Little League World Series Baseball 2008 - Nintendo Wii

When I saw this title as a new release I was a little skeptical. I own, and still play, the original NES Little League Baseball World Series game, and was unsure if Nintendo could pull off a Wii version. After playing a few exhibitions, I was very impressed. The game starts you off at the training field where you learn the basics (hitting, pitching, throwing, and the talents). The pitching is pretty basic (think Wii Sports baseball) and you hold down the A, B, or no button to throw different pitches. Curving the Wiimote while holding either the B button or no button will let you throw a slider, curveball, screwball, or sinking fastball. While flicking straight down allows you to throw the standard two-seam and four-seam fastball or the change-up. When you start to play the game, you learn the pitches and the little nuances quickly (ie shaking the Wiimote to run faster, diving, changing pitch location, or advancing runners). One thing I really liked was the ability to change your fielders positions based on situations and set up at double play depth or play for the bunt. Another cool thing is the point system that allows you to build up your Talent Level by getting hits, throwing strikes, or making good plays. This allows you to get your talent meter full and then allow your Star Player to throw 100 mph fastballs (if he or she is pitching) or hit monster home runs (if batting). When your star player's talent is activated, the game takes on a more Anime feel. While the game itself and it's players are in the Anime fashion, the Talent part goes a bit further. The batter points to the bleachers and then jumps in the air and spins before launching a pitch into the stratosphere. All in all, I think that this game is awesome. I was a bit disappointed with the mini-games and the fact that you can't steal bases, but hey those are small things. It is definitely more of an arcade game (The Bigs), not a simulation game (MLB2Kanything), but it's a KID'S game, so it works. My 7 and 10 year old cousins loved it and had a blast playing. I would highly recommend this game to fans of the old version.

The overall game is great. There are a couple of things that I found frustrating. When you are leading throughout the game, you dont seem to have a problem getting outs. But when it is the final inning, the computer seems to push runs across easily no matter what pitch you throw. I like the gameplay overall and am still learning some of the pitching aspects, but hopefully I will get better.