MVP Baseball 2005

MVP Baseball 2005
Genre(s): Sports Platform(s): PlayStation 2 Xbox GameCube Microsoft Windows Release: February 22, 2005 Developer(s): EA Canada Publisher(s): EA Sports Country: Canada Series: MVP Baseball Predecessor: MVP Baseball 2004

MVP Baseball 2005 is a 2005 sports video game released for PlayStation 2, Xbox, PC, and GameCube. It was developed and published by Electronic Arts. It features then-Boston Red Sox left fielder Manny Ramirez on its cover. The game features full Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, and Major League Baseball Players Association licenses. It holds the 98th spot on IGN's reader's choice top 100 games ever as of 2006. As with previous versions of the game, the announcers are Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow, real-life announcers for the San Francisco Giants.

Why It’s the Real MVP

1. The brand new gameplay feature, hitters eye, was innovative and ahead of it’s time, with the color coded pitches, with white for fastballs, red for breaking pitches, green for off-speed pitches, pink for sinkers and orange for knuckleballs.
2. While it isn’t as deep as the stadium creator you would see in the modern MLB: The Show games, you can make your own stadium through owner mode with a stadium that looks like a minor league ballpark at the beginning, to a real Major League Baseball ballpark.
3. The innovative pitch meter that was introduced in MVP Baseball 2003 is improved here.
4. It introduced the Single-A teams as playable teams to the franchise, which is something you barely see in baseball videogames.
5. The owner and dynasty modes were deep for their time in 2005, you could set concession and seat prices, the simulation is 100% accurate to the real MLB with suspensions due to altercations with the pitcher after being hit by a pitch, games being rained out and turned into doubleheaders (Tropicana Field is immune to having games rained out because it is a indoor ballpark), and much more depth can be found in the mode, It is also one of the biggest reasons that this game was ahead of it’s time in 2005, and is considered by many baseball fans to be the best baseball videogame of all time.
6. Addicting and fun mini-games such as the hitting mini-game with the ramps.
7. While there isn’t a Home Run Derby mode, some other mode takes its place, and that mode is Home Run Showdown, which is really fun to play, especially with a friend.
8. Jon Dowd, the replacement for Barry Bonds, Enough said.
9. While the graphics aren’t that great, especially when compared to todays graphics, they still look decent for 2005.
10. To this day, the PC version has been kept up to date thanks a huge modding community which has added a variety of things such as total classics, total conversions, stadiums, camera angles, uniforms, and updated rosters.
    • Heck, there are even mods of classic MLB seasons with those seasons rosters, uniforms, and stadiums.
11. The gameplay is smooth and intuitive, with pitching windups and batting stances that are strikingly realistic to real life. The gameplay is also completely adjustable for players if they want the gameplay adjusted for them.
12. The soundtrack is one of the best seen in a sports videogame. With songs like "Funny Little Feeling" by Rock 'n' Roll Soldiers, and "You Owe Me an IOU" by Hot Hot Heat, and more.
13. Overall, due to all of these pointers above, it is considered by many baseball fans to be the greatest MLB videogame of all-time.

Bad Qualities

1. You can only create stadiums in owner mode, and the depth of creating a stadium doesn’t hold a candle to the modern MLB: The Show games.
2. The song "Finding Out True Love Is Blind" by Louis XIV has inappropriate lyrical content for a rated E videogame.
3. Sadly, this is the last MLB licensed video game in the MVP Baseball series due to the deal between the MLB and 2K that only allows 2K to publish third party MLB games, although Sony could still continue their MLB game franchise by rebranding it to MLB: The Show.
4. As mentioned in WITRM #9, the graphics aren’t very great, although this is acceptable because the developers were more focused on the depth and fun of the game.

Reception

MVP Baseball 2005 was well-received by critics and baseball fans at launch, but as time went on, the game became more acclaimed by fans, to the point where the game was considered by most baseball fans, to be the greatest baseball videogame of all time. Even more so than World Series Baseball and MVP Baseball 2004.

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