Super Mega Baseball 4 Review: Stealing bases never felt so different

Super Mega Baseball 4 is a brand-new baseball simulation game developed by Metalhead Software and published by Electronic Arts. Although it’s a sports game, it’s different than the ones that get released every year, especially in terms of aesthetics and overall feel. Every single release in this franchise has been a hit, and based on what I’ve seen while trying out the title myself, fans of the franchise will feel right at home with Super Mega Baseball 4.

Before I go ahead with the review, I’d like to mention that I haven’t religiously followed or watched baseball before, so I’m not too well-versed with the rules of the game. Having said that, let’s get to the review!

Super Mega Baseball 4 feels snappy and fluid

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In terms of the gameplay mechanics, Super Mega Baseball 4 feels very fluid and responsive. Since it’s a sports game, I resorted to using my controller with the PC rather than going for the standard keyboard and mouse setup. I personally felt that the controls were easier to keep track of when using a controller.

The mechanics of pitching and hitting are different from each other. While pitching, you will have to select the type of ball you want to throw and then adjust your throw within a specific hitbox. If the batter hits the ball, then you have to control the remaining fielders on the ballpark and time your throws accurately.

While batting, you will have to time your swing accurately and then time the running between bases too. For both these activities, timing is key. If you miss pressing the button on time, you could miss your shots or miss reaching a base.

The reticle while batting in Super Mega Baseball 4 (Image via Electronic Arts)

I’m not really sure if this will be the case with everyone, but I kept missing whenever I tried to steal bases. This could probably be because I still am not familiar with the rules of the game. Despite this, I did have fun with the title.

Super Mega Baseball 4 has something for everyone in terms of mechanics, so if you’re not familiar with baseball like me, you can just learn from the in-game tutorials and play the game. But there’s one small issue here. The tutorial segment is just an image with text. While the text is easy to understand, it can be a bit overwhelming to put it into practice during games. In scenarios where there’s a lot happening at the same time, a guided tutorial would have been a better fit.

As a pitcher, you have a lot of information on your heads-up display (Image via Electronic Arts)

If you’re a huge fan of the sport, then you can go deeper and swap players based on their attributes. Each player has a plethora of stats that make them unique, so you can literally come up with an innumerable number of combinations for your dream team.

Super Mega Baseball 4 also offers very in-depth character customization options. From their voice to the number on their jersey, you can tailor your character and make them unique. This is something that, in my opinion, adds an additional layer to the game.

When it comes to the leagues, there are a lot of options for you to choose from. You could go with the simple Exhibition mode, where you'll be competing against the game AI. If you want more of a challenge, you could participate in a season or Online Leagues. You can also create your own league if you’re bored with the other leagues in the game!

The audio-visual elements in Super Mega Baseball 4 are quirky

When you think of a sports game, the first thing that comes to mind is the athletes it features. But Super Mega Baseball 4 has some surprising twists in terms of aesthetics and design. The characters here have heads that are disproportional to their bodies and often feature some funny movements. Although it does not hamper the gameplay in any way, it does add a flash of humor to the game.

You can select different visuals, like the ball-park you want to play in (Image via Electronic Arts)

Ambient audio is something that you will see in most sports games today. In fact, the developers have done a good job of recreating the various ambient sounds that you'll hear during a real baseball game. What’s interesting is that while you’re on the menu screen, you will be greeted with some really amazing rock tracks. Being a music buff, I’m usually sold on a title if it has good music, and I liked the track selection for Super Mega Baseball 4.

There was one small issue that I noticed with Super Mega Baseball 4. When the game transitions from the loading screen to the match, there is occasionally a considerable delay between the audio and the video. It’s like watching a movie where you see the actors on screen talking, but you can’t hear anything for a few seconds, and then the audio kicks back in. This issue did not appear too often, and if it is indeed a bug, it’s something that the developers will likely fix in a future patch.

In conclusion

Super Mega Baseball 4 is a title that can be enjoyed by everyone around the globe. The title isn’t demanding at all in terms of system requirements. I personally own underpowered hardware, but my device could run the game without any stutters or frame drops.

You can design your own leagues in the game (Image via Electronic Arts)

The title has some really good customization features. Player customization and league building are the highlights, but it does not have a feature that lets you customize the ballpark. That shouldn’t be a deal breaker, but given how the other aspects can be tailored to your taste, not being able to customize your own ballpark is a bit of a letdown.