Super Mega Baseball 4 Review (Bighonkinwalrus)
I bought this game and opted for the Ballpark Edition. It's early, but I do have some judgments. As someone who played SMB2, SMB3, and now SMB4, you can tell EA got their hands on this game. There are no microtransactions or anything like that, but it has an EA feel.
The gameplay is basic. If you've played any SMB game, you know the controls and you know how to play. Minus a few additional player traits, all you have to do is crank up the ego and swing for the fences. It's as simple as that. The developers went to town with the 'extras' as I'll call them. The game has more of a baseball feel. There's more relevant, ambient noise from radio and announcer voices and stadium chatter like vendors. Additionally, there are neat little sounds at each ballpark when you steal a base, a run is scored, or a batter strikes out. They did a fantastic job of giving the game a very immersive baseball feel.
From a franchise perspective, they cranked up the features. You can position swap and have position players pitch. There are player loyalty rankings and manager actions that will affect how your players feel and how likely they are to stay with the team. In a custom franchise at least, you can merge SMB players with past MLB legends and create a super cool melting-pot team to play. Create your own team with players from all over the eras of baseball. Pitch with Bob Feller, but throw from the outfield with Johnny Damon.
They've done a good job and added new traits, new ballparks, and a lot of information to the heads-up display in-game. A LOT. For lack of a better term, when you're ready to pitch or hit, the screen is 'busy'. A lot is going on. So much in fact that whether it's an increase in information or font size, the HUD takes up 20-25% of your screen until the ball is pitched. There is no reason it needs to be that big. It's early, but the cameras that follow the ball can be laggy. The game almost slows down at times when it should not.
As someone who enjoys playing a custom franchise, I was really excited to see what features they changed or improved, but unfortunately, the customization area of the game is largely untouched and for someone who loves to customize as much as possible, this was a bit of a letdown. There are no new/different logos, fonts, etc. They basically copied and pasted the features from SMB3 and devoted all their time to other aspects of the game. While disappointing, it's something I can look past without issue.
Pros:
- Sound quality has improved both with additional music and ambient sounds.
- Animations are more abundant. Players have different gestures, swaggers, and personalities. They make the players of the past SMB games look very vanilla.
- There are new ballparks and now if you play traditional leagues, every team from a basic standpoint gets its own home field; no more sharing.
- The game is easy to play, whether you are a newcomer or a lifer, you'll be able to play from minute one.
Cons:
- No addition of customization options (custom franchise mode).
- Heads up display is cluttered at times and can take up too much of the screen.
- Animations and chase cameras can be a little laggy (this may be a day-one issue only).
In summary, this game is an improvement on past releases. It's more detailed and immersive. If you're here to play ball, and nothing more, you'll have a great time. If you are coming for all of the finer aspects such as customization and micro-control of team aspects, you might have some minor hard feelings. However, if you've played the past editions, such as SMB3, this game is at worst, no worse than that. It's an overall improvement.