Mario Super Sluggers
Encyclopedia
Mario Super Sluggers, known in Japan as , is a sports video game
for the Wii
developed by Namco Bandai Games
and NOW Production, and published by Nintendo
. It was previously known by the working title Super Mario Stadium Baseball. It is part of the Mario Sports series, and the sequel to Mario Superstar Baseball
for the Nintendo GameCube
. Mario Super Sluggers was released in Japan
on June 19, 2008 and in North America
on August 25, 2008. A release date for Europe
and Australia
was canceled. The game was later released for $19.99 as part of the Nintendo Selects range.
.
The player can choose between five different captains, Mario and the unlockable captains Yoshi (Yoshi Park), Donkey Kong (DK Jungle), Wario (Wario City), and Peach (Peach Ice Garden). He can switch captains at any time during gameplay. Then he goes to each stadium and unlocks players until he has a good enough team to challenge Bowser Jr. which lasts for 3 innings. After defeating Bowser Jr., his stadium, Bowser Jr.'s Playroom, is replaced with Bowser's Castle. Then the player must either challenge Bowser which lasts for 5 innings or keep unlocking characters to make an even better team. In order to recruit the players, you must either free them from Bowser's minions, help them with their problems, or complete a scout mission that they assign you. For Nokis, they need to be unlocked in this order: Blue, Green, and Red.
At each stadium there is a shop where the player can buy various error items, special bats, special gloves, pitching control power-ups, and other items with coins that you find in random places. One of these other items is Luigi's Flashlight, which then unlocks the stadium Luigi's Mansion (which can only be used at night). Another is the Daisy Cruiser pass, which unlocks Daisy's Cruiser. Also, when a player unlocks the secret shop pass, the Daisy Cruiser is its hideout. The player must go to the cruiser at night to access the shop, however. In each ball park, Bowser Jr. and two of Bowser's minions are in control of them. To get rid of these baddies, the player must challenge them to a battle mission. Bowser Jr. will challenge the player to three different battles: A battle mission where the player's team is behind 1 run and must mount a comeback (this is the first showdown against Bowser Jr.), three ball games which all last for 1 inning (In the second and third games, Bowser Jr. will start the game with 1 and 2 points already on his team's side, respectively; this means that the player must mount a comeback to score more than the number of points Bowser Jr. has), and in Yoshi Park, he will challenge the player to a minigame called Piranha Panic (this replaces one of the ball games). For ball games against Bowser Jr., the easiest game has the player bat first, while harder ones have Bowser Jr. bat first, which means that the player must score one or more points to win. Also, the innings and the item rules cannot be changed.
with Nunchuk and the Wii Remote sideways.
with Nunchuk, or with the Wii Remote sideways.
. There are three control methods available: Wii Remote by itself, Wii Remote and the Nunchuk, and the Wii Remote held sideways.
IGN
gave Mario Super Sluggers 7.4/10, explaining that the game is fun but just the same game it played three years earlier. Gamespot
gave the game 6.5/10, saying that it was for Mario collectors and "Wii Party hosts" only. Gametrailers
gave the game 6.7/10 and explained that a game that was published by Nintendo
should have Wii Sports
motions, but does not. It also noted some balance issues, the lack of improvement in presentation from the original Mario Superstar Baseball, issues with pitching, and the fact that it is a baseball game with little baseball. Gametrailers also noted that "It doesn't make much use off the system's capabilities with limited motion control and no online play." Overall that prompted them to say in their video review, "The wait for a solid hard ball game on the Wii is heading into extra innings."
Mario Super Sluggers was nominated for the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
, in which it lost to Guitar Hero: World Tour.
The cards began appearing in banner ads on popular children websites on August 18, 2008, but have since begun to appear as embedded hyperlinks in other, less obvious locations. Mario Super Sluggers Cards have been found on other sites, such as YouTube
.
When the Seattle Mariners
played the New York Yankees
on September 5, 2008, the game was promoted there at Safeco Field
. The first 20,000 fans received special Mario Super Sluggers foam mitts. There were also two booths with the game demo, and Mario Super Sluggers Cards were also passed out there. Every inning, someone was randomly chosen to win a Wii
system along with the game. Whenever a home run or a good play happened, the Safeco Field video screen showed a gameplay clip with Mario
, Luigi
, or Bowser. A Mario mascot also appeared before the game with the Mariners' mascot, the Moose, but left after the first inning. Nintendo's American branch is based in the Seattle area, and also is the owner of the Mariners (hence the promotion).
