MLB The Show 25 review for Nintendo Switch

MLB The Show has had a mixed history on the Nintendo Switch. Some years, like MLB The Show 23, I actually preferred the Switch version to the PS5 one. At the other end of the spectrum, last year’s edition occasionally verged on barely playable. So, with the June release of the Switch 2 on the not-too-distant horizon and MLB The Show 25 likely marking the series’ last entry on the original Switch, how does this year’s version fare?

It depends on how you look at it.

See, there’s no question that, visually, MLB The Show 25 on the Switch is really showing the system’s age. There’s no getting around the fact that this game is pretty ugly at the best of times, and somehow the gap between this version and the one on more powerful consoles feels even more pronounced than before. It’s bad enough that I started playing Road to the Show as a female ballplayer, and I wondered why, unlike last year, my character’s best friend was now a man. It wasn’t until I read the dialogue closely that I realized, no, the best friend was still a woman, it was just that the game was struggling to make anyone look distinctive.

There is, however, a seeming upside to the game looking awful: it runs surprisingly well, for the most part. Where last year’s version of MLB The Show on the Switch had noticeable issues, I didn’t run into similar problems with MLB The Show 25. Loading screens didn’t feel like they took forever. There weren’t graphical hiccups that made pitching and catching a challenge. It worked as it was supposed to, which is a welcome change from last year’s edition.

Mind you, there are still some idiosyncrasies that persist on the Switch version of the game. For some reason, home run derbies continue to be an issue; much like in last year, it often feels like the pitcher is trying to get you out or induce weak contact, throwing all kinds of pitches well off the plate. The same thing definitely doesn’t happen in the PS5 version, so it’s baffling that it happens here. On a similar note, batted balls feel deader in the Switch version of MLB The Show 25 than they do elsewhere – regardless of the mode I was playing in or my settings, I never saw any home runs get absolutely launched. They’d clear the fence, but compared to the PS5 version, they just seemed to lack a little oomph.

But if that’s the price to pay for a version of MLB The Show 25 that, in general, runs well and gives you the same overall experience you’d find on more powerful consoles, I’ll take it. MLB The Show 25 on the Switch certainly won’t win any awards for looks, but if you’re hoping that the game gets a decent send-off on the hybrid platform – or even if you just want it to run better than last year – you’ll be pleasantly surprised.

MLBAM provided us with an MLB The Show 25 Nintendo Switch code for review purposes.