Hands-On With Mario Super Sluggers

Jul. 11 7:37 PM by Alicia Ashby

No, no, we're not going hands-on with Mario Super Sluggers. I don't like baseball or Mario's wacky non-platforming adventures all that much. The fine fellows at Nintendo World Report are playing through an import copy, though. This is really good coverage, so the whole link is worth your time, but what interested me most was the in-depth description of what Challenge mode has to offer.

Challenge mode resembles a Mario platform game more than it does a baseball game. Starting the game as Mario, you need to travel around from stadium to stadium, trying to locate team players to add to your baseball team, eventually getting enough talent on it to defeat Bowser inwhat elsea game of baseball. As you explore the grounds around each park, solve puzzles, and clear special baseball challenges, new players will be added to your roster. Finding one of the team captains (the first player you would normally select in a regular exhibition match) will give your adventuring team a new ability to help unlock more of the world and find more characters and secrets.

Mario Super Sluggers Gallery

Comments

I think this looks really mediocre. The only Mario sports game(s) I've ever really enjoyed have been Strikers and Strikers Charged (maybe it's because I like soccer, more than most sports). But this? $50 for what is basically Wii Baseball with Mario characters and super moves? No thanks.

 

To be honest, I'm inclined to agree with you-- I mean, even Nintendo's press releases make this game sound like a knock-off Strikers Charged with a baseball skin applied. Who cares when Wario Land is in production?

That is why I wanted to point out the Challenge Mode stuff sounding cool, though. I mean, that is a neat-sounding feature that I don't think any other Mario sports spin-off has had, and it brings the gameplay closer to classic Mario. It's commendable from a design point of view.

But, now that the Wii is a big hit, I hope Nintendo cuts way back on the "lower-tier" Mario franchise satellite titles. I know I would care a lot more about Mario on an irrational emotional level if he wasn't starring in a new game every other month.

 

Challenge Mode does sound a bit interesting. I guess it could give the game a bit more depth; Nintendo/Namco probably realized that they needed to add a little something more to the game. I guess it does make it seem more like a Mario game. That is commendable, I suppose.

However, it's unlikely that it will be able to compensate for what seems to be a very basic offering in terms of gameplay, and it definitely isn't something that would convince someone like me to purchase the game. Not to mention the fact that the time spent developing this mode could have been used to create an online mode. Strikers, Smash Bros, and Mario Kart have online, but this doesn't? I find that simply ridiculous.

I would love Nintendo to just do away with a good amount of Mario's games, especially Mario Party; that just needs to go. It's rather sad seeing Mario in such average games when you've played games like Galaxy or Super Paper Mario.

 

I have a hard time getting worked up over Wii online modes because using them is a real pain in the butt, but that's a fair point. There really is no excuse for Sluggers not to have it when Strikers did.

I find Challenge Mode pretty interesting and I wouldn't buy Sluggers over it. (I actually don't plan on playing it, I'm positive there'll be better games out when it streets.) I certainly wouldn't expect someone else to buy over it.

Then again, someone on the fence about the game who doesn't care about our complaints might get swayed to buy over it. That is, to me, what defines a good design feature in a game.

 

True, an online mode like the one in Brawl could seem to add very little to the game. But at the very least, something simple like Strikers' online, which worked surprisingly well, would go a long way. As you said, they really don't have any excuse for not having one.

I suppose Challenge Mode could sway some. However, I don't see the type of gamers who are buying or thinking about buying Sluggers being affected by something like this. Again, I believe an online mode would have been more effective, because many play games like these for multiplayer components.

 

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