It’s odd. Spring is here, and so are blue skies and warmer temperatures. Certainly not the makings for Hell freezing over. But that’s what I thought would happen last year when the Boston Red Sox finally won the World Series. Instead, they return in 2005 to defend their title, as does MVP Baseball 2005 as one of the best all-around baseball games.

Visually, things are great once again. The ballparks look amazing, as do the animations for the players. There still is a bit of a collision-detection flaw for base runners. Simply put, it appears players run into each other on the base paths, but nothing happens. Still, that’s worst thing I can think of in this department. Everything else is as good, if not better than last year’s game.

On the audio side of the spectrum, things are good. The play-by-play announcers call the game fairly well, although there are instances when they get behind their duties or they’ll say the same thing twice. However, there is new dialogue added to the plethora of lines, so that’s a good thing. Otherwise, the ambient noises create the illusion that you’re at the ballgame yourself. The crack of the bat, the ball hitting the mitt, the vendor calling out for peanuts... they’re all there.

I do have to say that EA Sports is treading in some dangerous water with the MVP series. Gamers are either going to love MVP 2005 or be overwhelmed and fed up with the game. The reason: there’s a lot to do.

Last year, in addition to a regular 162-game season, we had the option to manage two minor league teams (AA and AAA) too. Well guess what? Add another farm team to the list: a Single-A club. Yep, now you have control over a major league ball club AND three minor league squads.

Not only that, but there is also a new mode for all you “do-it-yourselfers.” When you start up the Owner mode, you take control of a major league team and their three minor league teams, and basically treat it as the regular Dynasty mode. However, you also create a new baseball stadium from scratch. At first, it looks like a great place for your Single-A squad to play at; not a lot of seats and not a lot of fans. But over time, you must manage everything (and I mean everything) and build it up. I’m talking about ticket prices, concessions, merchandise. All of these things help you build a profit so that you can add on extra features to your stadium like more seats, restaurants, and gift shops. This is fine, except that you also have to worry about contracts for your players and other staff. See how this is a little overwhelming?

If so, players can just go through the regular Dynasty mode, which is basically the same as last year. There are also the standard Play Now and Exhibition modes, along with an Online version. In addition, you can also play the Home Run Showdown, prove your gaming strategy in Manager mode, or create the ultimate scenario in Scenario Editor.

MVP Baseball 2005 also offers three new mini-games to play with, which are also incorporated into the Spring Training part of a season. You can hone your placement hitting in the Batting Mini Game, or either play Pitching Mini Game or Untimed Pitching Mini Game. Both are like Tetris in that you try to knock out colored blocks in the strike zone; timing is the only difference between the two.

As always, there are four levels of difficulty: Rookie, Pro, All-Star, and MVP. Vets of the MVP series can probably start on All-Star or MVP, while those new to the series should try Rookie or Pro. Pitching and batting are the obvious things that vary in difficulty. It’s much easier to hit a home run on the lower levels, while it’s much easier to give them up when you’re pitching in the higher difficulty settings.

This is my first time with the series on the PS2, and I must say I had my doubts. More or less, I was concerned about the loading times in between games. However, I can safely say that I was wrong, and that you’ll only have to wait a short amount of time between menus and games. One thing I wasn’t worried about was the controller configuration, because the PS2’s controller is perfectly set up for baseball controls. Finally, the memory card is used up no different than other sports titles, so game on!

Like I said, MVP Baseball 2005 offers a lot that some people might not be up for. If you’re a do-it-yourselfer like me, MVP Baseball 2005 is a no-brainer. However, if there’s a good chance you’re going to avoid the Owner mode and just stick to Dynasty instead, I recommend just popping in MVP Baseball 2004 and updating your rosters. I don’t think another farm team and mini-games warrant spending $30.