Customer Reviews

Mario Superstar Baseball

5 star:		(29)
4 star:		(20)
3 star:		(8)
2 star:		(7)
1 star:		(6)

 

 

Arguably, Nintendo really knows exactly how to put the Mario franchise within the worlds of sports extraordinarily well. It first started with the status of the fast and furious Mario Kart series. Then, it was more laid back towards the putters with the wild and wacky Mario Golf series. After that, it took a turn towards aces with the Mario Tennis games for the Nintendo 64, and last year with the Gamecube. Still, there are a few other sports that are going to have the Mario bandwagon soon. Within the next year, there will be the European football, or soccer hyped Super Mario Strikers. But in the meantime, a Spring and Boys Of Summer tradition called baseball.

Mario Superstar Baseball for the Nintendo Gamecube, is a fast paced and eclectic gamers paradise through the world of baseball. The game really goes a lot deeper from the Super Mario Briothers series past and present with so many characters like Yoshi, Luigi, Mario, Peach. Also, some old favorites like the flying goombas, and dry bones from Super Mario Brothers 3, Koopa Troopa, and so many others. Arguably, the graphics are just delightful, and the gameplay and control is very easy to learn for some characfters, whether it is in the pitching, or the batting, and simply within the outfield. The fields also blend within each unique feeling of the Mario worlds with courses from the Princess Castle, and even the wild and wooly jungle worlds of Donkey Kong. The musical score is as cutesy, but not over the top for the game, but that arguably doesn't matter at all.

Mario Superstar baseball is a great addition for any fan of Mario, and baseball alone. While, there have been so few baseball games for the Nintendo Gamecube, this happens to really be one of the very few that does stand alone. This is a great sports game, and one of the few that really does hit a home run.

Graphics: B+

Sound: B-

Control: B+

Fun & Enjoyment: B- if you're playing solo; A- if you're playing with others

Overall: B

Mario Baseball is a entertaning game that is tons of fun at first. Anyone who buys the game will love so many of the intresting features like powerups mini-games, and fields. However you will find yourself very frustrated at times with the fact that you did not make the right play because the feilding controls are herd to master. Also after a while the game is not fun ro play for many then about 1/2 hour at atime.
Pros
*So many diffrent charcters to make up your team with
*Mini-games help to master some of your playing skills and are also fun
*Graphics and Sounds are good as always
*More characters can be unlocked
*Each character has a special ability that can be used when pitching or hiting

Cons
*Can get boring after a while
*The controls while on the feild can be hard to master

Overall
If you are a Mario sports fan it is exactly what you would expect. If you are a baseball fan this game might be alittle to crazy for you. However I think that it is worth a purchase because the game is entertaining even though it is not one of the best Mario sports games on the market.

This is the most fun I've had playing a baseball game in a while. You need to have a friend or two that you can play baseball games with and you will be whisked back to the good old days when games made you so mad you wanted to throw your controller and kill your friends. They should have made the A.I. better and there should have been more characters if you ask me but still, you have to love the addictive/destructive nature of Mario Baseball!

I played this game at Best Buy and it was impossible to resist!
Here are why I liked this game: (thank you, nintendo!)
- easy hitting, pitching, fielding, etc.
- familliar field backgrounds (like yoshi's field)

Of course the mini games (my favorite is 'wall ball') totally rock. The Mush Room (that's what it's actually said) on the bob-omb is hard. (hint: the high score in the beginning is 1000)

Yup! This game is a 5 star indeed!

I can't finish it because it's soooo fun!

First off, if you want a good multiplayer game, here you go. Mario sports are always fun multiplayer, and it holds true here. But single player in Mario Superstar Baseball is abysmal. I had fun playing through challenge to unlock everything, and it took me about 9-10 hours of total gameplay. If there could have been some sort of a season mode it would have been excellent. There is NO replayability to challenge, and now that I've beaten it all I can do single player is sit around and play exhibition. With just a little bit more effoert, this game could have been marvelous, but my copy sits on the shelf collecting dust in between multiplayer uses.

