Mario steps up to bat on the Wii and ... well, doesn't strike out, but doesn't hit a home run, either. That's the consensus (minus the baseball terminology) on the latest mascot-ified sports title from Nintendo,
Mario Super Sluggers.
Mario Strikers Charged was the last, and scored (both a gaming
and sports term) a bit better overall. We're just excited to finally see the
Wii Sports baseball mini-game fleshed out into something that will (we'd hope) have us playing for more than, oh, two minutes
.
- 1UP (B): "Super Sluggers succeeds and fails as most Mario sports games do. Its quick, arcade-style action is easy to get into and plenty fun, coming at the expense of the nuances – and balance – you'll find in a sim."
- GameDaily (80/100): "What it lacks in innovation and online play, Mario Super Sluggers makes up for with its robust modes, fun controls and multiplayer options. If you're a fan of either the characters or the sport, you owe it to yourself to round these bases."
- Game Informer (55/100): "Multiplayer is amusing in that hanging out with your friends is fun anyway, but the single-player content is truly terrible. A series of boring one-off challenges punctuated by simplistic exploration and the occasional full game makes up Mario's quest to foil Bowser Jr. via baseball. Yes, it's as insipid as it sounds."
- IGN (74/100): "We wouldn't go as far as to say this is Nintendo-made shovelware, but there's very little that has changed in the three years between Mario Superstar Baseball on GCN, and Mario Super Sluggers on Wii.
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
Shogan @ Aug 28th 2008 7:10AM
So it's yet another Gamecube title with motion controls tacked on? Come on Nintendo, you can do so much better...
Haggard @ Aug 28th 2008 7:38AM
They can. Thing is, they don't have to.
baby sea tuna @ Aug 28th 2008 7:44AM
Yeah, but the market has proven that they don't need to.
baby sea tuna @ Aug 28th 2008 7:46AM
rats, beat me to it. Stupid iPhone keyboard!
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Aug 28th 2008 8:03AM
... ummm the fuck were you expecting? It's a fucking baseball game.
Shogan @ Aug 28th 2008 8:08AM
@Vegeta
Something more than a Gamecube title with motion controls obviously. Unfortunately this seems to be the norm with Nintendo this generation.
colinbell @ Aug 28th 2008 8:17AM
Thats what GM said in the seventies - we could make cars with better quality or smaller cars, but our market share proves thaat we dont need to. And we know how that ended, right? I think Nintendo may find that the "hardcore" isnt just a small minority of gamers, most gamers want decent graphics, online a wide variety of games and are unlikely to be weaned back once they drift over en masse to PS or XBOX - while the housewives and non-gamers willing to buy a $250 toy to play simple arcade stuff or simply show off to friends might not be there in a year or two.
samfish @ Aug 28th 2008 8:46AM
No, Vegeta's right. It's a god damn baseball game. Why not instead tell us what YOU would do differently to a damn baseball game instead of just 'tacking motion controls on'?
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 28th 2008 8:53AM
The supposed "benefit" of not making it a baseball sim is so they can do off the wall shit. This isn't Madden, MLB 08 the show or NBA 2k. Only they have the excuse of not being able to do much each year.
It just proves how little nintendo cares about their games.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Aug 28th 2008 8:55AM
@shogan
It's a fucking baseball game. It's what I expect them to do. At motion control so that I can swing the bat with my wiimote. It's what is expected.
samfish @ Aug 28th 2008 9:46AM
"The supposed "benefit" of not making it a baseball sim is so they can do off the wall shit."
And they did just that.
Are you going to be attempting to make any valid points today, or should I just leave now?
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 28th 2008 10:10AM
They did just that years ago on the gamecube. Why do you accept such lazy copy and paste jobs?
Vidikron (FU) @ Aug 28th 2008 10:16AM
At this point these games belong in the same pile as games with animated movie tie-ins. They're cheap kids games and, honestly, I'm not really sure there's anything wrong with that. Anyone looking for something more serious in terms of sports games shouldn't be playing anything with Mario in the title in the first place.
Jfk Aok @ Aug 28th 2008 10:23AM
Vegeta's right...the game was built to be bad. No wait, what is he arguing again?
Oh that's right, he isn't making any point. It's not the sports fault nintendo doesn't even try anymore. There's been plenty of clever, fun baseball games before.
Jfk Aok @ Aug 28th 2008 10:27AM
...that didn't rely on being a remake with waggle
t_m @ Aug 28th 2008 10:52AM
You mean like all the other baseball games innovated by incrementing the number at the end of their name?
Frankly I think baseball is the dullest sport ever invented, but it seems to me that Baseball + Waggle is a much bigger step that baseball + improved graphics in a genre that is based on motion.
There are dozens of Wii Baseball games out here in japan, haven't any of them made it over to the US yet?
Sheppy (of the Fidlious Clan of Wong) @ Aug 28th 2008 1:50PM
When we have not one, but two "kiddy" baseball games this year both doing more than just adding waggle controls, I think the arguement for advancement is valid. I mean even Mario Soccer had online. Where is THAT?
ApolloIV @ Aug 28th 2008 7:49AM
I am ashamed to say this...but I will buy this.
