Mario Super SluggersIntroduction Featuring all the major franchise characters such as Mario and Yoshi, Mario Super Sluggers is Nintendo's take on baseball. Though the game has been published as an official Nintendo production, the nuts and bolts of the game were developed by Namco Bandai. Although the title of the game has changed, it is a sequal to the hugely popular GameCube game, Mario Superstar Baseball.
Mario Super Sluggers was first released in Japan on June 19th, 2008, and in the US on August 25th, 2008. Currently there is still no launch date for a European release (writing 22/01/09). Nintendo continue to remain cagey about a release date, and officiallly stated "no current announcements" are to be made about this subject. The question is whether Nintendo secretly think a baseball game will be unsuccessful in Europe, because it's not a popular sport, unlike in Japan and the US.
Game Menu The game modes follow a similar route to it's predecessor, 'Mario Superstar Baseball'. The menu offers the option of an 'Exhibition Mode', which is a simple one off baseball games. The most extensive game mode is the 'Challenge Mode', this is the meat and guts of the game, and where you unlock all the stadiums and characters. You can also buy new bats, gloves and other special items as you unlock each stadium. (Other gaming sources - Xbox, PS3, DS) The next game mode is 'Minigames'. There are nine of these, and they all help to provide you with practice, and show you the different aspects of Super Sluggers gameplay. Unlike with the normal 'Practice' mode, 'Minigames' hsa been designed to provide more excitement. They are all set in unusual locations, such as aboard a cruise ship, where you have to run between bases, while a huge blue squid tries to flatten you with it's tentacles. The final game mode to pick from is 'Toy Field. This one can be
real fun, especially when played against family and friends. You
either play as a batter or a catcher. The job of the batter is to
hit the ball into a specific space, which changes with every pitch.
The job of the catcher is obviously to catch the ball before in
lands within this landing space. When this mode ends, the Wii will
award medals for whoever performs the best. These records can the
be accessed with the 'Records' section, which displays replays of
the the MVP (Most Valuable Player). Critical Success Another possible reason for the games delayed European release,
could the average to poor reviews given it. Real world publications,
and popular websites such as GameSpot gave the game a rating of
between 5/10 and 7/10. The main criticisms of the game, were it's
lack of invention, many reviewers noted it's near identical gameplay
and presenatation as 'Mario Superstar Baseball'. Super Sluggers
also lacked Wii Sports motions, and could not be played online.
Overall, the game appeared to be little more than a repackaged port
of it's predessor. While it was still enjoyable to play, there was
little to get excited about. Resources Nintendo have built two official websites to promote Super Sluggers. The main site mariosupersluggers.com, includes a video, and details about the game, characters and stadiums. The other site is mariosupersluggerscards.com, which allows players to download and print off playing cards for the all the games characters. Characters Listed below are the standard characters. Some characters will pitch, field and swing with the same hand, but others, such as Bowser Jnr field with their right hand and swing with their left.
To find out about the other characters, you will need to unlock them whilst playing the 'Challenge Mode'. But you can guess at all the characters attributes, Mario is typically the all rounder, and Bowser the power player, just like in Mario Kart etc. Stadiums Listed below are some of the standard stadiums.
To find out about the other stadiums, you will need to unlock them whilst playing the 'Challenge Mode'.
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