Mario Superstar Baseball

"Not Mario Tennis, but offers lots of fun when playing with friends."

As you may of known, Mario sport spin-offs is what made Mario extremely famous to anyone, due to the wacky, fun, hysterical gameplay that Mario calls a sport. Here is Mario Superstar Baseball, unique to it's kind, and an enjoyable multiplayer experience.

Story:4/10
I still never count this one. Especially for a sports game. Baseball is all the rage in the Mushroom Kingdom. Everyone batting, pitching, fielding and using special powers to power-up their games. One day, Bowser wants to conquer Mario and friends in a baseball game. Will he do it? That's where you come in. Get players for your team, conquer rivals, and defeat Bowser in a friendly game of baseball. Sounds somewhat similar to most sports games, right?

Graphics:8/10
Pretty good. From the great looking opening movie in the beginning of the game, from the grassy, gorgeous field near Peach's castle, every level looks unique and gives lots to offer. Peach's water fountain look crisp, the chain chomps is Wario's sandy field look good. Even Yoshi's level, with the detailed grass and background. That said, there are multiple reasons why I didn't give this a perfect score. There are multiple clipping errors on the sprites of your fellow Mario casts. It's most noticeable whenever someone scores a run; it shows a replay of what you did. Other than that, another complaint is the crowd. Seems like recycled garbage repeating again and again.

Sound:9/10
Funny, humorous Mario voices. From the scary, unique laugh that King Boo gives out, or from the funny voice of the Pianta, most of them will give you a happy look on your face. Music is pretty good to, although it lacks. There is a beautiful remix of 1-1 from SMB, and the relaxing music of Yoshi's park. These are pretty good, you may hum to some of the music!

Gameplay: 10/10
As said before, Mario makes every sports games wacky. Gimmicks are usually what adds to it. Piranha plant eating your balls, allowing you to go to extra bases. There are block in Peach's Castle, allowing the ball to get bounced up by the help of a note block, or stopped by a breakable block. This adds to the strategy, allowing people who can't run well or can't hit well advance bases.

This game is played like typical baseball; hit, pitch, field, switch. You now how to play. A major addition is specials. Either when you pitch or bat, hold R+A when throwing the ball to use your special. Hit the ball holding R to use your special ability. Most notably, captains have the most unique ones. They have ones that other players can't. Mario, for example, obviously has a fireball. This allows you to make the ball sailing through the field. Hitting anyone in your path. Pitching merely makes it difficulty to make contact with the ball. Players do have specials, like the amazing line drive. Special only to King Boo, his line drive is the best special in the game, allowing easy homeruns. When you advance bases or field, people have abilities that help them at that. It can be climbing a wall, dashing as you get the ball, or body checking someone to avoid an out. These help you decide who to choose, so choose wisely.


There also is minigames, enforcing your baseball skills.


Total:10/10
I really loved this game. Fun, enjoyable, and the cast is amazing. Who knew that Dixie's first Mario game is a baseball game?

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 08/11/08

Game Release: Mario Superstar Baseball (US, 08/29/05)