Konami, better known for its Metal Gear and Silient Hill series, has just released Power Pros Touch [link] through the App Store, an adaptation of its popular Wii and PS2 baseball title MLB Power Pros, for the iPhone and iPod touch.
MLB Power Pros is a cartoonish take on the sport featuring cute, bobble-headed players in keeping with the style of the heretofore Japanese-only Power Pro series, which made its debut in 1994.
The game is very well reviewed, with Gamespot concluding,
Simply put, get the game for whichever system you play the most. It’s a fantastic choice for anyone in the market for a fun-loving alternative to all of the other hardball sims out there, and one that doesn’t skimp on statistical and physical realism in its pursuit of goofiness.
Power Pros Touch maintains the cartoonish graphics and delivers much of the home console experience to iPhone gamers. It features two play modes across three different difficulty levels. Exhibition Mode is a game against the CPU with a choice of six different teams and a certain degree of customizability. Pennant Mode allows you to customize your season, selecting 25, 50, or 162 games and choosing between 3, 6, or 9 inning per game. It’s a full season experience.
Our forums readers have reacted very positively to Power Pros Touch, many calling it the best baseball game in the App Store. MicroByte writes,
I’ve been playing Power Pros now for a day or so and must say, I’m loving it! I’ve purchased the other baseball games on the App Store (except the Homerun game) and I’m honestly liking this one the best. I’ve always liked more arcade like baseball games as opposed to realistic ones so that’s probably why I like this one.
…
Overall I would say that it’s definitely worth the money for me. I’ve spent some decent time with the game and it’s not perfect, but it’s fun and that’s what counts. Between this and Baseball Superstars 2009, I prefer this one. To me, the pace of the batting and fielding always seemed too fast on BS2009 whereas this one feels like I can manage things better. I also like the touch screen control better than the virtual d-pad.
The main criticism that we’ve heard from those who’ve spent significant time with the title is that the game is much too easy on the default Novice difficulty level; we’d recommend players give the Normal or Expert difficulty setting a try, for a better game experience.
The arrival of a well reviewed, big-studio home console title on the iPhone platform is always a welcome event. And baseball gaming fans, with or without prior experience with the Power Pros series, will likely find Power Pros Touch to be a title well worth considering.
See this gameplay video for a look at Power Pros Touch in action.
App Store Link: Power Pros Touch, $3.99
