, several pots of coffee, and one angry wife later, I give you Christian McLeod's Top 5 Baseball Games of the Last Decade.

5. MLB 2001 (2000, PS1)

Simply put, MLB '01 was the best baseball game to ever grace the Playstation 1. With beautiful player models and detailed stadiums, MLB 2001 pushed the limits of what was visually possible in a baseball game near the end of the PS1's lifespan.

What really set the game apart from others in the genre, however, was that it was the first game to ever include a bare bones manager mode and an extremely impressive spring training mode. In the spring training mode, you could create a player and then work through the spring to earn points that could be used to improve his stats before the start of the MLB season. Sound familiar? That's right, MLB '01 included the basic framework for Road to the Show mode, and it was completely revolutionary at the time.

4. All-Star Baseball 2003 (2002, PC)

Hardcore baseball fanatics will undoubtedly agree that the All-Star Baseball series was one of the most overlooked in all of baseball gaming history. After a somewhat rocky start on the N64, the All-Star franchise peaked with the release of the outstanding 2003 edition. With a 20 year franchise mode, some of the deepest stat tracking to date and some of the most authentic baseball atmosphere (pitchers wore coats when they reached base!) to ever grace the PS2/Xbox, All-Star Baseball 2003 was the closest thing to a true representation of the sport of baseball I had ever seen at the time. If you have never played this game, you can not call yourself a baseball fan.

It is a shame that the developers never received the commercial praise they deserved for this series. All-Star Baseball 2003 will forever go down as one of the best pure simulations of the sport.

 


World Series Baseball 2K3

3. World Series Baseball 2K3 (2003, PS2/Xbox)

2002 was a great year for baseball gaming. In addition to All-Star Baseball 2003, there was another top-tier title released called World Series Baseball 2K3. World Series 2K3 featured amazing graphics, ESPN presentation, signature player styles and some of the best fielding camera angles I have ever seen in a baseball game.

The exceptional player control and batting physics in the game made multiplayer games a blast, and spending hours upon hours in dynasty mode never got old due to the variety of player animations -- no game ever felt the same. Additionally, this is one of those games that looks so good, especially with the ESPN overlays, that it still gets a ton of playtime when my PS2 is booted up.

2. MLB 08: The Show (2007, PS3)

Let me just put it this way: I bought a PS3 just for MLB 08. Never in my life had I seen a baseball game look as realistic as this title, and the polished gameplay made my inner baseball geek rejoice. The game's RttS mode was pure addictive fun, and I literally spent days of my life entrenched in the game's deep dynasty mode.

What really set the game apart from any other baseball game was just how well it captured the "soul" of baseball. All the little nuances of the game had been digitally re-created, from the emotion of a walk-off home run to the despair of blowing a save to the excitement of a home crowd as their team mounts a two-out rally. Very seldom does a game come along that completely defines what is possible in a genre on a certain generation of consoles, but MLB 08 was that game.

1. MVP Baseball 05 (2004, PC/Xbox/PS2)

What more can really be said about a game that was so successful that its core mechanics are still being mimicked to this very day? They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, which must mean that EA’s now-defunct MVP development team is beyond flattered that the game mechanics from MVP 2005 are still being used today. Meter-based pitching and fielding, analog slides, picture-in-picture batting feedback, the "hitter's eye" and analog stick hit influence have all become genre standards during the past couple of years.

The greatest aspect of MVP Baseball was something that no other console baseball game has been able to implement to date: an owner mode. MVP allowed any aspiring George Steinbrenners the opportunity to put together a team, build a stadium and keep a rabid fan base happy -- all while being fiscally responsible. Knowing that this game mode could actually end if my finances spent too much time in the red conveyed a sense of ownership of my team that I have yet to experience in another game.

MVP Baseball will forever go down in history as one of the greatest baseball games to ever be released -- as evidenced by the legions of fans still playing the game with 2010 mods on PC -- and it is my pick for baseball game of the decade.


So what were your favorite baseball games during the last 10 years? Sound off below.


Member Comments
# 21 dickey1331 @ 04/09/10 03:42 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Trustpt
I'd just change the top order: #1 MLB 10: The Show, #2 MVP Baseball 05
Agreed.
 
