Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

[TheBrew101]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

I played the game for a couple hours last night as part of trial on Gamepass (EA Play). My impressions:

Gameplay: Very similar to SMB3. This is a good thing on my eyes. If you liked SMB3 gameplay, you will be right at home.

Sound Effects: There seems to "be a lot more going on" with the sounds. I don't see this as a positive or negative. Some may prefer the older style. One thing I didn't like was some of legends names were not pronounced correctly.

Franchise: Only played a few games but liked the manager moments and decisions that popped up. Think this will add a fun element.

Legends: Huge disappointment for me. I was excited to use legends in the game. However, most have zero resemblance to their real life counterpart and they share the same batting stances as other players in game (no uniqueness or likeness to the legend). I could go in and create a player, stick a real MLB name on him and he would not be any different than 70-80% of the Legends in the game. I wasn't expecting face scans but I was expecting the ability to see the caricature of the Legend and be able to tell who it was.

Creation Sharing: I'm not seeing any option for this. This is another disappointment for me. In SMB3 for PC you could download user created items (I had used a MLB user roster and logos). I was hoping for something like this on console (like MLB The Show roster and logo vaults).

Haven't tried online stuff.

Overall: I'm a bit disappointed to be honest. Game isn't bad by any means and I think it is a step up from SMB3....but it is a very small step in my opinion. It has gone from must buy to likely waiting for sale price for me (not sure yet....will see how I feel after 10 hour trial).

[Tomahawk]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

There is a YouTube video that shows all of the Legends in the game. Kind of comical to hear the person try to pronounce the names of some of the Legends in the game. Also, what did Frank Linzy and Tom Burgmaier ever do to be considered Legends?

[packmanuk]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

How do you make badges on uniforms smaller ? When I create a logo I want to make the whole thing smaller but I can't see an option for how to do it. I did it on smb3 so has something changed

[ZSmit88]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

How do you make badges on uniforms smaller ? When I create a logo I want to make the whole thing smaller but I can't see an option for how to do it. I did it on smb3 so has something changed

Select all the layers and then go into one of them (any, it doesn't matter) and select the move/scale tool. It will scale the whole thing.

[packmanuk]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

Select all the layers and then go into one of them (any, it doesn't matter) and select the move/scale tool. It will scale the whole thing.

How do you select all layers though ?

[rvrazorback]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

Gameplay is still the normal Super Mega way, which is good. I'll get used to the character models for SMB 4, but I think I like the 2/3 models more. The more traits and chemistry is nice and fun way to build different teams. Gives the players more variability.

I think the sounds (like a rocket ship when some hitters hit no matter what the ball does) are too cheesy, along with the umpires. Changing lineups, substituting players they made have one too many button presses when it has been fine before.

The worst part for me is the UI, mainly in the Team Roster menu. I have hated going through those tabs trying to read what I want. They have to take it back to what it used to be.

[vols]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

Is it possible to switch team your controlling during game?

[ClassActFan]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

I'm on Xbox, currently playing through the 10-hour free trial. This is my first Super Mega Baseball experience. Now I'm going to drone on for a moment.

Look, I'm not as big of a baseball fan today as I was in the 2000s and early 2010s. I still love my STL Cards, but I've become more of a box score watcher + playoff pay-attention'er these days for a variety of reasons.

Before I got back into gaming a few months ago, the last baseball game I had played was MLB 2K7 sixteen years ago. Back in 2005-2006 I was fairly active in the MLB 2K forums here. I also enjoyed the very last MVP Baseball.

Over the years, I ignored Super Mega Baseball. I rolled my eyes at it, even when I wasn't gaming much. As an Xbox guy, I thought, "Meh, it's not The Show. I don't care."

Then when I got my Series X and tried out The Show, I enjoyed it. Good game. Road to the Show is a boring, terribly bland and barebones mode in my opinion, but yeah, good game.

Long story short, how ignorant of me to have ignored Super Mega Baseball years ago. I think it's more fun to play than The Show, by far and away. I'm going to buy it. I'm mediocre at it. It's going to take some time to get used to it, especially because I had not played a baseball video game in sixteen years, but holy goodness the oodles of fun with SMB.

I played an online match and had a great time. I lost in extra innings.

Definitely buying it if I can find a good online league to delve into.

[Blzer]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

All of my initial impressions in my first game haha.

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[torpidbeaver]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

I’m pretty disappointed. Draft mode is cool but you use it once and never see it again. The small franchise additions are nice but they’re kind of small potatoes.

Gameplay is still solid, so that’s mostly good, but also feels like a missed opportunity. Add something maybe, like… I dunno. Make stealing bases more interactive, skill based. Or improve fielding. Stretching here though, gameplay is still very good, few complaints other than wondering what could’ve improved.

