Largely the same as Super Mega Baseball 3, for better or for worse. The new (optional) Shuffle Draft option at the start of Franchise mode lets you pick from a pool of players to build your dream team. With real-life MLB legends now in the game, you can have a full Legends Franchise, a mix, or a classic Franchise of fictional SMB players. The new player traits are a welcome bonus that makes gameplay a bit more dynamic. Most players now have traits (abilities) that can be positive or negative. These range from increased pitching stats when pitching a 0-0 count, higher contact hitting when batting with 2 strikes, increased chance of dropping caught balls, increased running speed when stealing a base, etc. Traits fall under different chemistry categories, which adds some strategy in developing your team.
After some games, loyalty moments pop up which will affect a players loyalty (basically, a random question such as "You played a great game today, who had the best performance?), and picking between one of the two pre-selected players will increase their loyalty. Some instances pop up where you will end up decreasing player loyalty. At the end of a season, you can resign or release your players (loyalty comes into play here as more loyal players will be willing to stay for a lower salary and less loyal players will ask for a higher salary), in addition to signing free agents in the off-season. Sadly, no player trades are present. Training players works the same as in SMB3, but with much more opportunities along with random chances that can give pitchers a new pitch, and chances to gain or lose certain player traits.
Graphically, the game looks somewhat better. Player models look a bit worse as faces are more cartoony and for some reason, most players are fat or stocky.
The UI could use some work as some options such as substituting pitchers and navigating players in free agency menus require extra button presses.
The soundtrack is decent, mostly made up of songs and instrumentals probably created by local, no-name bands and music artists. The sound effects are a bit too zany and over-the-top, and some of the umpires come off as very energetic and enthusiastic in their strike call outs.
The Legends implementation feels lazy. It's nice having them there, though they mostly look like a step above the in-game created players.
Lastly, customization is pretty much the same. Some new player faces and models exist along with a boatload of player names for the announcer to call out during at-bat/pitch situations but expect the same level of SMB3's creation mode.
Some issues can probably be fixed in later updates as Super Mega Baseball 4 just released, but this entry is a decent improvement over its predecessor.
After some games, loyalty moments pop up which will affect a players loyalty (basically, a random question such as "You played a great game today, who had the best performance?), and picking between one of the two pre-selected players will increase their loyalty. Some instances pop up where you will end up decreasing player loyalty. At the end of a season, you can resign or release your players (loyalty comes into play here as more loyal players will be willing to stay for a lower salary and less loyal players will ask for a higher salary), in addition to signing free agents in the off-season. Sadly, no player trades are present. Training players works the same as in SMB3, but with much more opportunities along with random chances that can give pitchers a new pitch, and chances to gain or lose certain player traits.
Graphically, the game looks somewhat better. Player models look a bit worse as faces are more cartoony and for some reason, most players are fat or stocky.
The UI could use some work as some options such as substituting pitchers and navigating players in free agency menus require extra button presses.
The soundtrack is decent, mostly made up of songs and instrumentals probably created by local, no-name bands and music artists. The sound effects are a bit too zany and over-the-top, and some of the umpires come off as very energetic and enthusiastic in their strike call outs.
The Legends implementation feels lazy. It's nice having them there, though they mostly look like a step above the in-game created players.
Lastly, customization is pretty much the same. Some new player faces and models exist along with a boatload of player names for the announcer to call out during at-bat/pitch situations but expect the same level of SMB3's creation mode.
Some issues can probably be fixed in later updates as Super Mega Baseball 4 just released, but this entry is a decent improvement over its predecessor.