In recent years, sports video games have included a solid dose of nostalgia. That comes in different forms based on the title: The NBA 2K series has multiple eras built into its franchise mode, old-timers routine make appearances in Madden’s Ultimate Team mode, and a host of legends are available in the NHL and WWE titles.
But no sport truly has the legacy and nostalgia that baseball has. And no game delivers a necessary dose of history better than MLB The Show 23. Gaming’s preeminent baseball game, which is now in its third year on multiple platforms, chooses to explore the Negro Leagues with a new Storylines mode that’s a must-play for anyone who loves the history of America’s pastime.
The Storylines mode is a rich and detailed experience, full of little touches that make it come to life. It tells the story of the Negro Leagues through eight different players. Some, such as pitcher Satchel Paige and the legendary Jackie Robinson, I had heard of. Others, such as John Donaldson and Martin Dihigo, were completely new to me. All the stories are narrated by Bob Kendrick, president of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum, and Kendrick delivers deep insights and back story into each player’s career.
The mode receives a lot of care in other ways as well. Each Negro League legend has their story told in eight to nine scenarios, and these scenarios take place in faithfully-recreated Negro League parks. Each episode is robust, as Kendrick narrates their story, you see archival footage, and then you play through the action. The Show handles the little things well, too: Paige’s pitches, for example, have unique names when you select them (Kendrick explains the reasons why).
It’s a terrific baseball history lesson, and required playing for ardent MLB fans – and it’s a highlight for a game that continues to deliver a solid baseball experience all-around. The rest of The Show 23 is similar to what you’ve seen in previous years – and that’s just fine. The on-field baseball is highly customizable, with a host of different playstyle options, perfect for a variety of levels of player. Dynamic Difficulty remains one of my favorite things about this franchise: You can start as a beginner, and as you begin to mash, the game will gradually adjust the difficulty level upwards. This holds true if you struggle too; the difficulty will gradually decline. It’s a great way to ramp up into the game if you haven’t played in a few years, or if you’re just a bit rusty.
The on-field game remains much as you’ve seen in the previous years. But home runs seem a bit less prevalent on default difficulties this year. Fielding, meanwhile, has been tuned more deeply, so you’ll see more animations (and sadly, more chances of errors) during in-game action.
You get your standard suite of modes, too, with the Diamond Dynasty card game mode, easy online play and exhibition modes, and a host of creation tools. The Roster Vault, full of players, rosters, settings, and the like, remains a joy.
Franchise mode, meanwhile, gets a bit of an overhaul, although I’d still love to see The Show continue to step up here. Draft scouting has been tweaked, and the trade engine seems a bit smarter this time around – these ideas enrich the excellent season-playing experience. There may not be a better overall season experience than the Show, in part thanks to Quick Counts, a venerable mode that helps speed up every game. It’s absolutely fantastic to play, and the subtle upgrades help.
But The Show’s Franchise mode still has persistent holes compared to other sporting games – and to real baseball itself. NBA 2K and Madden let you create your own draft classes, adding years of realism (or interesting synthetic characters) to your franchises. The Show continues to lack this function. More troubling is the overall stat-keeping in the Show. Baseball exists in an era of hard-hit percentages and FIP rankings, deeper advanced stats, but The Show still shows league leaders only in the most basic of baseball categories. I’d love to see the game deliver more Fangraphs-level league leaders, giving me the best hitters in terms of hard-hit balls or barrels. It would give me even more to dive into – and make hitting even more fun.
Hopefully those upgrades will arrive in a few years; even if they don’t though, this is a truly terrific baseball video game. And it starts with those excellent Negro League Storylines, a must-play for all baseball fans.