Mario Spin-off Games #18--Mario Superstar Baseball

On 02/24/2016 at 09:36 AM by The Last Ninja

See More From This User »

cover

Platform: Gamecube

Released: 2005

Developer: Namco

Genre: Sports

I'm surprised it took this long for a Mario baseball game to be made. Well, this is a great game. I'm not a fan of baseball video games, but I love MSB! The entire presentation is awesome, and all the characters, fields, special moves, and gameplay come together to make a really fun experience. One or two players can play an exhibition game, and up to four players can duke it out with fun baseball mini-games.

In order to play a game, you first choose a captain, pick your characters, then arrange them where you want them on the field. There are a lot of characters to choose from! Also, each captain has a cool team name, such as the Mario Fireballs and the Yoshi Islanders. The controls take some getting used to as there's a lot involved, but once you get it down, you feel like a pro. All the baseball staples are here: you can hit the ball, bunt, steal a base, throw to any of the bases, and catch the ball. But it wouldn't be a Mario game without power-ups. Any of the captains can do a power hit when batting, and these power hits can be pretty awesome.

Namco did a great job with this game, and it scored well with reviewers. It's received just one sequel so far: Mario Super Sluggers for Wii.

Cary Woodham

02/24/2016 at 02:12 PM

Nintendo was smart to have Namco make this game because Namco has had lots of experience with arcade style, pick-up-and-play baseball titles. Namco's most famous baseball series is called Family Stadium. It's called that because they first came out on the Famicom. If a Family Stadium game comes out on another console or arcade, they call it World Stadium. Family Stadium is so popular that people in Japan just shorten it to Famista. In Japan, the Mario baseball game is actually called Mario Family Stadium. The very first Family Stadium game came out in the US under the name R.B.I. Baseball. The only small problem with the Mario baseball game is that it plays a little slower than some of the other Family Stadium games. There are some Family Stadium games that have teams made up of classic Namco characters! Such as Heiachi, Valkyrie, Wonder Momo, Reiko Nagase (Ridge Racer lady), and lots more! I know a lot about Namco. Speaking of which, I just posted a blog about the Namco characters in Project X-Zone 2!

The Last Ninja

02/25/2016 at 12:20 AM

Cary, you are the Namco dude! I knew you could tell us more about this one. Thanks!

Super Step Contributing Writer

02/24/2016 at 05:31 PM

I forgot there was Mario Baseball.

02/25/2016 at 12:21 AM

How dare you, sir! Go pick up a copy and play it right now! lol

Matt Snee Staff Writer

02/25/2016 at 12:07 AM

When I lived in NEw York me and my friend played this all the time. I have a lot of great memories of it, even though it's a flawed game. Those were good times at first. But I'll always remember playing this and the fun we had. :)

02/25/2016 at 12:22 AM

Sweet. I have great memories of playing this in Texas with my brother. We got the game for Christmas 2005.

KnightDriver

03/04/2016 at 03:26 PM

I found Mario Super Sluggers on the ground a few weeks ago.

03/04/2016 at 04:54 PM

What was it doing on the ground?

03/05/2016 at 03:39 AM

I don't know. It was actually on the floor in the entranceway to an apartment building. I figured they put it there to give away like some people do in my building.

PixlBit