Mario Super Sluggers

The boxart for Mario Super Sluggers

Publisher: Nintendo

Creator: Namco Bandai Games, NOW Production 

Console: Nintendo Wii 
June 19, 2008 (JPN), August 25, 2008 (NA)

ESRB Rating: E for Everyone

            The crack of the bat, the crowd going wild! It's going all the way! That’s it! Bottom of the ninth and Mario has hit the ball right out of the park! Mario Super Sluggers!

            The game was released in 2008 by Nintendo for the Nintendo Wii. The story took me 7 and a half hours to complete on the preset difficulty. For the story mode, as you progress, the enemies get harder to beat, using a preset skill level so that the more you do, the harder the other teams become especially at the boss fight against (*SPOILER*) Bowser and his roster of over-powered players (end of *SPOILER*). The enemies were moderately challenging but could sometimes be frustrating to deal with - particularly if you were on an off day - because some players are more skillful than others.

            The game does not only focus around just baseball, but also on problem-solving in many situations to gain new players, help people around Baseball Island, and grab treasure, which ties into the controls of the game. The controls work very well and make you feel more involved with the game. However when navigating the island, the controls are very isolated, making that portion of the game slow.

            Something that livens up the game at all times is the music in game. At most times, its very fast-paced and fun, giving you a relaxed feel to the menus, games, and transitions. The cinematics of the game flow smoothly, and nothing seems out of place or choppy. Also as part of the cinematic, during dialogue between characters, there is no animations, rather speech bubbles of what the characters are saying (much like every other Mario game), so no change there. 

           The graphics are very clear and very smooth making the game look very neat and clean. In my time with the game, I have not yet seen a glitch, error, or forgotten pieces of this game. Nintendo made another game that lives up to the standards they always set. I would recommend people to play through this game, but I would not replay the main story due to time consumption. Overall, this game was my favourite game as a kid.

-TJ King

Final Rating: 8.5/10

The complete roster for Mario Super Sluggers; note that the top level are the team captains.

Gameplay of Sluggers. Note the strike/ball/out count on the side, the score in the top right, and the line up in the bottom left.