Little League World Series Baseball 2008 [Wii]

Posted July 16, 2009 by maceman in Featured, Featured Home, Game Blog, Reviews, Wii.

reviewed on the Nintendo Wii

Since Wii Sports, there have been more than a few Baseball games available on the market from the really casual, not too challenging Mario Super Sluggers to the “that’s more like it” MLB series. Holding the official license for the Little League Baseball association, this game seems to fit squarely in the middle of those two games, adding all the fun elements and putting them into a decent Baseball package. And although it doesn’t take itself seriously, this game can be played by a serious baseball fan without handing the controller to the kids saying “this ones for you guys”. Even though its cartoony, Anime style may not appeal to the enthusiast, who wants a real player look, the good thing about Little League Baseball is that it will appeal to both kids and adults alike.

You can just throw, hit and run if you want to, making it ideal for the younger player, but heed my warning and make sure the kids have the remote strap firmly in place and you have a lot of room. More importantly, do not stand too close to a child 6-7 years of age while they are batting, as a Wii remote to the groin region is not very pleasant, and if you’re male, it could make your voice a few octaves higher for a while afterwards. But, for the more advanced player, all you have to do is sit through the training and get to know all the nuances of the game and learn how to perform all the intricate options available for pitching, fielding and batting, because there are various techniques that make the experience deeper, letting you enjoy the game on a higher level.

There are two main modes of play; exhibition mode, a quick game, selecting your team and getting into it almost immediately, that can be played with 1 or 2 players; or the main part, the world series. This is where you battle it out for the World Series trophy; selecting what part of the world you want your team to be from, each part having its strengths and weaknesses. You customize your uniform, choose your star player and customize pitching and batting style, left or right side preference and choose if you just want to play against the USA or the entire world. As a single player in both modes you can set the CPU’s AI defense to either Little, Junior, Senior or Big to suit your age or skill level.

Both the batting and pitching elements of this game are well developed, and the sensitivity of the control system performs a lot better than I expected, with angles and speed determining how the ball and the bat perform, with very little lag or false moves. It makes playing a game like this smooth and highly enjoyable, without the frustration of “I did not do that” or “I did not hit it that way”. Fielding and running, however, do not fair so well for advanced play, as you only really have the options for Semi or Fully Automatic, so players automatically run base to base when your batting or towards the ball and catch on their own if you’re fielding. The only thing you can do to avoid this, is to shake the remote to make them run faster. You can dive and jump for the ball using A button but they seem to do it on their own, most of the time, anyway, without any intervention.

You can change pitch styles with various combinations of holding A or B and/or twisting the remote to perform such actions, as the Four-seam fastball, the Slider, Curveballs, Sinking fastball and Screwball. The more power you put into the swing the faster the ball goes and the angle of the pitch affects the angle of the hit and where the ball goes. With batting, timing is everything and you can manipulate which way you want to direct the ball depending on what base your runners are on and which way you want them to advance. You can also angle the remote to hit the ball up or down, or hold A and tilt the remote without swinging to bunt the ball, swing early or late to pull the ball to the left, right or center of the field. How fast you swing determines a powerful or controlled hit. It is not predictable and does requires skill and technique to perfect, just like the real game.

Before pitching you are able to select a different arrangement of fielders which are good for blocking advances or getting multiple outs in one hit; setting them right or left depending on which base the opposite team is on and blocking third base runners so they do not get home. You can use the control pad to throw toward certain bases after the ball is hit, with a triangle appearing at the top right of the screen to show you what base the other teams players are on, but with no 1st, 2nd or 3rd bases marked on it you can get turned around really easy and throw towards the wrong base, missing the opportunity to get players out.

The stand out feature of the game has to be the special moves, or “Talents.” These are special power ups that give the players special abilities, making the ball faster, curves bigger, catching a ball or sliding to a base that, under normal circumstances, you would not be able to get to. The character performs super dives, slow-mo slides and wall jumping with forward and back flips, all accentuated by an anime style cut scene of stars and action lines. Your teams talent meter gets charged with every strike, catch, home run or safe base you make, and once charged, it can be easily executed by pressing both A and B before a move. Although these talents are great for the visual spectacle, they are also the things that take the game completely away from reality and set it squarely in the realm of a cartoon.

There are mini games that offer plenty of replay value for multiple players serving a duel purpose of playing just for the fun of it and as a way to hone your skills in both pitching and batting. The shooting gallery inspired pitching game helps to improve your arm, aiming at different targets, while the home run tourney improves your long distance batting style, requiring you to hit as many home runs as possible in the time limit. Because some of them disguise themselves as completely different games, they can be played by those who do not necessarily like baseball, with a cross-baseball 10-pin bowling game where you pitch the ball and knock down the pins in a blow up castle on the field or a game where you pitch balls, as darts, towards a giant dartboard.

The graphics are excellent, with the big-eyed Anime/Manga-styled design clear and easy on the eye. It is bright and colourful, with the characters, pitch and stadium designs all very well done. The sound design works well with the hits, sweeps, slides and background crowd noise all complementing the look perfectly and helping to get you into the atmosphere of the game.

It is an extremely good overall package, having the appeal for both casual and more advanced players, but maybe not the hardcore baseball freaks. So, if you are a Baseball fan or your kids are showing even a vague interest in the sport, it’s worth spending the money on this to keep them occupied at least until Little League Baseball 2009 comes out.

Tagged as Activision, Little League Baseball, Little League Baseball World Series, Little League Baseball World Series 2008, Nowpro