# 22 Blublub @ 04/09/10 08:08 AM
I agree with everyone that High Heat in some form HAS to be on any top 5 list. I'd easily drop ASBB. While it did have some revolutionary features at the time (e.g. working scoreboards), it pretty much played like poo. And how many people played MLB 2001 on the PS1? Wasn't the platform dead by then?

Also, shouldn't this include text sims? If so, how could OOTP in some form be left off?

I think there were enough innovative and/or interesting titles during the past decade to warrant a top ten...
 
# 23 jpup @ 04/09/10 10:24 AM
The Show 10, 09, 08, 07, 2006. That's the list.
 
# 24 roadman @ 04/09/10 10:41 AM
HH is on my decade list, too bad it didn't make this list. I'm a stats person, and HH had the closest to ML stats as possible out of the other games besides The Show.
 
# 25 jaxpac @ 04/09/10 01:37 PM
HIgh heat being left out is a major flaw with this list.
 
# 26 Garcia @ 04/09/10 03:56 PM
1. The Show '10
2. The Show '09
3. The Show '08
4. High Heat
5. MVP '05 - the most overrated "great" game in my opinion.
 
# 27 bkrich83 @ 04/10/10 02:36 PM
Gonna have to disagree with this list.

MVP 05 imo, most overhyped overrated baseball game of all time.

ASB, had a fabulous franchise mode, plus expansion mode, which no one has ever been able to match, But was lackluster on the field. It really didn't "play" a very good game of baseball.

MVP 05 is #1, ASB is on the list, but no mention of the HH games? I don't get it. The HH series set the bar for true baseball simulations. I simply can not see how they are left off, but a game like ASB or even MLB 01 is on the list.
 
# 28 Altimus @ 04/10/10 03:31 PM
MVP Baseball 05
MVP Baseball 04
MLB 10 The Show
ASB 2003
MLB 2K3
 
# 29 MSUHitman @ 04/11/10 04:36 AM
Mine would be:

5. High Heat 04
4. High Heat 03
3. MVP 05
2. MLB The Show 08
1. MLB The Show 10

High Heat 04 gets the nod over MLB The Show 09 and High Heat 02 because of fewer bugs vs. Show 09 and High Heat 02 was just SO much uglier than the other games out there. I'd give the other honorable mention to MLB 2K7.

I should also note I've only had a PS2, 360, and PS3 in the decade, did not have a PC that could really play games on for most of it.
 
# 30 jkeefeholmes @ 04/11/10 09:38 AM
Having played bb sims thru all these years, I agree that High Heat should definitely be on this list. Was very surprised to see it wasn't. But the games you chose were great too.
 
# 31 nike31 @ 04/12/10 01:17 AM
still got my MVP 05(PC) to date, play it every once in awhile......MLB10 is far better than 07......
 
# 32 rudyjuly2 @ 04/12/10 02:08 PM
I would put MVP 05 on the list because that was the game that brought be back to baseball gaming. I would never put it #1 though. The Show 06 continued that in a big, big way for me. I would definitely say the Show 09 was better than the Show 08 - opposite field power was toned down and it was just better imo.
 
# 33 tril @ 04/14/10 03:04 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by choadler
I agree Rondoman. MVP 05 didn't become one of the greatest until I played the PC version that was modded. Unmodded MVP 05 is nowhere near as good as MLB The Show 7,8,9, or 10. In fact, High Heat might surpass MVP 05 unmodded.
cosign what Choadler said. MVP05 is great on the PC because of all the modding.
 
# 34 Pared @ 04/14/10 10:50 AM
You know, I typically feel Christian's content is so off-the-mark when it comes to the sports genre, but this isn't that bad as a list. The exclusion of HH though is just... head-scratcher, close to being number 5 or not.

HH pushed sim-style gaming harder than most other baseball titles did out of the box.
Quote:
Originally Posted by bcruise
To be fair, HH was never all that good either without its extensive modding (yes, I consider the tune file to be that), out of the box it played as exaggerated and arcadey as any game has. Try throwing a good curveball on the default settings...LOL. So it's not really fair to hold that against MVP, IMO.

