PlayStation 4
Released by Metalhead Software in 2018
Grade: A
Super Mega Baseball 2 is a rock solid baseball simulation disguised as an over-the-top cartoon arcade game. It’s brilliantly designed to capture baseball’s depth while keeping things fun and moving along swiftly.
Where it falls in the series
It’s the second go-round for this outta-nowhere competitor in the baseball gaming market. Super Mega Baseball 3 followed in 2020. All versions are download only.
Praises and gripes
This game has a distinct cartoon style that’s pretty damn cool and unique. Players of both genders move with lifelike realism, and they do funny things like sneeze and scratch their asses. The varied stadiums are attractive and stylish. If you don’t like the goofy teams like the Sirloins, Herbisaurs, and Wideloads, you can create your own team and players with ease.
Gameplay-wise, it’s a deceptively deep simulation. You need to use genuine pitching and hitting strategy. Pitching is smooth and natural with a fantastically simple mechanic: choose your location, then quickly move a reticle over the target. You can also use the “power pitch” to ratchet it up (the effect is less arcadey than it sounds) but you’ll deal with a much faster reticle. Against the CPU, you’ll occasionally see icons saying “Fooled” or “Anticipated” to tip off how your strategy is working. (I wish The Show had that!)
In the batter’s box, the oversized ball is easy to track as it comes to the plate and it curves and bounces realistically. The view is slightly off-center depending on righty-lefty, which I usually hate, but it somehow works great here. It’s easy to move the batting cursor and build an instinct for the strike zone. One nitpick: bunting is needlessly difficult.
The action in the field is surprisingly realistic. Even though the fielding animations are dumbed down, the pace and timing is spot-on. You can rely on your baseball instincts to know when to stretch a single to a double, tag up on a fly ball, go for a double play, or throw to your cut-off man (or woman).
The baserunning controls are taken straight from The Show, and they’re perfect. The fielding controls aren’t bad, but could be better. Catching certain balls is harder than it should be. When ground balls are hit, time slows down to allow you to react, which is pretty nifty, but you’ll need a lot of practice to learn the timing.
There are some nitty-gritty details left out, but you won’t miss them. There are no passed balls; the catcher stops everything. I never saw a ground-rule double. You don’t need to warm up pitchers before bringing them in. There are no lead-offs or pick-offs, so you can ignore that repetitive process, and don’t worry, the mechanics and logic for stolen bases is good anyway. The game is basically designed to keep you in the action, not fumbling around.
The difficulty is adjusted on a 100-point scale called the “Ego Meter,” which you tweak up as you get better. You could adjust hitting and pitching separately, but guess what? I didn’t need to. I’ve played The Show and tinkered with sliders for weeks working toward a realistic challenge. With SMB2, I was progressing naturally with one simple setting, and the games were playing out just fine.
In fact, everything about this game takes the aggravation out of typical baseball gaming. Common problems like slow pacing, too much time spent in menus, no CPU assistance, finicky fielding controls, out-of-balance hit placement, unfair pitching logic … they aren’t an issue here. This game is brilliant for all things you don’t notice.
Of course, that does mean that it’s not quite as deep as The Show, and fanatics may find that unsatisfying. Hitters don’t have hot and cold zones. You can’t reference the outcomes of earlier at-bats. Pitchers don’t build or lose confidence in individual pitches throughout their outing. There are fewer teams, fewer stadiums, and less unique player attributes.
One notable nitpick: While I love the presentation all-around, the screen is too cluttered with displays, and there’s a CONSTANT “ding” sound for any little thing you do well. I really wanted to turn the damn thing off. And during a season game, there’s a “Saving Progress” message that pops up all the time too.
Anyway, I think it’s safe to say that this game is a winner, a total breath of fresh air. It’s got cartoon charm and awesome gameplay that’s realistic without being tedious, overbearing, or complicated. It makes me wish that one day we’ll get a Super Mega Football or a Super Mega Basketball.