I was never an athletic child, but I have fond memories playing Little League Baseball. So much so that as I grew into an adult, I relied on those memories as my sole opinion about the sport. I would tell people that "it's a game that I had fun playing, but I found it boring otherwise". I don't know how true this is, but it felt like a smart thing to say. I did enjoy my time playing Baseball as a child, but I've never really given it the time of day as an adult. I've never really given Baseball videogames the time of day either.
Oh I've played RBI Baseball on the NES, Baseball Stars on the Neo-geo, and have fond memories of Super Baseball Simulator 1000 on the SNES (which had cyborg players and special moves for both pitcher and batter), but like Little League, that's before I reached adulthood. Super Mega Baseball 3 is the first Baseball videogame I've played since becoming an adult. I should mention that my preference for sports videogames has always leaned away from simulation. I like when the realism is sanded off. I already mentioned Super Baseball Simulator 1000, and it wouldn't surprise anyone to know I spent hours playing both NBA Jam and NFL Blitz, and I love those games dearly. Super Mega Baseball 3 made me think I would like it from its first moments due to its cast of cartoon character players.
It seems like such a small detail. It seems like it shouldn't matter at all, but for some reason having the teams in Super Mega Baseball 3 contain both male and female players struck a positive chord with me. It added a dimension to the game, an extra joy alongside the tension in the showdown between pitcher and batter. As I got a couple games under my belt, I started caring about the player gradings, to see whether or not I should use special pitches or simply try for a tricky fastball. I started learning the ridiculous names of not only my own team, but when specific players of the opposing team came up to bat I would say to myself "Ah, you return. I know how to deal with you", and then I would swear as they hit a line drive and got on base after I fucked up the controls and failed the dive to catch the ball. I feel like as I played through a season or a franchise, or even if I made my own team, I would become more strongly attached to these misfits with each successive game.
And while the characters are cartoony, the controls are easy to learn, and the game is sufficiently arcadey enough for my liking, I feel like there's a lot more complexity beneath the surface. I think the game is far from a baseball simulation, but I could feel the gulf between what I was doing with the game, and what high level play would be, either against the computer on a higher difficulty, or against a human opponent. I wonder if I would be able to work out the more complex plays and nuances of play on my own, or if I'd have to go searching for tips among the game's community. Both options feel like they're worth pursuing.
The reason I'm recommending Super Mega Baseball 3 is it got me to care about the sport of Baseball again. If you enjoy the arcadey side of sports videogames, or are a lapsed Baseball fan, I think there's something here for you. I've only hit one home run in the game so far, but it was as euphoric a moment as any I can remember in a videogame over the last year. I mean for once the joy of hitting the ball wasn't replaced with the crushing disappointment of it landing in an outfielder's mitt. The highs and lows of Super Mega Baseball 3 in a microcosm.
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