Mario Superstar Baseball Hands-On

Batter Up

Mario and friends hit the diamond in the latest Nintendo-themed sports title.

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Mario knows his way around a golf club and a tennis court, but with Mario Superstar Baseball, the plump little plumber is ditching the country-club scene to take his unique brand of pluck to America's pastime. We've spent some time with a brand-new build of this batting, pitching, and baserunning romp just ahead of its late-August release to check out just how high Mario's baseball IQ is.

In our last look at the game, it took us a while to get going with Mario and the gang, if only because some of the finer points of control weren't that obvious from the get-go. This time around, we're happy to report that we got to both spend some time in the minors and check out the game's quick and easy practice mode, which also serves as a stylish introduction to the game's controls. Practice sessions are broken up into several areas: pitching, batting, fielding, baserunning, and free practice. Here, you'll learn not only the basics, but also interesting control tidbits that will help you get some outs or score some runs depending on which side of the plate you're on.

In the pitching game, for instance, tapping the A button results in a regular pitch, which can be angled by pressing right or left by pressing the left analog stick in the appropriate direction. A more powerful pitch can be pulled off by pressing and holding down the A button; furthermore, releasing it at the apex of your windup will result in a much more powerful pitch than normal. You'll also have the ability to toss a specialty "star pitch," one that will be virtually impossible for your opponent to lay the wood on, by pressing the right trigger in conjunction with the A button. You'll only have access to star pitches if you have stars in your arsenal, which can be earned in games during specific pitcher-batter matchups. Finally, you can also toss a changeup by pushing down on the left stick and holding down the A button. But don't be surprised if your opponent swings wildly at this slower pitch, because your pitcher's prolonged windup is identical to that when throwing a regular power pitch.

Mario calls his shot. It's about time Nintendo's cast of characters took to the baseball diamond.

Batting has its variations as well. You swing with the A button but can aim your ball's flight path using the left analog stick. Similarly to the power pitch, you can put some oomph behind your swing by holding down the A button before the ball crosses the plate--a feat made that much more difficult because you'll have to judge not only your current batter's unique swing, but also your opposing pitcher's distinctive pitching animations. It's these distinct animations that give Mario Superstar Baseball its lasting appeal, as every player has individual strengths and weaknesses, in addition to a unique set of animations.

For even more variety, consider the different types of ballparks you'll be playing in. Sure, there may still be 90 feet between home plate and first base, but there's not a Major League Baseball park out there that can compete with the huge rolling barrels in the outfield of Donkey Kong's stadium that are just looking to take out outfielders trying to make plays...not to mention the baseball-eating plants that might gulp down a ball at Yoshi's park only to spit it out in an entirely new location. Princess Peach's castle-themed stadium features suspended blocks that offer you bonuses to players and can even bounce a shallow pop-up out of the park, with a little luck and just the right trajectory. As such, the only thing you can expect in a few innings of Mario Superstar Baseball is that each game is utterly unique.

Unfortunately, Mario doesn't know that pitching high and tight on a ghost is pretty much a useless tactic.

The main modes in MSB include your standard exhibition game, where Nintendo mainstays like Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Donkey Kong, and Bowser field teams to determine diamond supremacy; an involved challenge mode, the closest thing MSB has to a career mode; and toy field, where up to four players take one another on for valuable coins. Furthermore, there are a number of baseball-themed minigames. But because challenge mode is the most involved of all these modes, we'll start there.