Sports game
A sports game is a computer or video game that simulates the practice of traditional sports. Most sports have been recreated with a game, including team sports, athletics and extreme sports. Some games emphasize actually playing the sport , whilst others emphasize strategy and organization...
for the Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
developed by Namco Bandai Games
Namco Bandai Games
is an arcade, mobile and home video game developer and publisher based in Japan which is the product of a merger between the video game development divisions of Bandai and Namco. Namco Bandai Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings and specializes in production and sales of...
and NOW Production, and published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
. It was previously known by the working title Super Mario Stadium Baseball. It is part of the Mario Sports series, and the sequel to Mario Superstar Baseball
Mario Superstar Baseball
Mario Superstar Baseball, known in Japan as is a sports game that was developed by Namco and NOW Production and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube in 2005. The game was created in the vein of other Mario sports games such as Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and Mario Power Tennis. This game...
for the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
. Mario Super Sluggers was released in Japan
Japan
Japan is an island nation in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean, it lies to the east of the Sea of Japan, China, North Korea, South Korea and Russia, stretching from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea and Taiwan in the south...
on June 19, 2008 and in North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
on August 25, 2008. A release date for Europe
Europe
Europe is, by convention, one of the world's seven continents. Comprising the westernmost peninsula of Eurasia, Europe is generally 'divided' from Asia to its east by the watershed divides of the Ural and Caucasus Mountains, the Ural River, the Caspian and Black Seas, and the waterways connecting...
and Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
was canceled. The game was later released for $19.99 as part of the Nintendo Selects range.
Game modes
Mario Super Sluggers features game modes that are similar to those of Mario Superstar BaseballMario Superstar Baseball
Mario Superstar Baseball, known in Japan as is a sports game that was developed by Namco and NOW Production and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube in 2005. The game was created in the vein of other Mario sports games such as Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and Mario Power Tennis. This game...
.
Exhibition
The player can choose a captain and which players to have on a team. The number of innings can be chosen, and which field position the players are on. The player can choose which stadium to play on, as long as it's unlocked.Challenge Mode
The player starts as Mario and must recruit all the characters. This is also where to unlock all characters and stadiums. The plot of this mode is that Bowser Jr. is taking over the ball parks.The player can choose between five different captains, Mario and the unlockable captains Yoshi (Yoshi Park), Donkey Kong (DK Jungle), Wario (Wario City), and Peach (Peach Ice Garden). He can switch captains at any time during gameplay. Then he goes to each stadium and unlocks players until he has a good enough team to challenge Bowser Jr. which lasts for 3 innings. After defeating Bowser Jr., his stadium, Bowser Jr.'s Playroom, is replaced with Bowser's Castle. Then the player must either challenge Bowser which lasts for 5 innings or keep unlocking characters to make an even better team. In order to recruit the players, you must either free them from Bowser's minions, help them with their problems, or complete a scout mission that they assign you. For Nokis, they need to be unlocked in this order: Blue, Green, and Red.
At each stadium there is a shop where the player can buy various error items, special bats, special gloves, pitching control power-ups, and other items with coins that you find in random places. One of these other items is Luigi's Flashlight, which then unlocks the stadium Luigi's Mansion (which can only be used at night). Another is the Daisy Cruiser pass, which unlocks Daisy's Cruiser. Also, when a player unlocks the secret shop pass, the Daisy Cruiser is its hideout. The player must go to the cruiser at night to access the shop, however. In each ball park, Bowser Jr. and two of Bowser's minions are in control of them. To get rid of these baddies, the player must challenge them to a battle mission. Bowser Jr. will challenge the player to three different battles: A battle mission where the player's team is behind 1 run and must mount a comeback (this is the first showdown against Bowser Jr.), three ball games which all last for 1 inning (In the second and third games, Bowser Jr. will start the game with 1 and 2 points already on his team's side, respectively; this means that the player must mount a comeback to score more than the number of points Bowser Jr. has), and in Yoshi Park, he will challenge the player to a minigame called Piranha Panic (this replaces one of the ball games). For ball games against Bowser Jr., the easiest game has the player bat first, while harder ones have Bowser Jr. bat first, which means that the player must score one or more points to win. Also, the innings and the item rules cannot be changed.
Minigames
Some minigames can only be played in day or night time. There are 9 minigames in total. However, several of the minigames are unlockable. Some minigames only play with the Wii RemoteWii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
with Nunchuk and the Wii Remote sideways.
Toy Field
Players try to hit baseballs to point spaces all around the field. The other players try to catch the ball. If a player catches a ball, it is his turn to bat. At the end of the game, king medals are awarded for various achievements. The computer adds up the score and the player with the most points will win. Toy Field can be played with the Wii RemoteWii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
with Nunchuk, or with the Wii Remote sideways.