Metal_Gear @ Aug 28th 2008 8:13AM
At the risk of being flamed... your not exactly spoilt for choice are you? :|
juju187 @ Aug 28th 2008 8:23AM
since your giving away money can I have some?
Foetoid @ Aug 28th 2008 8:37AM
Your gonna burn now! Seriously tho, i never intended to get this game. I hated the Baseball on the Wii Sports and thought it was the most broken of the 5 Sports. Every since that was crap, i've always said i wouldnt buy this. Not that i need to.
I'm a picky hardcore gamer who refuses to buy mini-game compilations or crappy shovel-ware titles and i've found 12 Wii games to own. And i dont even own most of the A+ titles like Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart, Smash Bros Brawl, Battalion Wars, Geometry Wars or No More Heroes. If i can find that many games worth owning without owning the best games (Well, i still own Zelda, Metroid, RE4 etc) on top of my 12 GC games and 16 downloaded games, anyone can.
I do own a 360 yes, but it just never gets played. Gears is great, online is fairly good. Halo 3 is Halo 1 and 2 with HD, still busted-ass dual-analog controls which have ruined every console FPS experiance. I'll be getting FFXIII, Gears 2, Fable 2 and a bunch of other games when they come out, but there is more on the Wii i am looking forward to like Tales of Symphonia 2, Mad World, Pikmin 3, Day of Disaster, Wii Sports Resort, The Conduit, Sadness, Fatal Frame 4, FFCC: The Crystal Bearers, Spore etc etc. Core Gamers aren't hard up for decent Wii games, they're just too lazy to sift through the 5 million metric tons of crap shovelware minigames to get to the good games.
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Aug 28th 2008 8:02AM
Well, nice to see another solid Mario sports game.
Mr Khan @ Aug 28th 2008 11:52AM
Thats just the thing, it isn't like all the other Mario Sports series, Golf, Tennis, and especially Strikers were all excellent. This just feels like they're phoning it in
And it felt that way with the GC version, too
georgel @ Aug 28th 2008 8:06AM
some mysteries will never be solved, like why is the wii selling so good, why did bush get re-elected. hmm maybe i just answered my own question, stupid people
Shogan @ Aug 28th 2008 8:22AM
The Wii has a lot of potential when you look at the really GOOD titles that have been made for the system. Unfortunately, those are the exception rather than the rule.
colinbell @ Aug 28th 2008 8:26AM
You know why the wii is selling so much? Well take me for instance.
Loved the gamecube so much that I refused to play RE4 on PS2, despite the extra content. Loved the N64 as well.
I am totally dissapointed by the wii. BUT I will still buy the wii - just to show it to my non-gaming parents or friends - oh, check out the waggle controls. I will wait for the first price cut to say 200$ which
should follow MS' price cut on the arcade. Then adter one month after I am done with Metroid Prime 3 it will lie in one corner and gather dust. In the meantime, my PS3 schedule is packed - SOCOM in October, then Motorstorm, R2, KZ2, LBP, etc. I would hopefully have a bunch of friends on SOCOM (first time playing that game), maybe even join a clan.
Bottomline - Nintendo will have me as customer for the wii. But its also the last Nintendo console I will ever be buying.
Foetoid @ Aug 28th 2008 8:41AM
I could copy paste georgel, but if you scroll up slightly and look at my response to ApolloIV, you'll see what people are buying Wii games.
McWeen @ Aug 28th 2008 8:18AM
I am surprised they don't seem to be advertising this game very much. I wouldn't even know it was coming out if I didn't frequent joystiq.
Top Cat @ Aug 28th 2008 8:37AM
i love the use of "frequent" in that context, bravo!
Shmil @ Aug 28th 2008 10:18AM
I've seen a few ads on tv for it so far, what's more impressive is seeing Joystiq get quoted on tv commercials.
Kspraydad @ Aug 28th 2008 8:22AM
Shouldn't baseball games come out at the START of the baseball season to leverage their ties to MLB?
Oh...wait...
juju187 @ Aug 28th 2008 8:25AM
next up on the milk a franchise train,
(drum roll)
mario golf with motion contols...
Foetoid @ Aug 28th 2008 9:06AM
If it's as good as the Wii Sports Golf, or even better, perhaps with 36 holes total and Mii Character integration (and of course, online mode, which would rock for a decent golf game) then i would be preordering that straight up no doubt.
Vidikron (FU) @ Aug 28th 2008 10:48AM
As good as Wii Sports Golf? WSG is pretty lame. It's absurdly simplistic. I would hope that any attempt to expand on that would be greatly fleshed out. The potential is there though. Someone should be able to make a good golf game if the WiiMotion Plus is included.
Yourself @ Aug 28th 2008 11:35AM
Apparently the new Tiger Woods game is pretty great, though, even without WMP.
Lijik @ Aug 28th 2008 3:23PM
If Camelot made it and not the farmed-out Namco team that does the Baseball games, I would buy Mario Golf: Waggle Putt Tour in a heatbeat.
Solid Chief @ Aug 28th 2008 8:28AM
Mario is such a slut.
