REVIEW: Super Mega Baseball 4 is a deceptively deep introduction to America’s favourite pastime

Don't let the arcadey graphics fool you; this is a game with thousands of hours of replayability.

Since at least Tudor times, people have whacked a ball with a stick and ran around a diamond for their dear lives. Rounders is a childhood staple of any Irish person's school experience, but when the game travelled stateside, adjustments were made, teams were formed, and modern baseball as we know it was born. The Super Mega Baseball franchise has often been seen as the indie darling version of the sport, with a fervent and active fanbase directly communicating with developers Metalhead to provide suggestions for updates, fixes, and future entries. And with publishing megacorporation EA behind the developers now, will the game have changed majorly since previous entries? If you've never played SMB or any baseball games before, you may feel overwhelmed opening the Team Statistics tab after starting up a game and seeing an ungodly amount of statistics. However, there's no need to fret; if all you're looking for is a quick game against friends or a batting session against AI, you won't need to spend too much time studying the figures. But you absolutely can, and the level of customisation in this game is unbelievable. The Ego System is back, which allows you to finetune exactly how difficult you want the game to be. I found myself having fun with a bit of a challenge at an Ego level just short of the Tough difficulty, and I was able to lead my beloved Sirloins to win the playoffs. If you're more into a Football Manager style game, Franchise mode gives you the option to sign and release players, provide training, and create a team that will last for generations, all while competing for championship glory. The game is great for guiding you through both menus and gameplay with tips, instructions, and advice on how to get the most out of your team, and your gameplay. For the first time in the series, real life players feature in the game, with baseball legends taking to the mound from across different eras of the game. And before you ask, yes, some of those players include the baseball players from the 1992 Springfield Nuclear Power Plant Softball Team. You can also create a custom team, so if you wanted to create a league comprised entirely of Irish pop culture icons, you absolutely could. For me, creating a team for the entirety of Craggy Island to take on the cast of Derry Girls was well worth my time. And best of all, the game comes equipped with Crossplay, which means that whether you're on the go on your Nintendo Switch, or sitting at home on your Playstation 5, you can play with players around the world on any console in online leagues or in Pennant Race, a race to the top of rankings with up to 15 players. Super Mega Baseball 4 is available now on Playstation 4/5, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.