Super Mega Baseball 3

EDIT: as I was expecting SMB4 now that EA has the developer isn't quite the upgrade a sequel should be. Stick to SMB3 it's the only baseball game you'll need. I bought this one on sale recently when it was $5. I have been looking for a solid, fun baseball game to play for awhile. As much as I previously have enjoyed The Show on Playstation, I have been losing interest in full simulation sports games as I have gotten older. SMB3 is a great balance of what I'm looking for. The game is approachable and has adjustable difficulty sliders for each aspect of the game, batting, running, pitching, and fielding. It may seem very arcade like from the appearance but under the hood, their are some serious baseball mechanics. Things that play on the psychology of the sport, the pitcher and batter duel especially. Give up a few hits or a big HR? Your pitcher may grown tense and their stats decrease from being rattled. Down by a run, bases loaded, 2 outs in the bottom of the ninth? Your batter gets tense. I love these aspects of the game. High pitch counts decrease stats as well, requiring bullpen subs and I use a specific relief pitcher as strike out closer too. It doesn't have the MLB license but I prefer it this way. I like having my own custom team, logo, and players. There are a lot of customization options for your logo and colors as well as players both male and female for your roster. Best of all, no outdated rosters making the game never feel aged. It may not have the depth in franchise mode as the Show but to me this works to it's strengths. It lets you get right to the point that I came here for, to play some baseball. SMB4 is coming out in June but honestly, I can't see myself migrating over anytime soon. SMB3 is just that good and checks all the boxes of a baseball game I have wanted for years. If you have any interest in baseball whether casually or a hardcore knowledge, I recommend giving the demo a try. For me, the greatest aspect of baseball which sets it apart from other sports is the mental and psychological aspects. This game captures just enough of that to keep my interest without requiring some excel spreadsheet moneyball style to keep track of everything.

It's a fun arcade-y baseball game. Really like the "Ego" settings, basically allowing you to set individual difficulties for different aspects of the game to dial in how hard you would like the game to be. Team and player customization is also fun. Not incredibly robust but better than most sports games. Also, runs great on Steamdeck. I'm not nearly as good at the game with the thumbsticks on the Steamdeck or maybe it's the smaller screen but that calls back to the difficulty settings. I just turned them down a bit and the game was more enjoyable. Quick, pick up and put down games are the best for the Steamdeck in my opinion so it really gave the game new life for me.

The gameplay is solid, although I hate having to try and aim with the controller when hitting. If you've played the game you will probably know what I am referring to. Pitching works very well, hitting, is a little to busy. Also, be warned that franchise mode is not at all a "franchise mode" in the traditional sense. You can sign players and release ones on your team. There are no contracts or years remaining, only a salary. At the end of the season random players just resign, nothing you can do about it...and forget about paying for that same player in the sign and release section. His requested salary has now tripled or quadrupled. There is no trading of players or picks. There is no draft. The only thing you can do is sign and release players... but the budgets seem very low considering you can hardly afford any of the top players. Pick a low game count for the season as well. You CANNOT simulate your games in standard franchise mode. So you will be playing 9 innings times 32 or however many games....and playoffs are best of 5. It takes forever to finish a season. Also, you don't have multiple save files...only one, as far as I can tell. I did like the way player development was tied to team salary. That is a neat idea, but it also takes away from you signing players and then the players you just developed can walk anytime they want. Twas a nice idea. The game is fun to play though. Aside from the aiming while batting (which I think doesn't work, maybe it is better with a mouse). The cursor moves automatically when the pitch is thrown. Then you are supposed to adjust the cursor, but also while you are powering your swing, watching the ball, making sure it is a strike. In baseball you watch the pitcher, not at the spot directly in front of my feet. I just kept finding the game over compensating my swing actually making me worse than not moving the cursor anything at all...but if you don't move the cursor you just ground out of pop out weakly (on harder difficulties, because the pitchers hit the corners but you can't unless you aim). Like I said, if it was just a push in a direction, that would be fine, but the aiming isn't good on controller. Zero settings in normal franchise mode. Almost no settings in any portion. Overall, I was disappointed because I was expecting more, but I wasn't disappointed either. The game is fun. It is probably the best pitching system in any baseball game I've played. It is quick. I am not usually a big fan of defense in baseball games, and this has some automation added which makes it a little less cumbersome. I just want to pitch and bat, no fielding. Unless I am exclusively controlling one fielder. So, ya, game modes are extremely weak. Game play is fun. Overall worth a good $15. Review is for solo players. feel free to correct if you think I got something wrong.

Super addicting

I am trying to like this game but the pitching ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ sucks. They don't swing at ♥♥♥♥ outside the strike zone. Which makes this game way less fun, I can get hits but I have the unfortunate luck of never getting on ♥♥♥♥♥♥♥ base and when I do they get a double play and I get ♥♥♥♥♥♥. I only score on home runs. I should have bought something else.

I like how fun the game is

I don't even want The Show anymore. Let em have it. This one's better.