The legends are a big zero to me. This was never a game about MLB for me, so adding a half hearted dose of reality is not only a half measure in a franchise that’s all about being over the top, it misses the thrust of the game. If they were going to add players from other sources, it should’ve been characters like Kenny Powers and Willie Mays Hayes.

Least of all “additions” was the “influencers” roster, and add as many eye rolls as you can to those air quotes. **** off with numbnuts from YouTube and Jomboy talking about warehouse games and that bull****. Self felating idiocy somehow breeds a small empire of polo shirted forever high schoolers to invade mah video gamez. Hard pass.

My inner hard core cynic whispers that adding these characters is all in service of a long term plot to add a Live Service Card Mode to the game.

Anyway, I thought the EA money was supposed to allow a lot more in the way of budget and scope. Seems like all it did was turn a game that had made huge leaps from one version to the next into another incrementally “improved” yearly franchises, and gave some small money to former MLB players and YouRube personalities.

For now, I’m glad I didn’t pay for it, will wait for it to come out on Gamepass for good in a few months.

[TheBrew101]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

I don't understand the YouTube influencers in game either. I guess if that resonates with the target market and helps sell games then okay. The only gripe I have about that is in looking at couple YouTube videos today, these influencer character models are 100% better than most of the Legend models. I don't know most of these YouTube people but upon quick gameplay searches, the YouTube in game players bear a much better resemblance to their real life person than Cecil Cooper, Hank Aaron, Ryan Braun, etc.

I totally understand some not liking legends in this sort of game. I am one that actually WOULD really like that aspect if not done so poorly. No resemblance, no unique pitching styles or batting stances, announcer mispronouncing Legend names, etc. Seems like such a lackadaisical effort with the Legends. Yet the YouTube personalities seem to get really good player models. Just odd. I feel like they really missed the mark with Legends. And they have some look good like Ortiz and Babe so they can do it. They just didn't for the majority.

[muelly]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

I don't understand the YouTube influencers in game either. I guess if that resonates with the target market and helps sell games then okay. The only gripe I have about that is in looking at couple YouTube videos today, these influencer character models are 100% better than most of the Legend models. I don't know most of these YouTube people but upon quick gameplay searches, the YouTube in game players bear a much better resemblance to their real life person than Cecil Cooper, Hank Aaron, Ryan Braun, etc.

I totally understand some not liking legends in this sort of game. I am one that actually WOULD really like that aspect if not done so poorly. No resemblance, no unique pitching styles or batting stances, announcer mispronouncing Legend names, etc. Seems like such a lackadaisical effort with the Legends. Yet the YouTube personalities seem to get really good player models. Just odd. I feel like they really missed the mark with Legends. And they have some look good like Ortiz and Babe so they can do it. They just didn't for the majority.

I’d be willing to bet the streamers and personality types get added attention because they ultimately help promote the game and push sales. It does feel odd though playing with a specific legend and they look nothing like themselves. I largely only use the base teams/rosters anyway so for me it’s a non issue. I’ve enjoyed my time with the game, I do wish the menus didn’t feel so clunky though. It’s hard to suggest what they could do different when there is so much they already do well and continuously put out a great on field product that is both fun and easy for anyone to pickup and enjoy regardless age/skill.

[lowpaiddonkey10]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

Playing the game with the EA Play trial. If I didn't already have 1 2 and 3 I would buy this when it goes on sale cheap. Not different enough to warrant a buy for me. Not bad just the same old same old.

[Blzer]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

Playing the game with the EA Play trial. If I didn't already have 1 2 and 3 I would buy this when it goes on sale cheap. Not different enough to warrant a buy for me. Not bad just the same old same old.

After playing that one game I may feel the same, but it depends on how much I can customize players (visually and with traits), how different the AI is, and how much deeper franchise mode may be. Since I was still only 16 games into my first season last time out, I suppose a reset is fine.

The MLB players don't help or hurt necessarily, but I might have them in my franchise knowing they just all play together on the same teams rather than being sprinkled throughout different teams. At least I will have some sort of "scouting report" on them when I play them. Maybe I'll add some players myself because of it.

Playing back parts of my video though, man those sound effects are whack. I didn't have my headphones on to hear them, but they are really going the arcade route with that portion for sure!

I kept mentioning on there that I don't like that camera angle when first hit in the infield. That'll take some getting used to.

[lowpaiddonkey10]

Re: Super Mega Baseball 4 Impressions Thread (All Platforms)

Same cartoony baseball game since it was introduced. No custom cameras for hitting fielding or pitching still. Cartoon characters with real names that look nothing like their real life counterparts. The Show might be getting stale but I prefer that type of game. No sale.