Mario Superstar Baseball

This August, the Mushroom Kingdom is your new field of dreams.

Continuing the tradition started by such games as Mario Power Tennis and Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Mario Superstar Baseball brings a new brand of fun to the world of baseball! Mario Superstar Baseball’s intuitive hitting system, easy-to-learn fielding and pitching controls and wild, character-specific power moves go together like peanuts and bleacher seats. Mario Superstar Baseball delivers a terrific arcade-like experience that will appeal to baseball novices and hardcore fans alike.

Features - Build your dream team from dozens of classic Nintendo characters - Brilliant controls - Character-inspired fields with Chain-Chomps, Piranha Plants, rolling barrels and other challenges - Go yard in the Bob-Omb Derby, sharpen your skills in four other great minigames - Four-player zaniness on the wacky Toy Field

Players can try their hands at the single-player Challenge Mode, where they must wander the land clearing baseball-related trials. This mode gives you plenty of opportunities to nab special items and teammates by winning three-inning games, minigames and offbeat challenges from Bowser Jr.

It always deserves repeating how gorgeous Mario games are. Everything from Peach’s dress to the closely cropped hedges veining the outfield of the Peach Garden stadium looks polished and professional.

Mario Superstar Baseball gives you a lot of flexibility in filling out your lineup card. The 50-plus available characters include all-arounders like Mario, Luigi, Daisy, Shy Guy and Koopa Troopa. Technical players include Peach, Boo, Toadsworth and Dry Bones (swinging a bone for a bat, Dry Bone makes his first appearance in a sports title). The speedster squad stars Yoshi, Diddy Kong, Baby Luigi (good field, lousy bat) and Paragoomba (a Goomba with itty-bitty wings). The roster of power players has expanded beyond the usual heavyweight suspects -- Wario, Donkey Kong and Bowser -- to include Blue Pianta (from Super Mario Sunshine) and King Boo.

The wacky fields are filled with hazards and power-ups that can kill or ignite a rally in the wink of an eye. Piranha Plants nab balls rolling in Yoshi’s field. Dust devils play havoc with pop flies in Wario’s desert park. Barrels roll across Donkey Kong’s home field. Balls easily get lost in the carefully trimmed hedges of Peach’s park.

The controls are simple and intuitive. Press Up on the Control Stick to upper-cut the ball. Hold A for a power swing. Be warned, though, that you are more likely to miss. Mario Superstar Baseball deftly handles base running via the Control Stick. For example, press Up and Y to have a player on first barrel into second. Press Y by itself to have all players advance.

Press down and hold the Control Stick to tie up a batter with a change-up. Guide the pitch in mid-air by manipulating the stick. Press R and A to unload a specialty pitch. For example, Yoshi tosses an egg that bounces crazily across the plate!

The minigames for one to four players enhance your power-hitting, bat-control, base running, pitching and pickoff skills, and are a lot of fun to boot. Especially wacky is the Toy Field, a free-for-all in which players hit balls at targets in the outfield to earn coins and other prizes.

Bottom Line

Mario Superstar Baseball is a fantastically fun baseball game. Look for it August 29 -- just as the pennant chase really heats up!

Source:

www.nintendo.com

PLAY BALL!

The superstars of the Mushroom Kingdom have gathered on the diamond to power up America’s game! Pick a captain, fill your team with your favorite characters from the Mario universe, then hit the field. Each captain has a special Star Skill for pitching and batting, so whether you’re hurling fireballs as Mario or blasting curving banana-ball dingers as DK, you’ve never played ball like this!

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*Play up to three pals in minigames like Bob-omb Derby and Barrel Batter or hit the Toy Field for a frantic game of pitch-and-hit!

From the barrel-blasting outfield of Donkey Kong Jungle to the Piranha Plant-infested grass of Yoshi Park, this is baseball at its craziest!

In Challenge mode, wander the kingdom using power-ups to clear baseball missions. Do well to coax other players to join you in your showdown with Bowser!*

Source:

Back of Case (US)

All-Star Slugfest

Continuing the tradition started by such games as Mario Power Tennis and Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Mario Superstar Baseball brings a new brand of fun to the world of baseball! A fun hitting and pitching system with wild, character-specific power moves makes the arcade-like experience appealing to baseball novices and hardcore fans alike. Try your hand at Challenge mode, wandering the land to clear baseball-related trials, or sit down for a game in the Toy Field to earn coins and other prizes. With more than 30 characters from the Mario universe, Mario Superstar Baseball is sure to be your new favorite pastime!

Source:

Nintendo Winter Catalog 2005