Mario has proven himself to be a diverse character in the world of video games. Not only does he save Princess Peach repeatedly, he also races karts, embarks on grand RPG adventures, and even participates in many sports. Mario Superstar Baseball (MSB) is one such sport game in which everyone's favorite plumber goes head to head against other characters from his world. The first baseball outing for Mr. Red is quite awesome, and it's sheer fun all the way through.

MSB starts off with a cutscene that basically explains the gist of the story. Baseball is the popular sport in the Mushroom Kingdom at the time, and Bowser sends out a challenge to all the major characters of the Mario universe. The challenge is basically to beat all the other teams, and then beat the Koopa King himself. This is the back-story behind the challenge mode, and while it isn't exactly intriguing or interesting it provides a background for the game, which is what it's meant to do.

The Challenge mode is the game's main single player mode. It has four difficulty levels to play through like all Mario sport games. That's about the only thing about MSB that's similar to other Mario sport games, though: the rest is very unique. You pick one of the major captains (Mario, Peach, Yoshi, DK, or Wario) and play the other four you didn't pick, making their players join you along the way. This is done in an especially interesting mission template; where throughout a game missions will come up and for each completed mission you earn a flag, and earning enough flags for a character makes them join your team. This character element is one of the standout features of the Challenge mode, but even more so is the ability to make characters reach Star rank. You have to perform certain tasks with each individual character to earn them stars which, when you've earned them all, upgrades them to the Star rank, which in turn makes them better, more skilled players. These challenges range from hitting the ball to pitching a perfect game to reaching a certain score on a minigame, so it's easy to see the range of difficulty and variety of missions offered. You can even keep the stars you've earned by saving over the file you used after you beat the game to play through again and get more stars, encouraging many replays.

Although the Challenge mode is MSB's main attraction, the game offers a few other diversions as well. There are a few minigames, none of which are particularly great but they're decent enough to enjoy and incorporate the game's elements nicely. There is also a unique Toy Field mode where the four participants (human or computer controlled) try to collect the most coins by various means. This mode is pretty solid as well, but it still can't divert much attention from the actual baseball games.

Playing MSB is simple, which makes the game easy to pick up and play. Everything moves very smoothly, whether it be positioning a batter in the batter's box or running to catch a ball. Batting and pitching is as simple as pressing or holding A, and running involves mashing B to speed up and Y or X to advance a base or turn back. This all works great, but there are some control issues that are outside the realm of the controller. For example, a runner on base will sometimes go when you don't want them to, and some fielding situations are done incorrectly because you take automatic control of the wrong character. Issues like that are really annoying but not too frequent, so it doesn't hinder the experience much.

MSB's simplicity makes it easy to jump in and play, but there is also some depth to the game. Advanced players can play the game more strategically, especially since there is a very wide variety of characters with unique skills. Making proper use of characters that can catch balls from farther away, jump extra high, and run extra fast takes more time to learn, but is very rewarding. Each character has a special Star ability too, where they hit a fireball or bullet bill, for example, or throw pitches similar to their special hit. Using all these techniques also deepens the actual gameplay, because you have to have a deeper skill in controlling the characters. So while MSB is easy to play, it's rewarding to look deeper and enhance your knowledge and skill.

MSB is also a great looking game. The typical 3-D Mario graphics are at their finest for the time, with everything looking sharp and smooth. Character animations are fluid and fairly realistic, although occasionally a player will catch a ball without their glove in front of them. The menu interfaces are also nice; switching positions is a cinch and changing up the batting order is just as simple. The animated cutscenes, though, are the finest graphical points in the game; they look simply fantastic.

The game also sounds just as good as it looks. All the sound effects, whether it be hitting a ball or characters making noise, are all great. The sound of hitting a ball is particularly satisfying, especially when you know you've hit one out of the park and it goes flying up into the air. The music tracks are also very good and fitting to their respective stadiums. The only problem with the sound is the two songs in the game that have lyrics in them: they're really lame. "Let's play baseball every day! Let's play baseball every night!" and "Let's play a baseball game!" just don't sound very original; in fact they sound extremely juvenile. I could see a little kid enjoying the songs, but anyone over the age of seven won't appreciate these two jingles one bit.

