Super Mega Baseball 3

So far pretty fun tbh. I wasn't expecting it to be but there are some mechanics that just aren't really explained that well. This is my first game of these series so maybe I'm just being noob. But it is fun

Has a Backyard Baseball feel to it, but can be challenging and more dynamic which is great for more experienced players. This game is tremendous and better than any modern MLB The Show editions.

dacent

Occasionally knock out pitchers with a hit. Surprisingly deep franchise mode, good series.

This is a great game. The overall flow of play just feels right. Pitching is particularly fluid; I love the physics motion of each pitch type. I do wish they offered a mechanic for knuckleballs and maybe a small selection of different change-up options, but it's minor quibbling. The endless tweakability is also fantastic. For fun and giggles, I created a custom league with the entire 1962 MLB teams with actual player names and basic stats. (My dad's favorite sports team ever was the '62 Giants). It's a total blast to send up Mays and McCovey against Koufax and Drysdale. *Edit -- The CPU AI does a good job of identifying situational baseball most of the time. The CPU pitchers will nearly always pitch around Mays if they can (no one on base, or with runner on base but with 2 outs, etc.). It will situationally have pitchers bunt (I play NL). Baserunning feels just right, with a good mix of solid steals when you time it right, but getting your backside handed to you if you get a bad jump or the pitcher catches you in a timed pitch out. One nuance the developers also got right --- playing baserunners from the outfield. It's rare to have a throwout at the plate or getting caught trying to stretch a double where it feels like the computer is cheating. Your good decisions on the basepaths are rewarded, and your bad decisions are punished appropriately. The Ego settings may take some time to dial in. After about 3 games I pushed it to between 32 and 35, but recognize that within another week or two will need to push up again. *Edit -- Pushed ego to between 45 and 50 and the game still feels just a *tad* too easy. My biggest worry about pushing to higher ego settings is the computer's proclivity for fouling off pitches. This creates a weird negative feedback loop with the very limited number of pitchers you can keep on your staff. You end up tiring out your limited number of relievers with these long, drawn-out plate appearances by the opponent CPU. I think the game logic needs to have a very slight adjustment to just have batters put the ball in play more (player and CPU). When you've only got 8 pitchers on staff and your starters' pitch counts can't really go above 90 before their performance falls off a cliff, wasting foul pitches is somewhat punitive. If pitch counts and fatigue/stamina were more controllable, it wouldn't be as a big deal. Or if they'd just open roster size up to the standard 25. I know they went with one more player per roster in SMB4 (22 total vs. 21 total). Not sure why you don't just go official MLB roster size, but what do I know? All that said --- take any minor complaints with a grain of salt. I'm loving this game and give it a wholehearted recommendation.

I'm in the top 150 globally on this game on the Nintendo Switch, about 900 hours played time. My ego sits around 82/75/75/67. Here's my review, which will tend to be critical of more niche things than what other reviewers talk about. To start off: This is the best modern baseball game I've played. Better than SMB4 in its current state. Better than The Show in any of its iterations. The only game I've played that could hold a candle to it is MVP Baseball 2005, and good luck finding that game. The hitting, the pitching, the mojo system -- all great. Some old reviews of this game claim it has "catch up mechanics" where the game assists the CPU when you're winning. This claim is just not true. I've won many games after trailing, and have not noticed any system that prevents this. Some players perform way better than the grade they're given, and this makes the game very fun for me. My league is dominated by Pedro Nixon, a backup catcher with a C grade who can't stop hitting home runs. Rip Dingers, who I think is graded A overall, can't seem to push his ERA above 0.225. Maybe different players will dominate your league. This is where the mojo system is so great. Ball paths tend to be a little formulaic. For example, it's much easier to hit a ball straight between the pitchers' legs than down the line. Ego curves in funny ways. Setting your hitting ego at 79 will make an opposing pitcher much more difficult than 78. You get used to it. Likewise, athletes range from legendary to trash tier. An A+ pitcher will be nearly unhittable. Meanwhile you can tee off on their C- reliever. Disappointingly, the CPU is not a very good manager. Many times, a struggling pitcher will be left out there far too long. I could keep going on, but I'll leave it here. It's a fun game that you should buy if you enjoy baseball.