Fielding is where things slip slightly. All players suffer from rocket arm giving them the ability to launch a ball from the outfield wall to home without the ball ever touching the ground. This leads to some plays that should end up with extra bases turning into singles. The analog stick of the PSP makes it touch to align fielders in the proper location as well due to over-sensitivity.
Instead of franchise play, MLB 06 has a career mode. Mimicking the Superstar mode from Madden NFL, baseball fans create their own player and take him through a full set of seasons. The better you play, the more money you make. There's the option to only play your at bats or take control of the entire team. As you're only focusing on a single player, this makes the coaching staff critical. Play poorly and you'll end up in the minors.
Interviews with the press are also enjoyable. This version, however, sadly eliminates player-controlled trading or drafting of new stars in the off-season. Season play is the only other option aside from a mildly amusing party game known as King of the Diamond.
Online play sets a new standard for all PSP titles. In addition to weekly roster updates, players can access full real-life MLB news (and download it for viewing offline), instant messaging, and friends lists. When not near your PSP, you can check who is online via the game's website. They call this SportsConnect, and every game to follow should use this same interface.
With Sony pushing their MLB franchise, there's little left to do in following years. They've "featured" themselves nearly out of business. Once the franchise mode is added and an extra focus is paid to fielding, this will be a dominant sports effort.
MLB 06: The Show is rated E (Everyone) by the ESRB. This game can also be found on: PS2.
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