Overall, Mario Superstar Baseball is an awesome game. It stands out within the Mario sport series with its deep challenge mode and simple gameplay that offers some good strategy and skill for advanced players. Most importantly, though, MSB is just plain fun. It's really easy to just kick back and play a game of baseball with this title without worrying about loads of complications and realism, and that's why MSB earns itself such a positive review and loads of play time.

Positive:
+ single player Challenge mode is great
+ vast selection of characters
+ plenty of depth for advanced players
+ simple but fun gameplay
+ sharp visuals
+ satisfying sound effects

Negative:
- some confusing control issues

THE FINAL VERDICT: MSB is a fantastic sport game that's simple enough for beginners but deep enough for advanced players, and the Challenge mode will keep anyone playing for hours. Above all else, though, it's just plain fun.

FINAL SCORE: 9.0/10

Sure, it's another Mario sports game. My biggest appreciation is that these games appeal to both genders. (Guys typically like the competitive elements and the trash-talking opportunities, and the girls typically like the cute little characters and sounds.)

As an avid lover of sports, but especially baseball and football (American), I found Mario Superstar Baseball to be a blast. I've played it in the "Story Mode" (one player), and I've had an awesome time playing it with friends of mine.

The women I know who have played the game prefer the Story Mode because if we go up against each other, I'm throwing off-speed pitches in deep counts, getting them to strike out. I also rub it in their nose. So they prefer to play when I am not there since I never go easy on them.

But when I play against my guy friends, all the feel of the Mario games is present: great controls, great features, the Mario World, and above all else, variety.

What makes the variety so wonderful in these Mario games is the ability to unlock characters who have unique abilities. After you go through the motions to unlock them, you can't wait to use them in a game. And it is nice to have such great balance and variety because then you don't have to argue with your friend over who gets which players on whose team.

In terms of sheer baseball, Mario Superstar Baseball has it all. I read reviews here defaming the controls and the ease of fielding. If you have played most baseball video games, you will see that MSB actually ranks pretty high in controllability. It is easy to find the ball in the outfield (the computer switches your active player for you and even camps you under the ball to make a play). If you have a good head for the game of baseball, MSB won't let you down at all. I also think that about most of the Mario sports titles: if you understand the game you are playing, the Mario World video game style will provide a different way to make it fun.

So to close, if you don't like baseball, don't buy Mario Superstar Baseball just to see Mario and his cute friends with gloves and bats - you won't like it. If you love baseball, competition, AND the Mario World theme, this game rocks, and I recommend it for anybody, all ages.

I am a Mario fanboy. I admit it! But I'm not obsessed enough to think that everyone that pertains to Mario is the best thing since sliced bread. Mario Superstar Baseball is a fluke. Hey, everyone makes mistakes once in a while!
The graphics of this game are quite good. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Bowser, DK, Wario, and the rest of the gang are all present, along with many others, including the newly playable Toadsworth, Magikoopa, Goomba, and others. They look as realistic as ever. The baseball diamonds flourish with nice landscapes and backgrounds.
The sound is anything you'd expect in a Mario game. Since the gang isn't too chatty, you usually only hear grunts or sounds of celebration. BGut, i absolutely HATE the umpire's voice. That annoying, high-pitched, "Strike!" gets on anybody nerves. I want to strangle whoever did that voiceover.
Pitching is perfect. Namco put a lot of depth into the pitching, and I'm pleased with the result. I also love the star shots concerning each of the 12 captains' personalities.
Batting an be a challenge at first, but batting is simple, but not too easy that an experienced player will never strike out. I also like the different bats for each character.
Fielding is flawed. The controls are clumsy, and you can sometimes accidentally push the analog stick in the wrong direction, causing it to go to the wrong base.
Baserunning is HORRIBLE! I. Hate. IT!!! Every time a ball flies in the air, the idiotic AI on your team tries to run to the next base. When someone catches the ball, they almost ALWAYS get out while trying to get back to the base. Also, the diagram of the diamond in the upper right-hand corner is a poor reprenstative of how close or far you are from the base.
It seems that Namco put so much depth and fun challenge into pitching and batting, they skimpily added controls for baserunning and fielding.
Let's get this straight. I can honestly say that this is one of the worst Mario spin-off games in recent years. Seriously, some of the minigames in Mario Party 5 (the only Mario Party I dislike) are more entertaining and satisfying than getting a homerun in Mario Superstar Baseball.
I AM a Mario fanboy. But, all of fellow fanboys out there, please don't push the "unhelpful" button just because I'm giving this a negative review.
For you Mario newbies, don't start your Mario collection with a mistake. Try Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour or Mario Power Tennis by the superior-to-Namco Camelot Ltd. Or maybe even try the surprisingly good Mario Party 6.
Leave Mario Superstar Baseball to collect dust on the game racks.

