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Is there any else out there beside me that are fed up of FPS, RPGs, FIFA/PES at the moment? Oh, just me then. Oh well, I’ll carry on anyway. Because I felt like I really needed a break from the usual round of games released this year, and Super Mega Baseball looked to be a perfect fit.

super mega baseball extra innings baseball stadium

Are you ready to play some ball?

First up, Super Mega Baseball is arcadey, it’s cartoony and above all, it’s great fun. The best part is you don’t even need to be a baseball fan to enjoy it. While a little understanding about the sport will help, the game makes the tactics and nuances of baseball extremely accessible. I was looking forward to get straight into hitting a ball as far as I could, and the game allows you to do that. The controls are really intuitive and easy to get to grips with. Batting and pitching come down to a simple button press to execute the swing/pitch or hold the button for a more powerful, but riskier, shot.

super mega baseball extra innings direct hit

The local multiplayer mode offers a lot of fun (friends + a couple of beers = Fun O´ plenty!).

In no time at all, I was hitting the ball out of the park. Well, at least until I’d got my timing sorted. However, this was probably because I had set my Ego to 0, another great feature. The Ego meter allows you to set your handicap from 0 (easy) to 99 (rock-hard). As I mastered a game, I’d put my ego up for the next one, this meant I was constantly pushing myself and felt like I was improving all the time. It also meant that when I played my friends for the first time (up to four players can play local multiplayer) we were able to balance the game. My ego pushed up while theirs remained at 0. It made for a close match. I had to concentrate a little more on timing and placement while they just worked on pressing the button.

Running between bases was a little confusing at first, using the shoulder buttons to execute a run or both shoulders to stop, but I soon got the hang of it. Fielding was the same. Your players automatically run towards the ball, or you can press a button to make them dive.

super mega baseball extra innings in for the win

The graphics in “Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings” is rather cartoony, but the visuals still look great.

In addition to the standard exhibition game against the AI or friends, there’s also a pretty in-depth season mode. This came as a surprise given the fun, arcadey approach to the game and might I say, basic presentation of the game. Nevertheless, you can work your way through a full season, leveling up and unlocking trainers for your team to help boost the players. I’m a stats man, so I was pleased to see these in full flow, see my batting average climb (and fall sometimes).

It’s a shame that there’s no online mode though, but, given the trouble some developers have with this side of things and the focus on timing deliveries and bat swings. In hindsight, this is probably a good thing. The music grates at times and is rather repetitive, as are the cut-scenes, but Super Mega Baseball doesn’t feel like it’s meant to be played for any great length of time. I love picking it up, playing a couple of games and putting it back down again.

Pros:
+ Great fun
+ Intuitive, easy to pick up controls
+ In-depth season mode

Cons:
– Repetitive, grating music and animations
– No online (will put off some people)

Gameplay: 5/5
Graphics: 4/5
Sound/music: 3/5
Controls: 4/5
Replay value: 4/5

tgg grade 4 out of 5

Verdict: 4/5
Super Mega Baseball is a really fun, arcadey baseball game. Furthermore, you don’t even need to know the sport in-order to have fun either, and it doesn’t suffer from being bogged down by licences. The graphics are cartoony but great. There’s no online but the local multiplayer is fantastic fun and season mode is pretty in-depth. Some elements prevent this game from being a great. It’s only good for a few matches before you feel the need to put it down again. Simply put, Super Mega Baseball is an awesome and fun alternative to all the other games that´s out on the market at the moment. I would also like to point out that Super Mega Baseball 2 is set to release in 2017, so keep your eyes open for that one!

Title: Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings
Developer: Metalhead Software
Format: PS4
Genre: Sports
Resolution: 1080p
Release date: 2014-12-16
Difficulty: Medium
Spent time: 20 Hours
Average grade internationally: 85% Metacritic.com (PS4 version)
PEGI age rating: 3
Price: £14.99 (PC/Steam)/£15.99 (XBOne & PS4)
Install Size: Around 1GB