Publisher: 2K Sports
Developer: Konami
System: Wii
Genre: Sports
Release date: Available now
Review by: Andrew Clark

When I think of the great game of baseball, my mind always wanders back to the 1989 film “Major League,” the profanity-laden sports comedy about a baseball team that was built to fail. Charlie Sheen and Tom “the Substitute” Berenger were in the cast, but the Cleveland Indians were the real stars of the show; players struggling to make a catch, begging for a run and hoping that the owner didn’t succeed in her devious plot to sabotage the team and relocate it to Florida, sans players. There are laughable plays, wild pitches and a general feeling of hopelessness throughout the movie, yet after time and persuasion the Indians manage to overcome their faults and pull it together to win their division title. A happy ending, it seems, until you watch any of the sequels…

MLB Power Pros 2008 worked much the same way for me, including the curses and the uncontrollable fast balls. Early on I pointed an accusing finger at the touted “pick up and play” control scheme that confounded me about as much as the overly complex (and lengthy) instruction manual. With the seemingly endless amount of content involved, it appeared that I would never understand this game. I’m not a diamond-eyed fanatic for the sport, but for the sake of this review I needed to try my best. Then, about halfway through an extremely pitiful exhibition game, I miraculously started swinging for the fences, picking off courageous base stealers and understanding the statistics again. It seemed that my latent baseball knowledge was returning to me. Much like the players in “Major League,” all I needed was some time to figure the sport out again.

Power Pros 2008 is the latest edition in the popular Japanese Pawapuro series that has dominated the Land of the Rising Sun for more than a decade now—a high-content wood-and-leather compendium that is big on cute, yet holds a splintered bat handle behind it’s back just waiting to shank you with different options and modes of play. Try your hand at raising a custom ball player in Success mode and hope you have what it takes to make the majors, or just swing away in an exhibition game if you prefer a straight path to the plate. There are regular seasons, home-run derbies, league play and practice modes, each of which offers its own pool of options, making this game quite a bit more than your typical day at the park.

Success mode is an in-depth player-creation utility in MLB PP that not only tasks you with creating the look of a large-headed player, but also with his training, maintaining his friendships, and even finding him a job to make ends meet off the field. It’s not an easy ride, though; there are antagonists, a love interest or two and myriad disappointments along the way to inhibit your Double A hopeful. There isn’t much in the way of actual ball playing in this mode, although some field/batting time is available depending on your chosen position. If you play well enough and manage to get noticed by a scout within two game years, you can take your player into the Season mode and test his mettle in the majors. Success mode may seem a little wordy, and it might not be familiar to American gamers, but it’s still the most involved “player-creation system” available on the Wii thus far.