Maybe some of you guys were fans of 2005’s Mario Superstar Baseball. I myself briefly dabbled in the game once at a friend’s house.
The game was functional, fun, and managed to keep me entertained for more than a few hours despite my general dislike of everything sports related. So it is with mild interest that I greet Nintendo’s unveilment of Mario Super Sluggers, the Wii sequel to 2005’s hit Mario/Baseball mixture.
Screenshots reveal that Mario Super Sluggers doesn’t showcase much graphical fidelity. At least it doesn’t when compared to its predecessor. It could be the terrible quality of the screens, but it seems to me that the two games look completely identical.
Nintendo’s very own Bill Trinen demoed Mario Super Sluggers at their currently on-going Media Summit event. IGN was there to cover the event. Pitching and hitting mechanics are operated via the Wii remote.
Players simply make a throwing motion to pitch the ball and they can twist the remote to add some curve to their throw. Fielding is done by merely shaking the controller and your team will scurry over to retrieve the hit ball. Make another throwing motion and your character will throw the ball over to the intended base.
It is at this point that some of Bill’s motions go undetected by the game. Not a very good sign when you consider this game is developed in-house. Of course, the game isn’t finished so problems like these will more than likely be ironed out before the game’s release. Speaking of which, the game has not been issued a release date just yet.
"Very simple and very approachable. It’s based entirely off motion control. It’s going to take the Wii Sports crowd and bring them into something that’s more of a robust experience," Bill says. Looks like even Nintendo themselves acknowledges how shallow Wii Sports Baseball was.
At that point, the demo ended. I’m cautiously optimistic about this title. I’m sure it will be loads more fun than the Baseball game in Wii Sports. The zany antics of Mario and friends coupled with the unique properties of the Wii remote should serve to deliver a quality gaming experience. Baseball fans will likely want to keep this one on their radar if the previous Mario Baseball is anything to go by.