Records
Shows MVPs of exhibition games, star players in challenge mode and high scores of the minigames. There are also videos, and when the game is completed, the records will show the ending movie.Gameplay
The gameplay of Mario Super Sluggers is similar to that of its predecessor; the main difference being the controls, with the Wii Remote adding immersion using a control scheme similar to the Baseball sub-game in Wii SportsWii Sports
is a sports game developed and published by Nintendo as a launch title for the Wii video game console , and part of the Touch! Generations. The game was first released in North America along with the Wii on November 19, 2006, and was released in Japan, Australia, and Europe the following month...
. There are three control methods available: Wii Remote by itself, Wii Remote and the Nunchuk, and the Wii Remote held sideways.
Reception
In comparison to other Mario sports titles, Mario Super Sluggers received only fair reviews. The lack of online play was a generally major factor in the reviews of Mario Super Sluggers.IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
gave Mario Super Sluggers 7.4/10, explaining that the game is fun but just the same game it played three years earlier. Gamespot
GameSpot
GameSpot is a video gaming website that provides news, reviews, previews, downloads, and other information. The site was launched in May 1, 1996 by Pete Deemer, Vince Broady and Jon Epstein. It was purchased by ZDNet, a brand which was later purchased by CNET Networks. CBS Interactive, which...
gave the game 6.5/10, saying that it was for Mario collectors and "Wii Party hosts" only. Gametrailers
GameTrailers
GameTrailers is a media website that specializes in video game related content. It provides free access to original programming , game trailers and recorded game play. Along with standard definition , many of the video clips are offered in a higher resolution .Users can upload videos, create...
gave the game 6.7/10 and explained that a game that was published by Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
should have Wii Sports
Wii Sports
is a sports game developed and published by Nintendo as a launch title for the Wii video game console , and part of the Touch! Generations. The game was first released in North America along with the Wii on November 19, 2006, and was released in Japan, Australia, and Europe the following month...
motions, but does not. It also noted some balance issues, the lack of improvement in presentation from the original Mario Superstar Baseball, issues with pitching, and the fact that it is a baseball game with little baseball. Gametrailers also noted that "It doesn't make much use off the system's capabilities with limited motion control and no online play." Overall that prompted them to say in their video review, "The wait for a solid hard ball game on the Wii is heading into extra innings."
Mario Super Sluggers was nominated for the Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards
The Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards, also known as the KCAs or Kids Choice Awards, is an annual awards show that airs on the Nickelodeon cable channel, which airs live and is usually held and telecast live on a...
, in which it lost to Guitar Hero: World Tour.
Promotion
As part of the North American marketing launch, Nintendo created a series of collectible online cards along with mariosupersluggerscards.com, a website that served as a virtual collector’s album. The site promises that the series will include a card for each of the forty-one characters featured in Mario Super Sluggers.The cards began appearing in banner ads on popular children websites on August 18, 2008, but have since begun to appear as embedded hyperlinks in other, less obvious locations. Mario Super Sluggers Cards have been found on other sites, such as YouTube
YouTube
YouTube is a video-sharing website, created by three former PayPal employees in February 2005, on which users can upload, view and share videos....
.
When the Seattle Mariners
Seattle Mariners
The Seattle Mariners are a professional baseball team based in Seattle, Washington. Enfranchised in , the Mariners are a member of the Western Division of Major League Baseball's American League. Safeco Field has been the Mariners' home ballpark since July...
played the New York Yankees
New York Yankees
The New York Yankees are a professional baseball team based in the The Bronx, New York. They compete in Major League Baseball in the American League's East Division...
on September 5, 2008, the game was promoted there at Safeco Field
Safeco Field
Safeco Field is a retractable roof baseball stadium located in Seattle, Washington. The stadium, owned and operated by the Washington-King County Stadium Authority, is the home stadium of the Seattle Mariners of Major League Baseball and has a seating capacity of 47,878 for baseball...
. The first 20,000 fans received special Mario Super Sluggers foam mitts. There were also two booths with the game demo, and Mario Super Sluggers Cards were also passed out there. Every inning, someone was randomly chosen to win a Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
system along with the game. Whenever a home run or a good play happened, the Safeco Field video screen showed a gameplay clip with Mario
Mario
is a fictional character in his video game series, created by Japanese video game designer Shigeru Miyamoto. Serving as Nintendo's mascot and the main protagonist of the series, Mario has appeared in over 200 video games since his creation...
, Luigi
Luigi
is a fictional character, featured in video games and related media released by Nintendo. Created by prominent game designer Shigeru Miyamoto, Luigi is portrayed as the slightly younger fraternal twin brother of Nintendo's mascot Mario, and appears in many games throughout the Mario series,...
, or Bowser. A Mario mascot also appeared before the game with the Mariners' mascot, the Moose, but left after the first inning. Nintendo's American branch is based in the Seattle area, and also is the owner of the Mariners (hence the promotion).