G4TV

Baseball season might be more than halfway finished, but that doesn't mean it's too late to lace up your cleats, slap on the leather and stock up on mushrooms and turtle shells. That's right. Mario and the gang are making their big-league return to the diamond with Mario Super Sluggers for the Wii. Three years and a console generation after Mario Superstar Baseball appeared on the GameCube, the franchise that showed us that gorillas, man-eating plants and plumbers can find common ground inside the chalk lines is back to pretty much us show us the exact same thing (only now our arms will hurt once we're done).

We Open on a Baseball Paradise...

Princess Peach's recently completed Baseball Kingdom – a series of islands she built so her friends wouldn't have to subject themselves to playing at public facilities (I mean, the thought of it just makes me want to vomit) – has unsurprisingly been overtaken by Bowser and his son. It is of course then up to Mario to rescue his friends and defeat Bowser's team of roided-out jerks (aka the Yankees).

The game consists of several modes, including Exhibition (one or two players), Practice, Mini-games, Toy Field and the single-player campaign mode, Challenge, and there are six stadiums and 41 Mario-related characters to unlock. The game is extremely light on stats and there is no player progression to speak of, so the extra modes and mini-games are appreciated. However, they hardly make up for the lack of even a simple franchise or career mode. Then again, this game isn't for hardcore baseball fanatics, so it's understandable that a lot of the more intricate aspects of the sport have been omitted.

As for the mini-games, they are hitting and pitching based, and each one adheres to the theme of the particular stadium in which it is played (destroy oncoming barrels in Donkey Kong's park, break ice blocks with charge pitches in Peach's ice palace, etc.). Mario, Peach, Yoshi, Wario, Donkey Kong and Bowser/Boswer Jr. each have their own character-themed ballparks and explorable areas.

The parks themselves are well designed and teem with obstacles, objects and structures that perfectly reflect their corresponding character. For example, Donkey Kong's stadium is modeled after a jungle theme with vines and trees lining the outfield fence, Peach's ice palace park sports an ice field and glacial walls, and Bowser's castle stadium is dark and dangerous with fire and chain chomps ready to kill you (aka momentarily incapacitate you) at any moment.

Bad News Koopas

The main objective in the story mode is to recruit characters to form a strong enough squad in order to defeat Bowser's team. Since Bowser has taken over each area, you must also face off against enemies along the way as well. Both of these scenarios play out on the field in the form of scout missions, aka various baseball related scenarios  wherein a character challenges you to prove how skilled you are (steal a base, lay down a sacrifice bunt, turn a double play, etc.). These challenges are incredibly easy and most players will be able to complete them all without failing once. However, they are a good way to familiarize yourself with the different aspects of the game without having to waste your time in practice mode.

Venturing through the explorable areas surrounding the stadiums (only accessed during the game's Challenge mode) is handled exactly as it was in the game's predecessor. When you enter an area, you take control of Mario (or Peach, DK, Yoshi or Wario, depending on the situation) and you are free to move around the area like any top-down adventure game. Each area has puzzles or special areas that can only be accessed by specific characters (i.e. only Mario can jump down pipes, only Yoshi can jump into sewer drains, etc.), which adds a bit of replay value, as you won't be able to unlock everything until you have acquired all of the characters. While it certainly adds an interesting element to the game's narrative, you will probably ask yourself more than once if you are in fact playing a baseball game.

Each area has a roster's worth of characters to unlock, and every character you unlock then becomes playable in exhibition mode. The selection is wide and will surely be enjoyed by Nintendo fans as it contains practically every character from the Mario universe (from boos to goombas to shy guys to babies Mario and Luigi).

Once you have rescued enough characters in a particular zone and solved an area's main puzzle, you face off against Boswer Jr. in a full-out game. The games vary in length and some even start with you down by a set number of runs requiring you to mount a comeback late in the game. Similar to the scout missions, these games offer little challenge, but they are still satisfying in the context of the overall story mode.