Mind you a slut worth paying for, more fun to be around and a popular one, but a slut nonetheless.
sohcahtoa @ Aug 28th 2008 8:46AM
A slut that is paid... wouldnt that be considered a whore?
Alzheimers @ Aug 28th 2008 10:00AM
The whore's usually the one that gets screwed.
So wouldn't that title go to the Wii Fanbois?
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Aug 28th 2008 8:58AM
I don't understand what's the problem here. It's another decent and fun game for the Wii. So what if it has mario on the cover? You guys act as if Nintendo is the only company in the industry that whores their franchises.
tmacairjordan87 @ Aug 28th 2008 9:02AM
At least most of them aren't direct copy and pastes. As much as I hate halo 3, not even they did that.
Jack of No Trades 85 @ Aug 28th 2008 9:08AM
@Vegeta
Way to go! You missed the point......again.
Noshino @ Aug 28th 2008 9:27AM
Vegeta, you really missed the point by miles...
Surprisingly, most people here are no complaining at the fact that it is another Mario game, but that this is simple an enhanced port of the GameCube Mario baseball...
Hopefully they do more than just that for Mario Tennis (IMO their best Mario Sport series, with Mario Golf right behind it)
Solid Chief @ Aug 28th 2008 9:32AM
But when you look at Mario, as I said above, he's a slut. If Wikipedia is to be believed, he's in over 200 games which stomps any other whored characters that I know of. With Mario's gang consisting of ego's, brothers, counterparts, nemeses, doppelgangers and baby variants and the aforementioned 200++ games, it doesn't take too much thought when Nintendo gets targeted for whoring their franchises.
Solid Chief @ Aug 28th 2008 9:34AM
But as said by the others, not that he's being targeted for it at the moment (except by me =3)
Vegeta (aka Ska Oreo) @ Aug 28th 2008 10:13AM
Fine I see your point. But it's for people who like the series. If people like the games on the gamecube,then they'll like this one.
Yourself @ Aug 28th 2008 10:22AM
I'm with Vegeta in the "what were they supposed to do?" category, as really that's the case with, oh, every sports game ever. The reason no one complains (as much) about it in sim titles is that the lineup "needs" to be updated. At the same time, this begs the question: why release another game in the series? And now we're just on the topic of sequelitis, which is probably getting off-topic (though I'd love to rant, I'm probably pretty well hated for my verbose posts at this point, and therefore will abstain).
(directed at Noshino but really whatever)
This stagnancy would apply just the same to Mario Tennis or Mario Golf, and I'm curious what you would look for when you say you hope they do more. What can be done, barring obviously online?
Danny @ Aug 28th 2008 10:38AM
@Yourself
Well I've never played the game but I hear fielding was done terribly in it. So did they improve on that? Did they offer more game modes? Is the act of hitting the ball more involved now that the devs have access to motion controls and for that matter how good are the pitching mechanics? Can I throw specific pitches based on the way I mock throw the wiimote?
Reading the game informer review it seems the wii picks which base your outfielders throw the ball to and shifts them for you as well. There isn't even an ounce of real strategy involved. The computer handles everything that takes thought in the game and you're left with using powerups or performing a fucking mini game to hit the ball. I would have loved this game when I was 7 but I was also a kid who never played sports. I expect this game wouldn't pass for even the least discerning little leaguer. Why people are buying this is beyond me.
Yourself @ Aug 28th 2008 11:23AM
Right, it sounds like you just don't like the idea of the game. "Hearing fielding was done terribly" isn't a complaint worthy of address, and the rest are... really subjective things that seem to have been there on purpose, so why would they change them? Adding more game modes is also rather idiotic, as most sports games do this on a yearly cycle, then dispose of the modes the next year because - guess what - no one bought Madden so they could manage T.O.'s apartment.
Furthermore, your disgust with the game seems rather petty, as you have admittedly not played it, and most reviews, while not raving, have been in the "thoroughly decent" camp. Though I'm not horrifically surprised that you chose to read and cite the far and away lowest of the bunch.
Remember, I'm on the "this game probably shouldn't have been made" side, so don't be yelling at me.
Noshino @ Aug 28th 2008 9:03PM
Yourself,
"The reason no one complains (as much) about it in sim titles is that the lineup "needs" to be updated"
what are you talking about? people DO complain about the other sims, look, Im not that familiar with the Madden series, and yet even I have seen a lot of complaints from the crowd, now, Im more familiar with soccer, and if you really want to see how much people are complaining, just look up what has been going on for a while with PES and Fifa series...
Your statement is really naive...
"and I'm curious what you would look for when you say you hope they do more. What can be done, barring obviously online?"
Like someone mentioned above, they have a HUGE advantage since they can do all this wacky stuff, and since it isn't really a sim, they ll get away with it.
Something that I would look forward to for Mario Tennis Wii would be more customization, as in equipment, also multiple specials, and since I love doubles, I would like also some sort of techniques especially for doubles.
Also, one of the main complaints is that there werent that many characters, seriously, although I love Shy Guy, I would have loved to see Toad, Baby Mario/Luigi, and one or two more characters from DK
And that is just off the top of my head, Im sure there are many other improvements that could have been done