I have always enjoyed watching and playing baseball, and I enjoy Mario games as well, so I decided I'd give Mario Superstar Baseball a try. Of course if the title says "Mario" it's going to be a zany game and this game is no exception, many characters have their own special abilities while pitching and while batting, and there are also crazy obstacles on the baseball field. And let me tell you, I had a blast playing at first, but after a while it got quite repetitive. But I'll explain this later in my review. First of all, the graphics are fantastic, and the characters look very smooth and round, and they all bat, pitch and run differently and they are all better and worse at some things. Bowser for example, is very powerful but very slow, and Goomba's are very weak but very fast, so if you need someone to run bases fast you may want to select a Goomba over Bowser. And there are so many characters to choose from, my favorite character's to use are Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong, but everyone will have their own favorite. And not only are there a vast amount of characters, there are also six stadiums to choose from. If you want to play an exhibition game with no obstacles Mario Stadium is the best one to choose, this stadium is most similar to a real baseball game, but if you want obstacles choose the other five, there are cannon's that shoot barrels onto the field, fireballs, Piranha plants that eat your baseball and so many more. It makes the gaming experience a lot more fun, and another addition is the music, it doesn't get annoying and it blends into the Mario universe. But that stupid umpire drives me nuts, the way he says "strike!" and "ball!" really gets on my nerves, and it's so repetitive. Speaking of repetitive, unfortunately that's the biggest complaint I have in the game, the entire game gets repetitive after you've mastered it down. I've been able to outscore the opponent 43 - 01...on the highest difficulty. This is a major problem with sports games, and Mario Superstar Baseball is no exception. I'd highly recommend playing the exhibition games with another friend and it'll make your experience with this game much more enjoyable.

But I do like the wide selection of stadiums and challenges. If you just want to get into the game and play, you should choose exhibition mode, you can choose from twelve captains and you can also choose your difficulty setting and how many innings you want to play, the minimum is one inning and the maximum nine. And there are over thirty characters to select from but if you want to unlock all of them you should play in challenge mode, in challenge mode you start with a pre-built team and you need to challenge other teams, to add more additions. There are specific challenges given for example "steal a base" and if you succeed you can add more and more additions to your team. I found this mode very enjoyable and all the different challenges made it hard for me to stop playing, and to make it even better you can also shop and give your character's special abilities to give you an edge. And after you defeat all the teams, you will face the ultimate challenge...Bowser, and when you defeat him you unlock his stadium to play in exhibition mode, so there is a big reason to play challenge, to get characters, special abilities and an entire stadium. There also is a very fun stadium called Toy Field, and the mini-games are great. My favorite is Wall Ball and Bob-omb Derby, and in all there are seven mini-games.

This game's main problem is the repetitiveness, but if you've got a friend to play this with, please do, it will be a whole lot more fun. So even though I do have some complaints with Mario Superstar Baseball, it's still a worthy piece in your gaming collection.

I hate baseball, but I love this game!It has a great selection of characters to play with!!I think I like this game so much for these reasons:
- the graphics aren't bad
- the feids are all unique
- it introduced me to some new characters that I now really like
- the characters (as I said before) are great
- It's not too easy, not too hard
- Batting isn't that hard for once
- Fielding is really fun, and pitching is easy
I never get tired of this game! Two thumbs up!!!!!!!!!!!!!!