Super Mega Baseball 4 marks the return of the franchise since the third installment released back in 2020. Published by EA and developed by Metalhead, the game intends to be both an arcade and simulation experience with some success, yet it manages to stumble at the final hurdle in both experiences.

Super Mega Baseball 4 – Lots to Hit

For fans of the previous three entries, a lot will be familiar with the latest entry, and for newcomers alike, there’ll be plenty to get their teeth into. The game’s aim is simple. Try to find a happy middle between arcade and simulation for the sport of baseball. Unfortunately, unlike EA’s other sports games like FIFA, Madden and so on, Super Mega Baseball 4 doesn’t quite manage to walk the fine line with as much success.

Related: ‘A mixture between Sleeping Dogs and Hitman’ Keanu Reeves ‘John Wick’ Video Game All Set to Conquer $396B Gaming Industry

The game does a decent job of explaining the controls as you play your first match, with the tutorial feeling speedy and informative, but at the same time it can be information overload, with the game giving you very little chance to truly take in what it is teaching you, before you’re learning the next gameplay mechanic. For the most part though, the controls are intuitive and will quickly become second nature to the player, it’ll just take a few runs needlessly given away in pursuit of finding the right button at the right time to get there.

Anyone that is a fan of the sport will see everything faithfully replicated here, with every small rule, batting technique and pitching type on offer, and just like in Madden when you turn a ridiculous play into a touchdown, or FIFA when you hit a thirty-yard screamer, hitting a homerun is a sweet, sweet release of dopamine you’ll be chasing every time you play.

The new Shuffle Draft mode sounds exactly what it sounds like. Super Mega Baseball 4 takes every player within itself and shuffles them, spitting out fresh teams and new combinations that’ll end up helping you when you get to the real meat of the game, the Franchise mode. Shuffle Draft works in the same way it does on FIFA’s Ultimate Team, and the franchise mode works largely the same way as it does on Madden. Take over your favourite team, train up players to become powerhouse’s – a huge miss is a total lack of training minigames, a la FIFA – and make you and your chosen team the best there is.

Talking of FIFA’s Ultimate Team, Super Mega Baseball 4 doesn’t quite have a roster of legends and real life players to the size of its EA compatriots, but it does have over 200 baseball legends including the likes of David Ortiz, Willie Mays, and Babe Ruth.

Related: Summer Games Fest: 5 Games We NEED to Show Up, However Ridiculously Unlikely

As with any EA published sports game there’s always going to be an online portion for those with the competitive edge to test their skills against one another, rather than that of the game itself. Custom leagues, rules, matches and more will keep you entertained for a long time to come, and thankfully, and maybe surprisingly, there isn’t any microtransactions, player packs or anything of the sort, yet. EA only bought the developer in 2021 so may not have had time to brief Metalhead in the EA way of doing business, so whether the absence continues into Super Mega Baseball 5 is obviously unknown as we speak.

In truth the arcade aesthetic of the game could lead to plenty of people buying it think it’s just another pick-up-and-go baseball game, leading to disappointment and confusion no doubt. Super Mega Baseball 4 can be enjoyed in that way, to a degree, but to get the full experience and enjoyment from the game you’ll likely need to spend a few hours fully immersing yourself in what is an incredibly in-depth baseball simulation, at least compared to what it would appear to be on first look anyway.

The game series is certainly putting itself into a corner with each subsequent release, and seems like it’ll have a decision to make in the future. Does it want to be an arcade or simulation experience?

5/10

Super Mega Baseball 4 was played and reviewed on a code supplied by fortyseven.

Follow us for more entertainment coverage on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube.