In the most charming section of the game, the Challenge mode, Princess Peach has built five baseball “Diamonds”, each on an island for the baseball Captains which consist of Peach herself, Wario, Donkey Kong, Yoshi and, of course Mario. Low and behold, Bowser and Bowser Junior catch wind of the idea and they crash the party with their own field.  Bowser, with Junior in tow, decides that they want the “Diamonds” for themselves and they take control of all the islands.  This is where the sports game turns into an adventure game.

The protagonist is Mario and his responsibility is to build a team to play against the Bowser’s squad to take back the islands. While adventuring in this basic point and click interface, Mario must prove himself-worthy by completing challenges (like hitting into certain parts of the field, getting double plays, or using specialized moves to get players out, to name a few) that are presented by possible teammates in order to recruit them.  During the journey, Mario will join with the other Captains each of them have special abilities that can be used in the world to gain items, coins, or other teammates, Mario’s is using warp pipes.  Wario is the treasure hoarder; he is the only one that can unlock the treasure chests that contain useful items which are littered throughout the land he also has a giant magnet which he can use for other obstacles in the game.  Yoshi can use the ground pound technique to get into secret areas.  Then there is Donkey Kong, he can climb vines and smash barrels, while Princess Peach charms scared ball players into coming out of hiding.  With these tools the game adds a search and discover element that is appealing to a degree.

The amount of characters in this game is legendary, 40+ personalities round out the roster, almost everybody from the Mario, Wario and the Donkey Kong series.  All the ball players have their own skill levels with pitching, fielding, hitting, speed, and play at the plate strength or as they put it attack.  That is just the beginning, each character also have star power specialties and other special moves, some players can throw “laser beam” balls from the outfield to home-plate and other players have a ball dash, these are just a couple of the copious amount of abilities that the troupe can have.  In addition, there are teammate maneuvers that require good chemistry between players in order to pull the moves off, such as jumping off the back of another player and boosting up in the air to prevent a homerun.

There are other modes which are selectable besides Challenge that range from Exhibition games, Mini-games, and the Toy Field. With the Exhibition game people can jump right into a ball game and ball field of their choosing.  These are not everyday ball fields either, Yoshi’s venue has warp pipes in the outfield and if a ball lands in one pipe it pops out another pipe on the other side of the field, not to mention the train which can run over outfielders if the ball is hit deep.  Another example is in Donkey Kong’s field where the flowers in the outfield emit a gas that stuns the fielders and barrels that are looking to squash any potential playmaker. 

The other category, mini-games, which fortunately there are not that many to choose from, leave much to be desired.  One in particular, the Donkey Kong Island mini-game is near impossible to complete.  There are barrels that are rolling towards home-plate and the objective is to break them with a batted ball. The required timing needed for this objective is ridiculous.

The Toy Field selection is a mini-game in itself and is the most interesting of the bunch.  The object of the game is to finish with the most coins.  There are four players competing (three in the outfield and one at bat) for the coins.  A slot machine is used to start each pitch, and each of the outfielders press the desired button to stop the wheels from turning.  The machine produces the speed of the pitch, direction of the pitch and the error items (the batter throws the item i.e. bomb, to disrupt the catch).  The way to score coins is by hitting the ball into numbered sections of the outfield without the ball being caught by the other players.  The game is amusing when there are some friends around to play with but playing against the A.I. is not appealing.  

When it comes to the “intuitive” controls, from the start it can be compared to the Wii Sports baseball, playing this way will rob the player of the depth to this game.  With the “waggle” configuration it is impossible to decipher which base will be thrown to, you can not even steal bases.  The best way I found was to hold the Wiimote sideways as if it were an old NES controller, this configuration allows the player to steal bases, climb walls, even perform squeeze plays and is much more responsive.

Unfortunately, the replay value of this game is very slim; plenty of enjoyment can be had from renting this game.  Though there are a number of different characters to play and a few baseball fields to enjoy, Mario Super Sluggers lacks excitement.  Namco Bandai hit a homerun with the Challenge mode, picked up a walk to first base with the Toy Field multiplayer and struck out with the other mini-games, thus receiving 7 out of 10.