With the Little League World Series in full swing, there is no better time for a developer to take advantage and release a licensed video game counterpart, and developer IguanaBee has done just that with Little League World Series Baseball 2022.
I have always had a soft spot for Little League baseball games, dating back to the ‘90s, and while some have been incredibly fun, others have dropped the proverbial ball. So, while cautiously optimistic about LLWS 2022, how does it stack up to similar titles from the past and present? Let’s find out in this Little League World Series Baseball 2022 review.
Little League World Series Baseball 2022 Review
What I Like
Batting And Pitching Mechanics
Any baseball video game has specific components or elements that must be done well to provide entertainment value and longevity. Batting and pitching fall under that umbrella, and thankfully LLWS 2022 provides a solid experience in both areas. Regardless of what mode I played, stepping into the batter’s box and hearing the ping off the bat was always exciting, and it continued to be so throughout my entire time with the game.
LLWS 2022 provides a simple yet intuitive batting interface that I would describe as zone hitting for those familiar with that. A reticule appears on the screen, and the goal is to swing on time and place the floating reticule on the ball.
Accomplish this and the ball will ping off the bat with incredible velocity and power. Mess up, and you inevitably produce a weak grounder or a simple fly ball that the outfielder can easily gravitate towards and snatch from the air.
In general, I was never left wondering how a specific type of hit happened. If I placed the reticule a bit under the ball, it inevitably produced a fly ball. If placed above the ball, a ground ball was the result. It also worked this way in moving the hitting reticule left and right of the ball to increase the chance of pulling a hit down the line or going opposite field.
I would go far as to say that the hitting system found in Little League World Series 2022 is something that could easily be mimicked in other titles now and in the future. What was most impressive for me, though, is how the batting mechanic offers such a high level of control and precision and still doesn’t make the mistake of being too complicated.
Even in a Little League title, delivering a strong and consistent hitting mechanic is a must, and LLWS 2022 does just that in a fun and easy-to-understand way.
As good as the hitting is in LLWS 2022, the pitching mechanic is just as well done and as easy to understand while still providing a challenge on the higher difficulty levels. The pitching mechanic in LLWS 2022 works as simple as picking the pitch you want and trying to nail the accuracy meter upon the release of the pitch towards home plate.
If I did my job well, the pitch snapped towards home plate. If I messed up, the ball would float toward the plate and barrel would be put to ball. Also noteworthy is that on the higher level of difficulty, even when nailing the pitching meter perfectly and hitting the desired location of choice, it doesn’t mean that the ball cannot be hit and hit hard.
While not worthy of an entire section by itself, the AI performs admirably on medium difficulty and up. I won my fair share of games on normal but also had a few losses sprinkled in there. Those losses that never felt cheap or unwarranted.
In the end, both the pitching and hitting components in LLWS 2022 are simple to understand but done very well and make the overall experience at the plate immersive and enjoyable.
Visuals And Presentation
The visual art style that IguanaBee went with for LLWS 2022 was a perfect choice. The game’s art style feels like a hybrid of a comic book and anime, and it works very well for this genre of sports title. Even beyond the art style choices, the stadium renditions and recreations are fun and alive, and the player models work wonderfully for a Little League game.
Coupled with solid player movement and animations, LLWS 2022 provides a nice visual experience that captivated me and created an entertaining world.
What I Don’t Like
Fielding And Throwing Mechanics
My enjoyment of the game’s hitting, pitching, and art style is also where my enjoyment of the game overall ends. The rest of the game is where my experience turned downward.
As crucial as the hitting and pitching are to the overall enjoyment of a baseball video game, the fielding and throwing mechanics are almost as important. That is where LLWS 2022 runs into problems. For starters, the camera choices did me no favors when fielding and often made it difficult to understand which fielder I controlled. On top of the camera choices, I often found myself confused about what fielder I was controlling.
When attempting to field the ball and return it to the infield, things got even worse. Often my input would not be recognized, or the player who should be standing at the plate or base was off somewhere else wandering the field, which made throwing to them a bit more complicated.
Add in the fact that fielding the ball was often a guess, and what seemed like proper positioning to me was just a bit off and would result in a base hit when it should have been an easy fly ball. This was not a regular occurrence but happened often enough to become problematic and frustrating. The fielding and throwing mechanics often felt disjointed and left me feeling disconnected and confused more than I care to admit. That is a significant issue for a baseball title.
Commentary
I will keep this short and to the point. While I appreciate the effort to include commentary in the game, it lacks any sort of natural flow. It often comes across as garbled, incoherent, or repetitive babble that rarely adds to the overall experience.
I fully understand how difficult it is to correctly and efficiently implement sports game commentary, and that’s why I say not having analysis might have been a better option. In my opinion, the developers would have been better off going down the path of minor little quips and one-word descriptions.
As of now, it feels like we are stuck between what they wanted to accomplish and what I felt would have been the right approach, and eventually it caused me to turn the announcers off.
Depth
This is always subjective, but for a title that is not what I would consider a budget-friendly one priced at $39.99 (until August 24 and then $49.99 after), I would have liked to have seen more options like an actual season mode, and the ability to edit team and player names.
Including a full-season mode would have added a tremendous amount of depth, and the ability to edit the players’ names, teams, and states from where they reside would have gone a long way towards making the game feel more personal and fun.
Add in full-season stats and the option to qualify for regionals and the Little League World Series, and now there is reason to play this game well past its release date. As of now, LLWS 2022 only gives you the option for a tournament, single game, or championship mode, and while these modes offer some fun, a few additions and the ability to edit would have made a massive difference.
Bottom Line
If it sounds like there is a large discrepancy between what is good in LLWS 2022 and what doesn’t work, it’s because that is precisely how it played out for me. There is a lot to love about the title when hitting and pitching, but that excitement quickly diminishes once you start to participate in the activity of fielding, baserunning, and throwing.
That’s not to say that you can’t find enjoyment in the new offering from IguanaBee, as I did, and I will continue to play it for now. If you keep your expectations in check and understand the game has some issues, it is a game that is easy to pick up and play and accessible for the whole family.
Published: Aug 22, 2022 10:00 am