Last year, MVP Baseball 2003 made quite an impression on the gaming public and press alike. For the first installment in a brand-new franchise, it did a lot of things right. However, it also left plenty of room for improvement, and that is exactly what you get this season with MVP Baseball 2004 -- improvement but not perfection.

Arguably, the best aspect of MVP is actually its pitching mechanic. The interface, which resembles a golf-swing meter, was introduced last year, but it's been fine-tuned to better represent various pitchers, their "stuff" and fatigue. Pitching in MVP is a three-step process. First, using the left thumbstick you must select your location (avoiding the batter's red, hot zone is a good idea). Then, you press a button corresponding to the desired pitch type and hold it in to build up the blue portion of the meter (until it gets near the red portion). This sets the effectiveness of your pitch; fastballs will have more "juice" and curveballs will have more "break." When you let go of the button, the white cursor swings back and you must press the button a second time to stop it within a green zone. The better you center it in the green, the more accurate your pitch will be.

The real genius behind this mechanic is that depending on the pitcher, his command over certain pitches, and his stamina, the meter will change. For example, a four-seam fastball will have a larger green zone because it's easier to spot than a breaking ball. Furthermore, as your pitcher tires, the red zone grows, and the green zone gets increasingly smaller. Thus, it becomes harder and harder to pitch effectively and accurately. This system manages to successfully combine user input with real-life baseball statistics, and makes pitching in other titles seem dull in comparison.

At the plate, MVP Baseball 2004 is equally impressive. Batting is largely timing-based; in fact, timing is so crucial in the game that hitting requires a ton of concentration and is quite difficult at times. The difference between a fastball, slider and changeup is amazing. In addition to timing the pitch, this year you also have the option of guiding hit direction and trajectory with the left analog; EA is calling it the "Pure Swing System." Pushing up to meet a high pitch will result in more fly balls and homers, while pushing down to meet balls low in the zone will lead to ground balls and liners. Of course, you can also try to pull or slice the ball by moving the thumbstick left or right. It can take a while to get adjusted, but overall the batting is realistic; it forces you to be patient and to think like a hitter, not a gamer. It's just too bad there's no Batting Practice mode, as it would benefit many newcomers to the game.

One of the more touted aspects of MVP Baseball 2004 is its "Big Play Control." Essentially, this mechanic lets you control your baserunners' slides and your fielders' leaps and dives with the right thumbstick. Pushing up lets a fielder leap or scale a wall, down starts a slide, and left and right enable fully outstretched dives. On the base paths, pushing up lets a runner slide headfirst, while pushing down enables a feet-first slide. You can also combine those slides with a direction (left/right) to determine which side of the base your runner will slide towards. This is quite helpful for taking out the second baseman on a double play attempt or when trying to avoid a tag. "Big Play Control" is a success in that it immerses you in parts of the game that would otherwise seem mundane.

Where the gameplay starts to falter a bit, however, is in the fielding. Fielders use a meter similar to the pitching one, except that this meter only involves building up a bar for effort. If you hold in the button too long, you may enter the red portion, which leads to a greater risk of wild throws. EA also was smart enough to make the red zone larger when you try to throw off-balance, as it is harder to throw accurately off-balance in real life. Although this system generally works well, at times it just takes too long to get rid of the darn ball. Even when "preloading" I've found it difficult to turn double plays or even to get the out at second base sometimes. I've also witnessed easy groundballs miraculously go right through infielders for no apparent reason. Things can get even worse in the outfield because the outfielders are too slow and the A.I. will sometimes select a player that is not ideal for the catch. You can switch fielders with the "L" trigger, but the damage happens quickly and before you know what happened the runner has a triple or even an inside-the-park home run.

Confounding this problem is that the CPU never backs you up. If you miss the ball, you have to manually switch fielders and run after it yourself, muttering and clenching the controller with frustration along the way. Adjusting gameplay sliders to increase outfielder speed and decrease baserunner speed helps somewhat but doesn't solve the problem entirely. And speaking of baserunners, the CPU rarely ever attempts to steal a base; that's a serious flaw in A.I. Another peculiarity is the abundance of diving catches and snared liners made against you. You'd swear there's a team of circus acrobats on the field; it's almost comical at times.

