Super Mega Baseball is a Throwback of the Good Kind (PS4 Review)

Here are just some random notes so far (like how I did for LBP Karting... nothing organized in any way, just thoughts on paper). I'm sure I'll include more as I go.


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- Great variety of hits. Added fact that you can homer with the contact swing and the power swing doesn’t increase the trajectory angle, and the hitting model becomes very fair and not necessarily too choosey in one way or the other.

- No viable pick-off options or something to stop the steal. If somebody wants to steal, they will. You can pitchout with a fastball, but it’s just to throw fastest speed and know they won’t run in the end.

- No wild pitches, except balls blocked in the dirt. Finally saw my first bean-ball, though.

- This game needs separate difficulty levels based on different fronts of the game (pitching and hitting control as well as pitching and hitting abilities, for one).

- They tout that throws can be pre-loaded, but they cancel my pre-loads when I’m in the outfield time to time. Otherwise it works as advertised, but I kind of need certainties for a feature like this.

- I'm just super glad this game runs at 60 FPS and is essentially jaggy-free. It's one of those small things that could have easily gone overlooked, but Metalhead seemed to take that into consideration. The PS3 version has a few jaggies, but its framerate also seems to be very strong on there as well.

- Season games require nine innings, which is interesting because the main exhibition games go five innings by default. Games still last more than a half hour, or so I’ve noticed while playing even small ball games (4-1 and such).

- Only seen a few errors so far. No throwing errors in this game, but fielding errors (exclamation mark will go over the person’s head). What has really impressed me though is how the AI will sometimes misplay the angle in the outfield and it goes by them to the wall, instead of being perfect with it all of the time (I’m looking at you, The Show).

- No wind. Shame, nothing that can be done there really. This game has a little bit of hook/slice variety with hits, though every hit feels like it’s backspinned. Nothing with topspin where balls can fall fast, so the majority of line drive base hits really have the potential to be snagged by infielders if it’s hit on their line.

- Home runs are actually really nice, because the game is great at making them suspenseful. No landing reticles in this game, and the camera angle is just perfect for making you hold your breath for a while, on offense or defense. I actually even robbed a home run in this game, and let out a little “YAHOO!” to myself. Like I said, very rewarding and not too run-of-the-mill for being an arcade game.

- Bunts are popped up too often, though I’m guessing I’m getting under it with my cursor. Still, their pitcher is handling too many of my bunts via the pop-up and I’m unable to sacrifice very often.

- Baserunning mechanic is very good. I can tell exactly what’s going on with each player and control them very well. I also like how far they get off the bag on their own for fly balls and line drives, though if you don’t want to get doubled up you might want to start retreating them yourself.

- Pitching mechanic is rock-solid once I figured it out. It’s easiest using power pitching because when I let go of Square is when the reticle stops, so I can determine when I want to stop it. It just makes so much sense on how to use it, too… don’t even have to know what pitch I’m throwing, because I… well… I know based on how it’s going to break and using the right stick. I like that certain pitchers’ sliders break differently, too. I also like that pitching effectively super matters. I just hope it doesn’t become too overdominating on lower ego levels (mind you I’m 55 and sometimes feel like their offense can’t handle me).

- Tis game’s diving mechanic is terrific for the outfield, though spotty for the infield. In the outfield, they will slide when appropriate. In the infield, they will over-dive often and sometimes block it; unless you are a second baseman, that sucker will be safe to the bag.

- The point system (XP or whatever you call it) is so rewarding, especially when it has that arcade in-your-face flashy look to it.

- The AI sometimes leaves pitchers in too long. I saw a pitcher lose all of its mojo, stamina, etc. and was just walking the lineup meanwhile. Otherwise they switch when need be.

- Junkball pitchers don’t have enough on me. The problem really comes with the fact that it shows where the ball will end up, not where it starts (think All Star Baseball with that opposite effect).

- Fielding does a lot of things right with regard to proper base coverage, cut-off systems, backing players up, etc. It’s just a shame that a lot of small things are left in the dust to improper control.

- My pitchers (with low hitting attributes) seem to rack up pretty high batting averages. Aside from pinch-running, it makes it difficult for me to want to pinch-hit for them at times.

- I’m still not understanding the modifiers, coaching staff, etc. This stuff really just stresses me out looking at these screens sometimes.

- The biggest hiccup with fielding is how the game selects your fielder. There are times when I feel my infielder has a legitimate shot at snagging a ball, and I realize they ended up choosing an outfielder for me. Goes right by my infielder, my outfielder is left diving, and you know the rest. They say that you can change your fielder by letting go of the left analog stick, and this is very wonky control. I see why they do it so the person you switch away from becomes an auto-fielder, but it causes some serious issues tracking a ball in the gap. Probably the biggest hassle I have to face with the game.

- I’ve only tested it a couple of times, but the CPU is not very good at getting me out in run-downs. I’ll try again later.

- The game is playable on Vita with Remote Play, but the nubby sticks and slight lag makes pitching the most difficult thing. Metalhead also made a very curious decision about putting R2 and L2 on the top left of the touchscreen instead of making it the full rear touchpad like most of my games make it. I have yet to perform a proper diving catch because of this. I actually leap when I dive very often.

- Speaking of which, anyone else so used to The Show still that when they’re trying to throw to second base or a cut-off person, they’re using some button combinations with the right analog stick? Many times when I try and throw to second, I find myself leaping over the ball. I guess it just takes some getting used to.

- I’m scoring a bunch of different ways. Base hits can get runners in, home runs, and plenty of doubles and triples as well. Hit result variety is truly the least of my worries, though I’d like to see where home runs come from the most in the lineup (if everybody can hit them, etc.). The CPU hit an inside-the-park home run against me, so I guess anything is possible.

- I’m just glad that I know I’m not getting to 99 ego anytime soon, though I’m trying to float around 60 right now and see how that does. But knowing I can’t yet “beat/master” the game because it is arcade style is a good feeling. There are a lot of other games that I can’t say that for (NBA Jam, for example).