Powered by EA Sports, the greatest baseball game of all time adds real-life players for even more depth and breadth.
When I reviewed Super Mega Baseball 2 on Switch in 2019, the only downside I mentioned was that it didn’t have an MLB license. Four years and his two games have passed, and while Super Mega Baseball 4 technically still doesn’t have an MLB license (the MLB Players Alumni Association is the license used here), the real-life retired The addition of a professional baseball player is perfect for the atmosphere and atmosphere. Perfect for the series. Now out on Switch and other platforms, Super Mega Baseball 4 has the perfect infrastructure to surprise and delight me even after dozens of hours of playing Super Mega Baseball 2 and 3. It adds richness to your look. Developer Metalhead Software now sees the EA Sports family once again create a better game than its predecessor, but this feels like a huge leap compared to his 2 to 3.
The most spectacular addition is the addition of over 200 MLB legends to the roster. In some cases Legends may stretch it, but the actual number of players ranges from Babe Ruth who played 100 years ago to players like Alex Gordon who last played in 2020. . It’s like opening a pack of baseball cards to sift through eight new teams made up of these old pros. If you’re someone who likes to do things like, “Hey, remember Dave Righetti?” It definitely leans towards the last 30 years, but it has a good balance of old and new players. You can play a season or franchise with these teams as soon as you launch the game. You can do the same with his squad of 20 Super Mega Leagues, which feature a wide cast of characters from other games in the series. There is also a Creators League for content creators and influencers. I’ll be honest. I didn’t mention it, but if you’re interested in Jomboy Media, you can play as the people there.
You can mix and match these leagues to create your own, but even better is the biggest new mode added to Super Mega Baseball 4: Shuffle Draft. This is a streamlined way of building a team from any collection of players. You draft a roster of 22 players and he picks one from a group of up to eight people each round. Starting players vary in position and quality, but as they progress, the pool of players is limited to open spots on the roster. For example, if the first few picks were all he was a starting pitcher to fill a four-man rotation, he might not find one more starter. Similarly, if you don’t draft any catchers, the final round is basically everyone catchers. This keeps all leagues and seasons fresh in an easy-to-understand and fun way, and lets you customize your team to your liking. Once you draft that team, you can incorporate it into virtually any mode.
With the exception of Shuffle Draft, the remaining modes have received significant clarity and polish. The great tradition of Shohei Ohtani has made dual wielding possible. The depth of the bullpen allows for more variation after the match. Player traits have also been expanded and incorporated into an overall team chemistry system that rewards building teams with similar types of players. I enjoyed his third game in his version of Super Mega Baseball in the franchise, but the tweaks made here made it less sluggish. Helpful tooltips better explain player development and free agent quirks. I also like being able to do things like start in the Legend League and add super mega players as free agents over the course of the franchise.
Pennant Race, a seasonal online mode that was previously fun in crossplay, is still around with a few tweaks here and there. It uses Super Mega Teams, but MLB Legends are added to the underperforming teams each in-game online season, depending on which team is the best. I’m not typically an online player for sports games, but pennant races are a good opportunity. In my experience so far, cross-play has worked well with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X players coming in.
The technological gap between the Switch and other current generation consoles is hidden in the biggest problem with Super Mega Baseball 4 on Nintendo’s system. It works fine in games, but the visuals are a bit grainy (especially on handhelds) and load times are long. This is kind of an issue, and I can understand why, but this is a Switch game that is feature-filled and cross-platform with a console that dwarfs its power. Still, it’s worth calling out. Unless you’re someone like me who primarily plays this game on a handheld, I would prefer one of the other consoles. The Switch version is just amazing. It just shows age.
Even with that in mind, Super Mega Baseball 4’s visual and audio upgrades are impressive. While maintaining the atmosphere of the original, the game features various new camera angles and details to make it more visually appealing. It also has features like EA Sports, with a ton of licensed music, likely from bands you’ll see live 20 years from now, and you’ll never want to play this game again. (I recently joined a band called Midtown and when they played “Give It Up,” I was instantly transported to 2005’s Madden.) I’ve always considered EA’s MVP Baseball 2005 to be one of the best baseball games ever made, so I’d love to see the ’00s champion paired with the current titleholder. Great to see.
Like its predecessor, Super Mega Baseball 4 set a new standard for arcade sports games upon its release. Metalhead Software has been refined to near perfection over the last few years, and I’m obsessed with the lineup of MLB Legends and their new addition, Shuffle Draft.
