Super Mega Baseball 4 Review – Playing With Legends

Baseball may not be the most popular sport ever created, but it’s impossible to ignore the excitement and anxiety that goes into every game, even if you’re not the biggest fan. more pure and hard. It’s all been translated into video games over the years, and the Super Mega Baseball franchise is one of the most successful, if not the most popular, to go for another home run with Super Mega Baseball 4. Don’t be fooled By the cartoonish visuals and ass-scratching merriment, it’s a deep simulation that will demand the most from you right from the start.

So many things to manage, so little time

Knowing the basics of the sport but not being a hardcore fan, my take on Super Mega Baseball 4 will be that of a curious and interested outsider, always open to learning and understanding the inner workings of a beautiful sport. After a while of playing matches and playing with my team, it’s easy to see that this is a game betting on continuity and expansion, improving on the solid foundations of the series but not trying never mess with a formula that works.

At first glance, Super Mega Baseball 4 may look like a casual arcade sports game on the surface, with its cartoon characters and over-the-top, nonsensical commentary, but under the hood you’ll find a complex, thrilling, sometimes intimidating look. about sports, with massive choices such as season, franchise, or the cross-platform competitive game mode Pennant Race. Obviously, you can dive into a single exhibition match to hone your skills or just to enjoy a quick game.

The main feature of this edition is the inclusion of Legends, a first for a series that had its origins deeply rooted in the indie segment, eventually earning critical acclaim and encouraging Electronic Arts to acquire developer Metalhead in 2021. such as Mash Taters, Jack Cracker and Volt Bolter are more than 200 famous names in the sport, spanning several decades. The unlicensed nature of Super Mega Baseball has gone out the window, now offering a warm welcome to those stars you can play alongside offbeat names that have been a staple of the series for years.

With that comes Legends league mode, era-based team selection, and there’s the ability to mix and match Legends and characters invented in Shuffle Draft, as each team chooses one player per round to create the ultimate dream team. There are also six new stadiums created in the same imaginative style, 55 additional traits, and new features that have been requested by the community, such as two-way players.

But there’s also a significant overhaul on the visual side of things, improving cartoon visuals and refining animations and stages. It’s a gorgeous game if you like the art direction, and some of the pieces are quite exciting to watch, with poorly timed dives and long throws that feel close to the real thing. However, there seems to be room for improvement when outfielders get the ball back, with a slight animation lag when spinning to throw it.

Play ball

Beyond the cartoonish look is a game of skill, timing, and plenty of elements at work. Player traits are important ways to affect a game and can be good or bad, eventually affecting player skills and even affecting other players. There are specific requirements for a trait to trigger, and they come with three potency levels, both for positive and negative, being a result of team chemistry.

Team chemistry comes in five varieties, one per player: Competitive, Feisty, Disciplined, Savvy, and Cunning. Every player on your team contributes to each chemistry ranking, even those on the bench. Achieving a certain level of team chemistry will give you minimal to major benefits, so it’s always worth checking the general layout when drafting a new player.

As you enter the field, taking turns controlling the batter and pitcher, the atmosphere is remarkably cheerful and confident. Your bat swing can partly be affected by your traits and your team chemistry, but ultimately it’s up to you to find the right spot where you’re going to knock that ball out of the park. Aligning the cursor with the oncoming ball is easier said than done, even more so when you also need to judge your strength, again with perfect timing. It might not sound like rocket science, but only the perfect combination will result in a stunning bang.

Throwing is more about varying your throws and confusing the opponent. Line up your aim to maximize strength and efficiency, throw a few curve balls here and there and hope you land those three strikes. And then you have all the other strategies at your disposal to win the game, including infield and outfield positioning, diving and sliding, throwing a pitchout, and much more.

If things get too difficult, the ego system can again be changed mid-game to your liking. It’s a choice that may not be for everyone, as you feel like you’re cheating on the challenge as you go, and the standard difficulty levels may have felt more rewarding for some, but it what’s in the game.

True legend?

The sheer scale of additions to Super Mega Baseball 4 isn’t going to change the fundamentals of the series, and a quick look at the previous chapter shows that there are plenty of commonalities. A great game just got better, bigger, but it doesn’t cut ties with the past. There’s still the same mix of depth and silliness, with bats broken in rage or a badly aimed swing, a referee who mixes English and Spanish and an unhealthy dose of butt-scratching, but that’s part of the sports… maybe?

Super Mega Baseball 4 is an exciting, fun and complex version of the sport. There’s no denying its quality and complexity, but it caters to both players who want quick baseball games and those who are in it for the long haul. The question that remains for longtime fans is whether it’s worth entering the field primarily for the new legends, the visual upgrade, and a few extra additions that make this a solid game. It sure is good baseball, but consider the above before joining the draft.

Note : 8,5/10

Benefits

• Fun for all skill levels
• Incredible depth is there if you want to dive into it
• Great atmosphere and cartoon graphics
• Legends finally add real players

The inconvenients

• Not a major leap from the previous game

Super Mega Baseball 4 review code was provided by the publisher. You can read MP1st’s review and grading policy here.