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Video Game Review: MLB Power Pros

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By ROMMIE JOHNSON | The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 22, 2008

System: Nintendo Wii

Also available for: Sony PlayStation 2, Nintendo DS

Publisher: 2K Sports

Reviewer's rating: ***

ESRB rating: Everyone

Game type: Sports

Kind of like: Old-school baseball video games.

Best feature: Real-life rosters without the real-life tedium.

Worst feature: Your teammates' brain-dead base-running can be maddening.

The bottom line: The old-school, arcade-style action of "MLB Power Pros" serves as a refreshing reminder that sports video games' tireless pursuit of realism is misguided at best. Maybe I'm alone on this, but I don't really need to sit around while Nomar Garciaparra snaps his wristbands, kicks the dirt, genuflects, adjusts his package and steps meticulously into the batter's box between each swing.

Here you get actual MLB teams and Mii-like versions of real-world players, but the gameplay never gets bogged down trying to re-create the authentic baseball experience. Instead, it's fast-paced and fun.

Surprisingly, "Power Pros" doesn't lean heavily on the gimmicky Wii-mote-as-baseball-bat control scheme. You can swing it in certain modes (such as a home run derby), but most use more traditional controls. And that's fine with us, since we got bored with "Wii Sports" baseball after a few weeks.

Our favorite mode is MLB Life, in which you create a player and play RPG-style through his entire career, from the draft to retirement. Your first season or two in the big leagues can be excruciating as you try to crack the starting lineup. But once you start getting regular at-bats, the seasons fly by - and for statistics geeks, the stat-tracking is exceptional.

Rommie Johnson

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