MLB Bobblehead Battle is the second game from Konami featuring the bobble head versions of your favorite MLB players. MLB Bobbleheads battle is a weird game. When jumping into it I had thought it would be a normal baseball game but featuring bobbleheads, think Backyard Baseball but with bobbleheads. This is where I was really wrong; MLB Bobblehead Battle is a really weird game.
When starting the game you are faced with a menu with multiple options, the first two are quick game and exhibition The difference between them is really only that in quick game you do not pick the park you play at. The only other menu option that is used to play “baseball” is challenge mode, which is what I would consider the crux of this game. The gameplay seems very arcadey, this seem like a mode that would be included in MLB the Show or the 2K game. While batting you have an icon that you can control to match it up with the ball icon that the pitcher is throwing, if you can do that you swing and hopefully hit the ball. Once you hit the ball that is really where the baseball ends. On all the fields are what they call “plates”. Each of these have things like “single” “double” “triple” and “out” on them and what the “plate” says is what the outcome of the play is going to be; there is no running and no fielding. Also on the field are objects that can mess up your ball. The objects are things like an iron wall that when the ball hit is will bounce back a significant distance, and a low wall that when you hit it stops the ball in its tracks.
In the challenge mode you play a game while trying to meet certain conditions like, “use one card” , and “hit the object for 3 times”. Once you complete those conditions you get the bonus which is a new card or new objects, you also unlock the new challenge. The cards are basically power up and downs and are things like, “extra base” which increases all the “plates” that have a base hit on them up one level. These cards have a cost associated with them which you get by playing well. Each team has their own challenge and once you beat their challenge you unlock their field to play at in exhibition mode. Also it is worth pointing out that if you play as one of the All-Star teams you will basically break the game as you will kill all other teams. I found my self batting through the order multiple times in an inning, and when you bat through the order in once inning the game will pop up a message that will tell you they are making it harder for you by making handfuls of “plates” out “plates”.
Having the MLB license means they have the rights to all teams, their players and the stadiums, the players are all in bobblehead form though. My room-mate ended up walking and saw the bobblehead players and he was instantly crept out. This is kind of the feeling I had with the bobblehead players. They look decent in the face, but having the rest of them be bobblehead versions is kind of creepy. There is no commentary and the music is typical for a baseball game. Another option in on menu is to edit the stadium, which is really only editing the “plates” and “objects”. Doing this can be an easy way to get the achievements as you can make almost all “plates” Homerun “plates”. That just leads to long drawn out games where you only really get out by being super unlucky.
MLB Bobblehead Battle is a super weird game, I would even say it is barely a baseball game. As mentioned earlier it seems like something that would be an extra mode in one of the actual baseball games like MLB The Show and MLB 2K. Which is what makes the downloadable format a decent way to get this game out there. The achievements are all straight forward and can all be gotten with out going online which is awesome as no one is playing this game now and I do not think there were ever people playing it. If you play through all the challenges and mess with the “customize stadium” option you will get the full 200gs, that is if you invite your friends from MLB Bobblehead Battle, which I do not know what that means. At 800msp($10) MLB Bobblehead Battle might be a hard sell for most people, but if you are really into baseball themed games MLB Bobblehead Battle is a good option. The problem is MLB Bobblehead Battle is not really a baseball game and can get boring quick.
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