The real meat of MVP Baseball 2004 is its Dynasty Mode, which can be played out over a 120-year span. Yes, 120 years -- unbelievable. Perhaps in 2124 the Cubs will finally win it all, but I digress. Amazingly, MVP includes AA and AAA affiliate minor league teams for every major league ball club, and they aren't fabricated; they're the real deal. So if you wanted to take the Trenton Thunder and face the big brother Yankees just for amusement's sake, you could (although the score would no doubt be a 30-1 shellacking in favor of the Yanks). The Dynasty Mode allows you to control any team and its minor leagues. Depending on the team, you'll have certain goals to meet over certain periods and you'll be graded on it. For example, with the Yankees you have to win 300 games over 3 years. Each team has a budget and you must stay within that limit. That means you might need to release players, trade players, send some down to the minors, or bring a prospect up. However, you must be careful of team chemistry and player happiness. If a player doesn't feel he's earning enough he'll be unhappy, or if you don't give a star enough playing time that, too, could lead to a disgruntled team member. Unhappy players won't perform as well as they should, and you may have to renegotiate their contracts or trade them to improve your team. In order to progress, you can play games, sim games, or use the Manager Mode to make decisions on an out-by-out basis (not balls and strikes). As a standalone mode, it's not exactly stimulating, but if you want some control over managerial tactics while simming, it's an interesting alternative.

MVP Baseball 2004 also features a Home Run Showdown and a Pitcher Showdown. In the former, you compete against the CPU or a second player to see who can reach a preset distance (totaling your hit distance) first, while in the latter the goal is to see who can strike out a preset number of batters first. These modes are entertaining initially, but become a bit stale too soon. Many gamers still would have appreciated a classic Home Run Derby mode, but alas it's not present. A standard Season mode also should have been included; some gamers may not want to have to deal with all aspects of the Dynasty Mode, but still may wish to play out a season with their favorite team.

It's nice that MVP includes many classic players, stadiums and alternate uniforms, but they all have to be unlocked through the use of MVP Points in the MVP Rewards section. Someone paying $50 should be entitled to immediate access of all these goodies if he/she so desires. This method, however, requires that you invest a lot of playing time to unlock everything. You can accumulate points by performing well with players on the field (e.g. batting .600 or higher with someone, pitching a complete game, etc.) or by beating certain players in the Home Run and Pitching Showdowns.

From a visual standpoint, MVP Baseball looks good (especially in 720p), but some low-res, blurry textures in the environment do detract from the overall picture. That being said, most of the stadiums are accurate reconstructions of their real life counterparts; and the difference in lighting between day and night games is wonderfully represented. The true highlight in the game's presentation is its animation. MVP Baseball showcases numerous, buttery smooth player animations (possibly the best in a sports game to date), which are also beautifully captured in instant replays that do a good job focusing on the important part of a play. The most disappointing aspect of MVP's graphics is its player models and faces. There are a few faces that actually look very good, but most are downright terrible. Likewise, some player models are well done, while others don't seem to accurately portray the player's body type or his batting stance/pitching wind-up.

The aural support in MVP Baseball 2004 is surprisingly good. Duane Kuiper and Mike Krukow provide more than adequate commentary, and it's usually in sync with the on-field action. They do repeat themselves quite often, but then again, what baseball game doesn't share this problem? Better than the play-by-play is the overall atmosphere MVP provides. The crowd really seems into it at all times, and especially during the more exciting moments of the game. If you give up a home run, they'll boo. If you strike out a batter or a hit a homer they'll cheer vociferously. There are even player and team specific chants to help get you in the mood during a rally. Each batter is also accompanied by walk-up music, but unfortunately there is no support for custom soundtracks.

EA went the extra mile by including all the "little things" that really make the game feel more like baseball. Umpires are questioned on check swings; there are "oops" check swing hits, broken bats, and dropped third strikes; catchers will block balls in the dirt, and so on. Strangely, the first-base and third-base coaches don't appear on the field, but that's just a minor annoyance.

Even with all its faults, MVP Baseball 2004 is a fantastic baseball game that any fan would be proud to have in his library. If EA Sports can iron out all the problems mentioned in this review, next year's version will truly live up to its MVP namesake. Who knows? Perhaps by then EA and Microsoft will have actually worked out an agreement for Xbox Live support.