Strike Out or Home Run? MLB The Show 22 For Switch (& Xbox!)

In this episode, we take a look at MLB the Show 22 for the Nintendo Switch & Xbox to see if it's a home run or a strikeout.

When it comes to certain franchises, there's one that I purchased practically every year, & that's MLB the show. Over the years they have enhanced graphics, tweaked gameplay, & now brought the series to Sony's direct competition from Nintendo & Microsoft. In 2021, the series debuted on Xbox & was available at no additional charge for Gamepass subscribers. In 2022, it also debuts on the Nintendo Switch.

I participate in the tech tests that MLB the Show puts on each year, normally in early February. I tested the PlayStation version on the PS5 (which I thought looked beautiful) but the Nintendo Switch version left me with a lot of concerns. It had dodgy controls, graphic inconsistencies, & just was not a good experience. A tech demo can still have bugs in it, so when I tried the show 22 on Gamepass on my Xbox One s, I was actually pretty satisfied with it. Enough that I actually decided to pull the trigger & pick up the Switch version.

There's not a whole lot new under the hood once you leave the dugout here. You're provided a number of different graphical & gameplay tweaks you can make along the way, presentation changes, and things to help the game feel the way that you wanted to. One thing that I have not discovered as of yet is a roster of retired players that would be free agents that you could sign. This has been a staple of the series for the last few years, yet it is conspicuous by its absence.

Comparing the graphics between the Xbox One S & the Nintendo Switch is a shock. While not up to the specs of the Series x or Series S or the PlayStation 5, the Xbox One S version still looked very good. Flesh tones look good, the hair looked fairly authentic, colors looked vibrant & rich. On the Switch, oh boy, on the Switch the graphics look very poor in my opinion. The skin tones look plasticy, hair looks like a solid layer, especially with pitchers who have longer hair. It's just not a good look. The developers also did something weird with the scoreboard in the outfield, adding an extra layer of lens flare to cover up otherwise low-resolution graphics. I also thought it was weird that the scoreboard was a different size between versions. I don't know why they would have done this.

While the Xbox is vastly superior when it comes to the graphics, the Switch is vastly superior when it comes to play control. I like using the older MLB the Show 16 pitching & batting mechanics with the slider that you have to press the correct button & time it to get your pitch or make contact with your bat. On the Xbox version, it felt incredibly laggy, I never felt like I got my timing right. On the Switch version, it was amazingly locked in. I tried it first in handheld mode just to remove any television lag or delay from the equation, but it was just as good docked in TV mode.

One of the great things about the latest version of the show is the fact that you can save & play seasons across all devices. So I can start a franchise on the Xbox, continue it on the Switch, & finish it on the PlayStation, or any combination of this. Getting this cross-platform save working took me about 12 hours, it seems like there was some issue with clocks & dates & server syncing, but once I got it set up it has worked beautifully & I really appreciated it.

Switch
Why it RoX
- Better play control
- I thought the audio sounded better on the Switch
- Includes all the features from the other platforms

What could be improved:
- Graphics are bowling shoe ugly
- Very long load times
- Graphical tweaks that don't make sense (scoreboard lens flare)
- Legends & Hall of Famers Missing

Xbox
Why it RoX:
- Good looking presentation
- Available at no additional charge on Gamepass
- Includes all the features from other platforms

What could be improved:
- Timing mechanic has a lot of lag & delay in it
- Audio didn't seem as rich
- Legends & Hall of Famers Missing

Which version should you buy?
MLB The Show 22 is the perfect example where graphic fidelity isn't everything. While I prefer the look of the Xbox version, & will be eventually buying the PS5 version for the best graphic delivery, the play control on the Switch version is just tighter. The timing mechanic works better, I think the audio is richer, it's a more enjoyable gameplay experience, even with inferior graphics. Like I mentioned, the graphics are bowling shoe ugly, you can't excuse that, but overall, I really think the Switch version plays amazingly well. I think it plays better than it deserves to, & part of that praise is due to how poorly I felt the Xbox version played. I wouldn't pay $60 for the Switch version, & I didn't as I had a $20 gift card that I used, but it is a decent entry into the franchise & something I have really enjoyed playing, & that is not a take that's just a bit outside.

#MLBTheShow #NintendoSwitch #Xbox