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Now what?

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 3 / 3
Date: January 21, 2006
Author: Amazon User

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 Charm Overshadows Gameplay Quirks

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 5 / 8
Date: October 13, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Summary:

Developed for Nintendo by Namco, Mario Superstar Baseball does it's best to put a Mario spin around an arcade baseball package. Unfortunately, the game's fielding and baserunning gaffes prevent this All-Star from a pitching perfect game.

Gameplay:

One can argue that the heart and soul of baseball is the showdown between pitcher and batter. In Mario Superstar Baseball, this is very much the case. Both pitching and batting are fun arcade-style match ups with lots of tricks and twists to spice things up. Controls are simplified for ease of use with pitchers having only basic control of the speed and direction of the ball to the plate. No need to worry about pitching high or low or otherwise any kind of varying strike zones here. Batting is similarly basic with players having control over where the avatar sits in the batter's box, how hard, and what general area of the field to hit the ball.

Both pitcher and batter have several "Mario" twists on the game: charge moves, and "special" moves. For pitchers, charge moves increase the speed of the pitch dramatically, while the "special" move is a limited use pitch that is just about unhitable. For batters, the charge swing ups the power of the hit, while the "special" hit makes it even more difficult for the opposing team to field cleanly.

And speaking of fielding, this is where the game hits a foul ball.

The most annoying aspect of fielding is the confusion caused when balls are hit between fielders. While there is a targeting ring that appears where the ball is going to land, the camera and targeting system doesn't always make it clear which fielder is closest in line to make the play. The result is that the player often ends up controling the wrong fielder and the ball ends up squeaking through for an extra base hit. Otherwise, fielding can be pretty interesting. Fielders can sprint for balls with the B button at the cost of some control. Fielders can also make diving plays, for a special animation and recognition of making a nice play.

Another area where the game hits into a double play is the baserunning. In what must be one of the worse lapses in judgement in Nintendo baseball game history, the developers somehow omitted any kind of AI on what baserunners do when the ball is put into play. Say a fly ball is hit to mid-field--if you're not careful, you might accidently end up committing to the next base regardless of how clear it is that there will be a fly out. As a result, the player has to seriously make an effort to get them back to their original bases to avoid a force out. All-in-all, it's a frustrating exercise that could have been avoided with a little fine tuning. Even NES arcade sports games back in the day didn't have this problem.

Still, there is a lot to like in the game design. There are a lot of different stadiums and a ton of recognizable Mario characters like Yoshi, Wario, and Birdo available. The stadiums have unique Mario "gimmicks" in each, such as pirahna plants and chain chomps in the outfield and other goofy goodies. In addition, there are different minigames to play that range from crazy homerun contests to a four player free-for-all to collect coins.

Graphics/Presentation:

Colorful, round character models, and flashy 3D effects are the order of the day. There is a decidedly cute factor present in just about every Mario-themed game, and Mario Superstar Baseball is no different. While not innovative or incredibly awe-inspiring by any means, the result is generally pleasing to the eye and convey the right excitement at the right times.

Sound:

Nothing too special here, there are the requisite familiar blurbs from each of the characters, appropriate Mario-ish sound effects everywhere, and a cutesy soundtrack.

Replay Value:

In addition to the tournament/season play, there are lots of minigames, and of course, muliplayer versus modes to keep players busy.

Here's the breakdown:

Pros:

Great, simple pitching/batting interface
Lots of different characters
Interesting stadium designs and gimmicks
Lots of powerups and other Mario-themed goodies
Solid multiplayer
Minigames to extend replay value

Cons:

Poor fielding and baserunning interface
AI opponents never make mistakes regardless of difficulty

Although not without it's flaws, Mario Baseball is a fun, and entertaining arcade-style sports title worth checking out.

Recommended.

Just Plain Ole FUN!!!!

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 6 / 11
Date: September 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Forget the criticle reviews. They can't be Mario fans. Anyway,this game is awesome. I watch my 8 year old triplet boys having a ball playing it. It's Mario baseball, with all the characters. Mini-games too. If you like Mario Golf and Tennis, then you will like this as well.
The only reason I gave it 4 stars overall is because you can't play the regular baseball game with 4 players. Only 2. Mini-games are 4 players.
Just buy it.....it's a game. Not a new invention to master cold fusion.

Batman and Robin's opinion on mario super star baseball

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 14
Date: November 09, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Hi,it's Robin again. Batman and I thought that this game wuz awsome. It is more than baseball,characters have special powers and you can play at stadiums with obstecls. Batman will tell you about them,
Hola, it is Batman again. In Mario stadium there are no obstecles. In Peach garden there are boxes in mid-air and if the ball bounces on them it will bounce. In Yoshi park there are pirhana plants that will bite. In Wario palace there are tornados and chomp chains that move the ball. In D.K. jungle there are barlles and claptraps.

