Mario Superstar Baseball [GC]

You know who we hate? Pianta. Unless you're a Nintendo nerd-for-life, you probably don't recognize the name, but all the same you undoubtedly know (and possibly despise) the character. We'll give you a hint. He's blue. He has a huge, undefined nose and tiny, beady eyes. Oh -- and he's also got a green tree sprouting from the top of his fat head. This hideously designed extra and many more unfortunately like him helped Nintendo's Italian plumber along the way in Super Mario Sunshine and although we had hoped he would be gone forever, he's not. You see, developer Namco, responsible for the Famista Baseball series in Japan, has a mean sense of humor. If you play as Nintendo's premiere mascot in Mario Superstar Baseball's unique challenge mode, a chunk of your teammates will be variations of Pianta. Only by successfully achieving goals and advancing can you eventually acquire better characters to replace him. And really, can you think of a better motivation than that?

Luckily, there's a lot more to the latest in Nintendo's Mushroom Kingdom-enhanced sports franchises than Pianta. The self explanatorily titled Mario Superstar Baseball is a natural extension of the Camelot-developed tennis and golf outings and in turn many of the signature components from those games are duplicated here. This colorful take on baseball predictably boasts a full lineup of mascots and foes from various Mario-themed hits and likewise many of its play stadiums are placed in recognizable Mushroom Kingdom locales. Superstar Baseball is designed to offer pick-up-and-play entertainment and as a result it feels fast, friendly, altered and simplified, which is true despite a number of extra bells and whistles intended to deepen the experience. For this reason, some baseball fans may be better served with a stats-filled, options-heavy simulation. But if you're looking for an arcade-like baseball experience overrun with Nintendo style, you've come to the right game.

The Facts

• Arcade baseball
• Play as or against more than 30 characters from the Mushroom Kingdom
• Bat it out on more than five unique stadiums with Mushroom Kingdom themes
• Unique challenge mode combines RPG-like elements with tournament-style advancement
• Unlock new characters and enhance their abilities in challenge mode
• A wide range of mini-games to play alone or with friends
• Play the toy field stage for a radically different baseball experience
• Use team stars in-game to activate special, powerful batting or fielding abilities
• Play against up to three friends in mini-games; two-player baseball matches
• Progressive-scan enhanced
• Dolby Pro Logic II compatible
• Requires 10 blocks for memory saves

Bring on the Challenge
Mario Tennis for GameCube featured a crisply rendered and humorous opening cinematic and Mario Superstar Baseball is no different. Namco has produced some of the best CG sequences in any recent Nintendo-published titles, challenged only by Mario Tennis and the upcoming Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance. The colorful animation spotlights the characteristics of each Nintendo mascot as they battle it out in a game of America's favorite pastime and successfully sets the light and bright mood for the action to follow. Unfortunately, these high production values are not consistent throughout the experience. For example, when you finally take part in the title's main challenge mode, some of the thin storyline is revealed through compressed full-motion video, which is disappointing given the quality of the opening. That noted, Namco has mostly nailed it, serving up a mixture of cheerful music, easily manipulated menus (there's a Super Mario Bros. load screen), a host of different gameplay modes and mini-games, and even some good old-fashion record keeping for good measure.

Of course, Mario Superstar Baseball is best played with friends. The very make-up of the sport it recreates is suited for multiple living, breathing people -- two, to be exact, and up to four for the title's selection of mini-games. But Namco has done a commendable job of giving you something to work through and enjoy even if you're a malfunctioned member of society without a single person you can call an ally. In what can only be seen as a tip of the hat to Camelot's Mario Golf: Advance Tour, Superstar Baseball features a well-crafted, if slightly shallow challenge mode. And like its Game Boy Advance counterpart, this mode successfully brews a mixture of baseball matches and RPG-like teambuilding mechanics. There are other modes in the game to consider, including exhibition, mini-games and even toy field, but challenge is definitely the meat and potatoes of the experience because you'll need to play through it in order to unlock characters and fields, among other things, which can then be utilized in the other areas.

Challenge mode begins with a predictably pointless storyline. Mario and friends love to play baseball against each other, but they'll have to unite to face Bowser's team in the ultimate battle of bat and ball. With that out of the way, you're free to choose your team's captain and begin. You're placed on a top-down map and given several objectives. The first is to play against various other teams located on the map and win. By doing so, former members of the outfits you beat will defect to your lineup, thus eliminating the need to use Pianta at all. The second is to partake in the mini-games strewn about the area and beat them. Winning these will serve up coins, which can then be taken to the local shop to buy character upgrades. For instance, Mario can gain a fireball pitch that's sure to send betters spinning. When your team has acquired enough new and better players, access to Bowser's Castle will open up and you can then play his team to win the cup and open the next.