When you do finally face off against Bowser (beat him twice for the true ending), you will be moderately challenged depending on your skill level. The second game is the game's only somewhat difficult section, but with the right balance of power hitters, speedy fielders and dominate pitchers, you won't have much trouble.

Can I Please Just Play Some Baseball?

If you have had your fill of stories about a ragtag group of players that comes together to defeat a seemingly superior opponent through good 'ol determination and friendship, then you'll want to stick to exhibition mode. Facing off against a friend (local only, no online play unfortunately) is obviously much more enjoyable than playing against the computer, and this is especially true given the game's attack/error system.

Once a ball is in play, the player at bat can fire a randomly chosen error item (bomb, turtle shell, fire, etc.) at opposing players who are attempting to field the ball. A direct hit will knock the fielder away from the ball, buying you extra time to take an extra base or two. However, you only have access to these items if the player on deck has chemistry with the player at bat. Chemistry also influences players when they are in the field, allowing you to perform various buddy tasks such as tossing a fellow player high into the air to steal a homerun or knocking a ball to another player to perform a super-charged quick throw. The chemistry system works well on both offense and defense, and they can be invaluable in the late innings of close games.

The biggest problem with the error item throwing system is that you have to point the Wiimote at the screen to indicate where you want to throw the item. This wouldn't be a problem except that you also have to shake the Wiimote to make your player run faster. And, since you don't always know where a particular hit is going to go or if you are going to need to use the error item, you will find yourself either missing your target completely or failing to find the aiming reticle at all because you shook the remote too soon.

The other major issue with the controls is the fielding, and this is mainly due to the camera and automatic character selection. When a ball is hit, it is hard to figure out where it is going because the camera stays at a predetermined height instead of adjusting to the height of the ball, which means you will give up many hits that should be easy outs. Also, the computer will sometimes put you in control of a character that you aren't expecting or that isn't even on-screen. This results in a lot of running the wrong way and, once again, giving up hits and runs that can oftentimes be the difference between a win and a loss. Fortunately, the diving and jumping is simple and responsive, and there is nothing quite like launching thirty feet in the air to take away a towering homerun.

Speaking of controls, if you decide to use the Wiimote control scheme (or the Wiimote/nunchuk scheme) wherein you wave the controller to throw and hit, you will want to do some serious stretching beforehand. While it's always satisfying to mimic a real throwing motion or knock dingers with the flick of a wrist, it can be exhausting after seven innings. Fortunately the controls are responsive (when you're controlling the character you want), so most of the time you won't be frustrated as well as tired. Also, you always have the option of flipping the controller on its side and using it like a classic controller if you find yourself getting sore.

Pitching and hitting are once again charge based, allowing you to build up energy to deliver super-powered pitches or swings. In addition to a fastball, change-up and slider, each character has a special charge pitch (Bowser has a missile, Peach has a screwy love ball of some kind, Mario has a fireball), which are pretty much guaranteed strikes and can easily kill a mounting rally in a heartbeat. The star meter, which controls how many power throws or swings you have, fills up according to your performance on the field and at the plate.

Many of the characters also have specialized batting implements that range from a gloved fist (Donkey Kong) to a leaf (piranha plant) to a spiked club (Bowser), while the rest of the characters use traditional lumber. The character models are nicely detailed and their animations are smooth and convincing. The frame-rate is also consistent and didn’t hiccup once during any of my play sessions.

Take Me Out to the Old Ballgame

For anyone familiar with Mario Superstar Baseball, there are very few surprises awaiting you here. Fans of Superstar might find comfort in this, but for everyone else it just means you're getting a slightly updated, somewhat enjoyable, uber-Nintendo-y baseball game whose biggest addition is the option to swing and throw with the Wiimote. These past three years sure have been productive ones. So if you're looking for a pick-up-and-play, wacky, arcade style baseball experience (and you dream of having Mario's second baby), this game won't disappoint.

Review by: Jake Gaskill