But I still think at least 1 version of the Show has to be #1 - it doesn't even require mods and is easily my favorite sports series of all-time.
Strongly disagree. The game had a sim slider for a reason. They left it up to the user to decide.

While some tweaks were nice, I could change minor things to my liking because I wanted less reliance on my input and more reliance on ratings... which were typically very well done. Players performed like you expected.

Quote:
Originally Posted by GaryT531
Those early 2000's 2k baseball games were crap. All of them. Dreamcast, PS2, XBOX...
You don't know what you're talking about. WSB 2k3 was right up there with realism compared to HH.

Sure, it had an issue where all the catcher's arms were over powered making steals difficult. But you always had realistic results, and players performed how you would expect right out of the box.
 
# 35 Juiceman @ 04/14/10 02:23 PM
Are text-sims automatically excluded here? Because there is absolutely no other reason for Out of the Park to be excluded in this list. Easily the most accurate representation of baseball on the market.
 
# 36 aukevin @ 04/14/10 03:02 PM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Juiceman
Are text-sims automatically excluded here? Because there is absolutely no other reason for Out of the Park to be excluded in this list. Easily the most accurate representation of baseball on the market.
Probably because OOTP isn't a MLB game like the title of the list describes, just a baseball game.
 
# 37 douggoud @ 04/14/10 10:12 PM
1. MLB 10: The Show (come on, i really don't need a reason)
2. MVP Baseball 2005 (modded or unmodded, that game is just plain fun)
3. Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey, Jr. (N64) ( this game got me started on baseball, not to mention it had my favorite player of all time on the cover, gonna be in my to 5)
4. MLB 06: The Show (the game that truely turned me into a baseball nut, not to mention some of the best soundtracks ever)
5. Triple Play Baseball 2001 ( i loved this game, especially the homerun derby in the family room, its so much fun to break things, lol ) (or the fire place "Gee Buck, i sure hope Santa wasn't commin' down the chimney" lol)
6. MVP Baseball 2003 (had all the players from the 2002 world series angels on it basically, why wouldn't i love it? lol
7. MLB 2K8 (the last great 2k baseball game, atleast since 2k10, but i havent played it, so i cant say that. but i loved the player customization, that was about it, along with having playable single A teams)

Baseball games i've played:
MLB 06*, 07**, 08*, 09*, and 10*: The Show (PS2 and PS3)
MLB 2K6*, 2K7**, and 2K8* (PS2 and PS3)
MVP Baseball 2003*, 2004*, and 2005* (PS2)
MVP NCAA Baseball 06*,and 07 (PS2)
Triple Play Baseball 2001* (PS1)
Major League Baseball Featuring Ken Griffey, Jr. (N64)
MLB Power Pros (Wii)* and MLB Power Pros 2008 (Wii)*

* = i own it
** = i own it for both the PS2 and PS3

like i said, i'm a baseball nut (at least a baseball video gaming nut )
 
# 38 kehlis @ 04/14/10 10:24 PM
I was getting ready to mention Hardball 4 for PC as I read through and was surprised it hadn't been mentioned yet...

Then I realized how old I was getting...
 
# 39 Juiceman612 @ 04/15/10 10:05 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by aukevin
Probably because OOTP isn't a MLB game like the title of the list describes, just a baseball game.
Huh? How is OOTP not an MLB game? It has MLB teams, rosters, and even farm systems.

Anyway, I'm guessing OOTP isn't included since gameplay was one thing being weighed in his list it seems. Being a text-sim I guess that excludes it.
 
# 40 aukevin @ 04/15/10 10:37 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Juiceman612
Huh? How is OOTP not an MLB game? It has MLB teams, rosters, and even farm systems.

Anyway, I'm guessing OOTP isn't included since gameplay was one thing being weighed in his list it seems. Being a text-sim I guess that excludes it.
Last time I bought OOTP (3 years ago maybe) it came with generic rosters, is it different now? There were MLB rosters that you downloaded and added to it, but the base game was generic. Maybe I'm thinking of a different game (Puresim or something like that).
 


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