MLB Power Pros Impressions

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Written by Scott Hemphill | 04 October 2007

So I came home from work today to find a package at my door from 2K Sports.  I had no idea what on Earth it could be- since I knew we were caught up on most 2K Sports releases from their programs that Consolesports.net takes part in.  I noticed the package felt like two games in their bubble envelope.

To my surprise, it was the PS2 and Wii versions of the brand new, just released MLB Power Pros.  For those who don't know about Konami's "Jikkyo Powerful Pro Baseball", let me enlighten you.  What Madden is to sports games in the USA, Powerful Pro Baseball is to the sports fans in Japan.  It’s that big.  I’ve heard rumors of the game’s accuracy and the very realistic game of baseball that it plays despite it’s cartoony graphics, but to be honest, I’ve never been one to mod a game system to play Japanese imports.  So all I could do was read about the Powerful Pro series… which to this point was only in Japan (for the most part) and never included real MLB players.

Until now.  In a very impressive partnership between 2K Sports and legendary game-maker Konami, MLB Power Pros was born… with the MLB and MLBPA license.

I really had no expectations going into the game, other than rumors I have heard about how the series looks cartoony, but plays a surprisingly deep simulation of baseball that mixes the best elements of current baseball games with the pick up and play mechanics of the NES classic “Baseball Stars” as well as “Ken Griffey Jr. Baseball”.