System: GameCube
Genre: Sports
This Review is based on a 1-10 point scale. 1 is worst (base throwing), and 10 is best (exhibition).
Graphics: 8/10
The graphics are your typical, awesome Mario graphics, complete with detailed audience and great action replay tapes. You know, just like in Mario Power Tennis, BUT if you haven't noticed, when runners stop on bases, they tend to go through basemen completely, as if they aren't even there. For example, Magikoopa goes to first, Paragoomba is the first baseman, Magikoopa may be inside Paragoomba, making it look rather odd.
Sound: 7/10
Like the graphics, the sound is great,
but loses a few points not only because of how you don't get a chance to
hear the music, like in Peach's stadium when you can't really hear over
noises. Some character voices
REALLY need improvement. Those Kongs
have just about the most annoying voices ever, but even they can't beat
Lakitu's annoying, "STRIIIIIIIIIIKE!!!" he screams out loud.
Characters: 8/10
There is a wide variety of characters in this, with Pianta, Noki, Monty Mole, blah blah blah... But what makes it an 8 is that I once heard a rumor about the Koopalings being in the game on some site, but nooooo... Nintendo has to turn them down for the GameCube's little bundle of joy. Bowser Jr. is pretty cool, but he can't beat his siblings. As for everything else, the characters definitely make this a good game.
Difficulty Level: 7/10
Although the game is easy in Exhibition mode, the Challenge mode and Toy Field are increasingly difficult. There's not much to say about that.
Modes: 7.5/10
I've decided to show the five (not including mini-games) modes of the game separately as follows:
Exhibition Mode: 9.5/10
The primary, and most likely the best,
mode in the game. Gameplay in this mode is very well done, since you can
play against other humans and use team captains that you couldn't use in
Challenge Mode. You have absolute control over almost every aspect of this
mode, including the number of innings and mercy, which isn't something
awesome, but you can play by your own rules here. While a great mode, it
still lacks the abililty to have the same character on your team more than
once, but with a different color. For example, you cannot have blue and
yellow Piantas on your team at once. Aside from that, it positively rocks!
Challenge Mode: 6/10
Just a heads-up for anyone who plans
on buying this game, Challenge Mode is VERY, VERY hard. It IS, though,
the only place you can unlock secret characters. Okay, here's the rundown.
The world map is... well, to me, kind of odd-looking... The place seems
a little like Paper Mario scenary, but with 3D characters.
Here's my method: 2D scenary + 3D character running around the map = BAD.
Well, aside from that, the difficulty of that mode is really hard on everything except Mario's team of blobs. For example, once I lost 11 to 4 against Peach. Yeah, I know, "Cheaters!!!" most everyone could scream playing against tough teams on the Special Cup, "HOW can you get a TRIPLE play?! One of my runners didn't even leave second base!" or something like that. Yes, the teams can be incredibly unfair in this mode, but if you try hard enough, you'll surely bring your rival to a 9-9 clash, and then have the other team's weakest character hit a home run. And there you have it. You lose. Muahahahahahaha. But seriously, eventually you'll beat all your rivals and have the ultimate baseball game against Bowser, so you can complete the mode on your chosen difficulty and unlock some new character.
Toy Field: 6/10
The most unpredictable of all the modes,
this game is based completely on chance. It's fun because you can use your
favorite character as much as you want against your hand-picked rivals.
Sounds fun, right? Well, it can be, but a slight mess-up in a batting attempt
can make your points go from 395... to ZERO. Yup, there's no instant winning
in this mode, and the computer players are really smart when fielding and
batting, so they can rack up easy points quickly here. So, to sum it all
up, play this mode only if you want a challenge, but if you're looking
for a way to get revenge on another character who creamed you in Challenge
Mode, please make it so you absolutely NEVER come to this mode.
Practice Mode: 7.5/10
Yes, it's a mode! And, believe it or
not, it can be pretty fun, too! I'll start with the cons. The first three
sections in this mode are about the rules of baseball and how to play the...
game... BORING! Yeah, unless you're having trouble with a specific control,
skip these parts. Now onto the good stuff. The free play area is a lot
of fun, as you can play your favorite characters limitlessly and learn
their sweet spots on their bats, try out their star pitches and swings,
or get better at fielding. It may not offer much, but it does have a lot
to be appreciated.
Control Mode: Do I care?
Umm... I doubt this is actually
a mode, but you can do stuff in here... Oh, what do I care?! It's just
your run-of-the-mill control room.
Minigames: 7.5/10
Like the modes, these games have pros as well as cons. Here they are:
Pros: Some of the games in this mode are very enjoyable, such as Bob-omb Derby and Star Dash. Also, the fact that (once again) all characters can be used for this mode brightens things up quite a bit.
Cons: Dum-dum-du-dum... The cons of the games seem to stick out like a sore thumb here. Take Wall Ball, for example. In this you have barely any control of your balls' speeds and power levels. Unpredictabilty can be fun, but when you lose most of the time, there's no fun in it at all. As you can tell, some mini-games aren't worth it.
Controls: 5/10
Controls in this game aren't always controllable, if you know what I mean. Batting seems to be the easiest out of the controls to handle, thankfully, because if you set batting to easy, you get a marker to help you hit the ball with less problem.
Applying to pitching, throwing star pitches or hitting with star swings is very hard to do, because half of the time it doesn't even work! As for pitching normally, throwing change-ups seems to fool a lot of computer players and isn't very hard to do. Everything else in pitching seems either to be a ball, or a perfect hit for the opponent.
And last, are the fielding and base throwing controls. When a fielder is out catching a fly ball, you can easily catch it most of the time by standing in the ring where the ball will end up. But when running to catch a faster-moving ball, you may be controlling one fielder at one moment and then a new one the next. This can be very annoying. Also, press "A" while fielding to either dive or jump for the ball. But be warned, doing so may result in you jumping when you wanted to dive or vice-versa. And lastly, base throwing is absolute ****. I mean that. When you try to throw to one base to stop someone from making it to home, you might throw it to somewhere else for some reason. When trying to make a miraculous double play and save your team from defeat, you might just slip up and throw it to the wrong base and let someone cross home. Yeah, this is one annoying part of the game.
Overall: 7/10
Mario Superstar Baseball was and is a great game, but had a couple of spots it could have used some improvement. I recommend it to those who enjoy Mario games, baseball, challenges, and all other things this game may pose to you. Definitely rent it for a while and see how you like it, and then buy this game if you enjoy it. That's all there is to it.
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