Great Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 4 / 6
Date: November 08, 2005
Author: Amazon User

As the pitch is on its way, this game is on its way to greatness. By far the best Mario game yet, the graphics are as good as ever and so is the fun. Mario Baseball (MB) follows all the correct baseball rules, except for the added obstacles, which do not appear at Mario stadium. The only thing that I don't agree with about the obstacles are the musical note boxes at Peach Garden. If you hit the top of one, the ball will bounce out of the park. There are several different fields but if you want to play clean, hard baseball, play at Mario Stadium. Another good thing about this game is that the skills are spread evenly amongst the players, nobody being good at everything, nobody being good at nothing. None of the mini-games are especially fun but the one that I reccomend is barrel batter. Challenge mode is a one player mode where you can buy power bats and things like that to play better. You also play other characters teams, the only downside to this is that you don't get to choose your team and you get a lot of one character. Toy Field is a fun way to play with friends. You compete with up to 4 people for the most coins. During a real game you will see on one side of the screen a small thing(that is the only word that I can describe it with) has several orange dots. Just to give you a hint when you are pitching or batting if you want to use a star hold the R lever then, still holding R, press A, if you want results every time, do it when you are pitching. All of the stadiums include Mario Stadium (no obstacles), Peach Garden, Yoshi Park, Wario Palace, and DK jungle (all have obstacles). If you like baseball, action, Mario games, or pretty much any video games you will most likely like this game alot, it is fun to play by yourself and with your friends.

THIS GAME HIT A HOMER

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 7 / 15
Date: October 20, 2005
Author: Amazon User

who ever looks at the nintendogs reveiws knows me. I wrote 7 reveiws for nintendogs. Now about the game it is complicated just like real baseball. It is amazing to me how 1 tap of a thumb can hit a homer.Their is one concern. Sometimes the computer stops the game. For example if my brother hits and I want to tag him as soon as I try to the next batter is up.The new characters and the baseball are a blast. keep on hitting nintendo.

Excellent Game. Well Done . Great Fun for kids

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 6 / 13
Date: September 01, 2005
Author: Amazon User

The wait was worth it. This game is great . My son is learning how to play baseball by playing this game. The parks look so good you can't believe it. Mini Games and so much more. Well worth the purchase price.

4 players simultaneously? Nope, not really.

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 6 / 13
Date: September 07, 2005
Author: Amazon User

I was looking for a game that my family could play TOGETHER, and as the back of the package said "1-4 players simultaneous" I wrongly assumed that we could ALL play a GAME OF BASEBALL at the same time. Nope. Although you can play some ridiculous mini-games (such as Toy Field) with 4 people, you cannot play an actual game baseball game with 4 players. This is ridiculous.

Why Nintendo did not make is so that you could have 2 players on each team (as opposed to just being the "captain" of the team, I do not know. They should have made it so that each team could have one person pitching, and another playing a field position, and then when batting, simply take turns being the hitter.

We don't find the game controls too bad (other than running, which we always put on "auto". But if I had known that I could not be on the same team with my 8 year old daughter, and either play against others, or against the computer, I would not have bought this game.

Hey, batter batter!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 3 / 4
Date: December 04, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This game is really fun. But it went way to fast. I beat it in three days. And I can only play 2 hours a day. other than that, the controls are easy. Solo play is no fun, but multiplayer is really fun. This game adds twist to baseball, though, like fireball pitches and stuff.

Baseball Like Mario Party

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 5 / 10
Date: September 12, 2005
Author: Amazon User

Game play- It is fun, but over time it gets a little repetitive. When a pitch throws a ball it can not go up or down, just left and right. You can however pitch fastballs, super fastballs, curveballs, slow balls, and special throws which are different for every main character pitcher. Batting is pretty fun because it seems to be a little more challenging then outfield. You move your character with in a box, and then you can charge your hit to try to hit a homer/ or you can just hit it for a line drive. Just like pitching every main character has there own unique special hit. There are many characters to choose from like 30 or so. It is over all an ok baseball game.

A BIG FLAW IN THIS GAME- Once you have a guy on base, they will run right to the next base once your other character hits the ball. This makes it easy for the other team to get a double play off of you. You can control your characters movement so if they happen to run off you can tell them to go back, but sometimes there's not enough time to get back once they take off when you hit the ball.

Toy field- This is where you go against 3 other people to get the most coins off of a 4 person baseball game. Seems like a Mario party game.

Challenge- This is the coolest thing to do if you are playing by yourself. You can unlock the secrete characters here by beating the game with all of the captains or main characters including Bowser which you can only obtain by beating the game on its hardest difficulties. You can buy upgrades which last for 1 game only that will help you win other games. You get money be beating mini games, and if you loose on a mini game you loose money so choose your difficulties well.

Practice- Teaches you how to play the game, but it doesn't teach you how to throw to the cut off person. This can be done when you're in the outfield and you hold down The R trigger, and then press A. Throwing it to the cut off person can help you throw faster; because throwing the ball farther means less speed.

Mini Games- There are only 6 mini games I believe or 7, but the only way to get the last one is to beat all of the other mini games on hard mode. The mini games are short, but they are still challenging.

Difficulties- in this game there are 4 difficulties the only difference between each one seems to be the batting difference. The harder you play the better the batters are on the other team.

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