In my review last year for the stat-crunching baseball simulator Baseball Mogul 2008, I stated that the game provided a great experience for stat-heads and casual baseball game fan alike. Baseball Mogul 2009, which only sports a few tweaks from the 2008 version, is also a fun experience (as an update of an enjoyable game ought to be). There are some issues here and there, but most can be overlooked.
The myriad of stats that Baseball Mogul 2008 gave its users are still available here in 2009 but with a somewhat cleaner interface. It is easier to find the little bits and pieces true stat lovers want. Additionally, it easier for non-stat lovers to find the elements that interest them as well. Users can manage the overall and day-to-day operations of an incredible array of teams, from classic to modern to fictional. At its heart, the game is stat-based and contains dozens of stats for the players.
While stats are the game's bread and butter, it can't (and doesn't try to) compete with graphically intensive baseball simulators for the computer and console systems. That's why the game includes, as it did last year, the ability to play in-game by clicking various buttons to swing, bunt, pitch, substitute players, etc. None of it is done in real-time (pitches and swings are chosen prior to a play commencing), but it does add to the gameplay.
It is within this in-game experience that 2009 has made one of its more silly additions for this year: the "Base Running" screen. The game asks the user from time to time (not consistently and not always when it should) if the player wishes to try for an extra base. The times it doesn't ask and doesn't advance the runner are hugely frustrating. It is also silly and more than a little frustrating when the game asks the user if they want to try for an extra base when the fielder has the ball 72 feet from the runner's next base while possessing an arm rated at 93 (out of 100). Simply put, save for an error on the throw or catch, there is no way that the runner could ever be safe. To have the game ask the question is virtually equivalent to the game wondering if the user has some crazy desire to have their runner thrown out in order to either shave points or handicap themselves.
Article comments