{"id":113314,"date":"2020-05-23T17:00:00","date_gmt":"2020-05-23T17:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/reviews\/switch-eshop\/super_mega_baseball_3"},"modified":"2020-05-23T17:00:00","modified_gmt":"2020-05-23T17:00:00","slug":"review-super-mega-baseball-3-step-up-to-the-plate-in-this-slugfest-sequel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/2020\/05\/23\/review-super-mega-baseball-3-step-up-to-the-plate-in-this-slugfest-sequel\/","title":{"rendered":"Review: Super Mega Baseball 3 &#8211; Step Up To The Plate In This Slugfest Sequel"},"content":{"rendered":"<div class=\"media_block\"><a href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/c55974016a8fa\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/c55974016a8fa\/small.jpg\" class=\"media_thumbnail\"><\/a><\/div>\n<div id>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Super Mega Baseball 3 Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105263\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105263\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Super Mega Baseball 3 Review - Screenshot 1 of 4\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"generator nintendo-switch-handheld\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>For the initiated, baseball is <em>the<\/em> great American pastime. From the pang of a freshly struck home run to the smell of hot dogs wafting down from the stands, it\u2019s the quintessential U.S. sport. Much like gridiron and basketball, the sport\u2019s recent video game recreations have also become more focused on hyper-accurate realism over anything else. The likes of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/nintendo-switch\/r_b_i_baseball_20\"><strong>R.B.I. Baseball 20<\/strong><\/a> has followed the trail blazed by <strong>MLB The Show<\/strong> with huge attention to detail, but that focus can too often put off players looking for more of a merciful arcade experience. For those looking for a little more accessibility, the <strong>Super Mega Baseball<\/strong> series has become the go-to place on Switch.<\/p>\n<p>Of course, we should point out that the latest addition, <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/super_mega_baseball_3\"><strong>Super Mega Baseball 3<\/strong><\/a>, isn\u2019t a proper pick-up-and-play experience such as retro classics such as <strong>Clutch Hitter<\/strong> or <strong>MLB Slugfest<\/strong>, but rather a comfortable middle ground between simulation and silliness. There\u2019s just enough tutorial content to ease you into the game\u2019s rule-set and the nuances of the sport, but a huge amount of depth for those that know the subtle difference between a two-seam and a forkball, or the pros and cons of rotational hits vs. linear.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Super Mega Baseball 3 Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105266\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105266\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Super Mega Baseball 3 Review - Screenshot 2 of 4\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"generator nintendo-switch-handheld\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p><a href=\"http:\/\/www.nintendolife.com\/games\/switch-eshop\/super_mega_baseball_2_ultimate_edition\"><strong>Super Mega Baseball 2: Ultimate Edition<\/strong><\/a> set quite a bar when it jumped onto Nintendo Switch last summer, and this instalment thankfully keeps all the things its forerunner did right \u2013 the customisable difficulties, the subtleties of power batting and the sheer level of player customisation options \u2013 and simply adds in many of the features that were notably absent or in need of extra flesh. One of the biggies, and something most big-name sports sims simply couldn\u2019t live without, is the introduction of a new and improved Franchise mode.<\/p>\n<p>Now you can oversee a team through multiple seasons rather than just the one, controlling everything from rookie signings all the way to the diet of your players. Yes, you can even have a go at being a sports nutritionist, with your choices affecting player performances on the field. There\u2019s a real joyful sense of humour to how Super Mega Baseball 3 ties this mode together, with the option to send your players to aerobics classes if they\u2019re getting a little slow or assign them to yoga classes for a little extra flexibility. There\u2019s no option for trading, but even without that sort of external economy, this new and improved mode will likely become your biggest time sink.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Super Mega Baseball 3 Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105267\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105267\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Super Mega Baseball 3 Review - Screenshot 3 of 4\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"generator nintendo-switch-handheld\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>On the field, Super Mega Baseball 3 is every bit the deep and rewarding experience it was in the previous entry, although a few niggles still persist. While it very much leans into the simulation with the sheer amount of nuance to pitching, batting and running, the developer continues to utilise mini-games to make all of the various mechanics flow into one another. Battling is all about finding the rhythm and sweet spot, pitching centres around timing and angles, and running becomes a chess match of sorts, where you need to weigh up moving your runners between bases at the risk of an out. Baserunners can now move off the base as soon as you initiate a steal, forcing you to watch with bated breath as your players attempt to beat catchers to safety. You can also pull off pickoffs now, but these can sometimes be a little <em>too<\/em> erratic for their own good.<\/p>\n<p>Fielding is one of the few areas in which Super Mega Baseball 3 still struggles, mainly because it can\u2019t quite decide how much agency it wants to give you. For the most part, fielding is done automatically \u2013 mainly because balls are often struck so fast they\u2019re already halfway across the diamond before you can react \u2013 with your success of making a quick and secure catch determined by the stats of a given player. Your control of this aspect of the game centres around pitching the ball back to one of the bases on the diamond, with each position represented by a face button. It&#8217;s an enjoyable aspect, but one that often feels a little too random.<\/p>\n<aside class=\"picture embed\"><a title=\"Super Mega Baseball 3 Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\" href=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105264\/large.jpg\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"http:\/\/images.nintendolife.com\/screenshots\/105264\/900x.jpg\" alt=\"Super Mega Baseball 3 Review - Screenshot 4 of 4\"><\/a><\/p>\n<p class=\"generator nintendo-switch-handheld\">Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked)<\/p>\n<\/aside>\n<p>As a full package on Switch, Super Mega Baseball 3 really isn\u2019t struggling for content. While it doesn\u2019t have the additional DLC bulk of the previous game, the improvements to on-field play and modes more than make up for it. Performance-wise, the game rarely drops the ball, although those semi-cartoonish character models are still a bit of an eyesore \u2013 even more so with the blurring that\u2019s been employed to keep it running smoothly on portable hardware. Thankfully, the full support for both local and online co-op play (including in Franchise mode) has been included on Switch, so those with a shared love for the sport will really enjoy sending this semi-simulation out to bat.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<div id=\"conclusion\">\n<h2 class=\"heading\">Conclusion<\/h2>\n<p>What it lacks in hyperrealism and officially-licensed teams, Super Mega Baseball 3 more than makes up for with a carefully adjusted set of physics that are deep enough to cater to RBI Baseball players while offering up the welcome addition of some improved modes. Franchise mode alone feels like a proper extension of the brand, with its irreverent sense of humour lending a welcome nuance to an otherwise content-heavy sports simulation.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Captured on Nintendo Switch (Handheld\/Undocked) For the initiated, baseball is the great American pastime. From the pang of a freshly struck home run to the smell of hot dogs wafting down from the stands, it\u2019s the quintessential U.S. sport. Much like gridiron and basketball, the sport\u2019s recent video game recreations have also become more focused [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[27],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-113314","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-nintendo-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113314","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=113314"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/113314\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=113314"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=113314"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sickgaming.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=113314"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}