Super Mega Baseball: Exhibition Games Only!

Time Played: 14 Hours

Amount Completed: One, Sixteen Game Season, Plus Two Best-of-Three Playoff Series

For devotees of baseball, Super Mega Baseball: Extra Innings (henceforth referred to as SMB) is one of only four (non-simulation) baseball games available in Steam's expansive catalog (14,957 games). These are the only games in which the player controls characters swinging a bat, pitching a ball, and running the bases. SMB shares this small identity with Baseball Stars 2 (a port of a game from 1992), and R.B.I Baseballs '15 and '16. According to Steam's review system, SMB is the best choice. Baseball Stars has only 10 reviews, even though it re-released over a year ago, while both the R.B.I. games suffer from abyssal ratings on a system that rewards too many games with Overwhelmingly Positive reviews (see: One Finger Death Punch).

SMB renders baseball cartoonishly, trying to imitate the goofy (and excellent) Backyard Baseball, while claiming tight controls and realistic game-play, like R.B.I. (or MLB 2K10, which is the most recent baseball game I've played. It was on Steam, but is no longer for sale). For this review I played the shortest possible season (sixteen games), and to play another, or continue the first into a second season, contingent upon its ability to deliver enjoyment (later to discover: continuing into a second season doesn't work as one might imagine).

Before beginning a season, spend some time examining the teams before choosing one, because it's the only choice to make. Perhaps it's obviously inferred by the abnormally short season: there is no trading. Nor does the game include an option to draft players, like Backyard Baseball. Instead each team includes twelve fielders, three starting pitchers, two relief pitchers, and one closer. Fielders have five skills which are self-explanatory: Power, Contact, Arm, Fielding, and Speed. They, along with Pitchers, also have Mojo. Each game, fielders and pitchers begin with a certain predetermined amount of Mojo, which increases as they perform well, and decreases as they do poorly. A better Mojo increases the other skills temporarily. In addition to the other skills, Pitchers also have Velocity, Junk (movement), and Accuracy. Apparently, SMB was modeled after the National League, so pitchers bat. Pitching stamina is not a skill, but is determined by whether the individual is a SP, RP, of CP. All pitchers of the same type have the same amount of stamina as each other. In easier difficulties, SPs have enough stamina to pitch a complete game without too much difficulty, while RPs should be limited to three innings every two games, and CPs can pitch an inning a game.

Difficulty in SMB is determined by EGO. Players can adjust EGO on a scale from zero to a hundred. The game begins the player around 15, where the player will regularly win games 30 – 0. At this level of play, fielders will catch fly balls automatically, the computer won't hit anything (no matter how bad the player pitches), and the player's bat will always move to where the pitch is! Fortunately, one is able to change EGO after each game. At first, anxious about adjusting EGO too quickly, I increased it by two after a game, sometimes five. By the end of the perfect season (all wins), EGO was set to fifty-five, yet at this EGO, the last two games of the season were close: the finale, an 1-0 extra-innings victory. But for the playoffs it only fair to increase it one more time, to sixty. Of the three main activities; pitching, batting, and fielding, batting transformed the most, especially from 55 to 60. At this difficulty, while the aim of the batter still moved toward the ball, the player needed to take control. The automatic nature of lower EGO leads to poor conditioning, which must be unlearned at higher difficulties. Pitching became more difficult as well, but not in such an obvious way as batting. Fielding required some control of the player, but fly balls were still mostly done by the computer.

Considering how much is automated at fifty EGO, its still surprising (considering what else wasn't included), the game includes a CPU v CPU mode where the player can watch two AI's bat it out.

SMB's decision to try to find the space between Backyard Baseball and realistic baseball (like 2K or RBI) is like the argument between The Federalists and The Anti-Federalists of the United States over federalism. There is no good middle ground, and here SMB fails. While it does offer in-depth stats (though still short of Out of the Park Baseball's inexhaustible bounty), it does not allow the player to view the stats of the other teams, by which a valuable strategic option is denied. This is especially egregious for the playoffs. Players are even prevented from viewing the most basic stats of a game, such as hits. Stats are only displayed when a batter comes to the plate.

Characters are described by baseball cards, with bars indicating their relative strength in each of the skills. Yet they also have a numeric value (zero to hundred), but this is awkward to locate. These skills are improved, not across seasons, but over a single season, by hiring trainers. Each fielder or pitcher has slots (on their baseball card) labeled Gear, Trainer, Coaching, and Style. Each trainer has three bonuses which can be placed into character slots. A trainer provides bonuses like +3 Arm, +5 Power/+3 Contact, or +10 Mojo/+3 Junk/-3 Accuracy. The interface for deciding which player can benefit from which trainer, before hiring the trainer, is both obtuse and confusing, which seems to be a trend with SMB's layouts. It's not that the screens are difficult to navigate. Instead, it feels as if important information is spread across five different screens, which the player needs to search through to make the correct decision, instead of the relevant information being on the same page.

But if the game isn't serious enough, it isn't silly either. The names attempt amusement, but instead seem mindless at best and inane at worst. Whatever the name, SMB's Donk Oh and Muffin Studwick haven't an ounce of personality compared to Backyard Baseball's Pablo Sanchez or Angelica Delvecchio. In SMB each character is as exciting as a poorly rendered pasteboard cartoon. And why is everyone, including the women, adjusting their crotch as they step into the batters box?

In spite of everything, SMB has some real strengths. Pitching and batting are both quite enjoyable, especially at higher difficulties. This game is undoubtedly fun when played as a single exhibition game, but for many players (or at least myself), the lack of a serious Season is a serious injury. Seasons lack the strategic aspect that baseball requires: no trades, not enough pitchers, can't see the other teams' stats, and an awkward training program.

So, if you're looking for a game to play with friends, or a exhibition experience, its definitely worth it, but if you're interested in baseball game for all seasons, let this one fly by.

As a final note, the pre-intro screen, which shows the developers name (Metalhead Software) is incredible loud and unskippable. It feels like it lasts an eternity. Regardless of the player adjusts the in-game volume, this will always be earsplitting loud! You've been warned.