Let me preface these impressions by saying that, as a baseball fan, the only baseball game I really enjoyed on a console was R.B.I. Baseball on the NES. It was simple, straight-forward, and fun. Sim-baseball games of recent generation consoles, I have found, are much less intuitive, making you learn unnatural batting systems, convoluted pitching systems, and, in some games (Sega MLB2K comes to mind) retarded fielding systems. With that said, when I had first heard of Mario Baseball, I had no idea what to think, or how it would play; I wasnt very excited about it. After spending a few hours with it at E3, I came away surprised and delighted. First off, this is arcade baseball here. No crazy batting scheme, no sliders, curves, and change-ups to memorize. To use an old baseball adage: see the ball, hit the ball. In this, and many other aspects, Mario Baseball for GCN is plays much like the old NES favorite, R.B.I. Baseball.

When you first hit the start button, youre taken to the character select screen where you can select the leader of your team. Characters range from the usuals such as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, and include some new faces like King Boo. Every characters team has a name: Marios team is the Mario Heroes, Luigis is the Luigi Gentlemen, Bowsers is the Bowser Flames and so on. The team captains have different attributes, so depending on who you choose you could have excellent hitting but poor pitching, good fielding but bad base running, etc. After you choose your team captain, you can choose your stadium. The E3 version had three stadiums available: Marios, Peachs and Donkey Kongs. Marios is the most like a regular baseball field, on the beach with stands, a warning track, and a scoreboard. Peachs field is in the castle courtyard, with a large water fountain right behind second base and hedges in the outfield. DKs is in the jungle, with a stream running through the outfield and giant barrels rolling around. If your character gets run over by a barrel on DKs stage, they get stunned for a second and drop the ball.

Like R.B.I. Baseball, Mario Baseballs gameplay is very arcade-like. The view from behind the batter is almost exactly like R.B.I. What this means is that unlike sim-baseball games, theres no moving the bat around for high, low, inside or outside pitches. No getting under pitches for infield pop-ups or chopping balls to the second baseman. You can move your batter closer or farther away from the plate, towards or away from the pitcher. Naturally, when the pitcher throws a pitch, you have to time your swing right to hit the ball. Where it gets interesting is that you can hold the A button to charge up a swing or use R+A for a special move. Charge swings are for when youre trying to slug a homer or blast a grounder past the shortstop. You can use a normal swing for a bunt or a blooper to right. Special moves are different per character and are limited. This also applies when youre pitching. You have a star meter with 5 stars that are full when you begin the game. Every time you use a special move, you use a star. Over the course of the game, youre given opportunities to gain stars youve used (Star Chance) by getting a hit or a strikeout. There are also Rival Matchups, such as Mario Vs. Bowser. If Bowser is pitching and Mario walks up to the plate, here will be a cool little cut-scene with organ music; a nice touch. When you get a hit, you can press B to dash.

Pitching is handled very similarly to R.B.I. Baseball. You can move your pitcher from left to right. A button throws a normal pitch, holding A charges up a pitch, and R+A uses a special pitch. Immediately after a pitch is thrown, you can move the ball with the control stick. You can check runners with the control stick + B. Fielding is relatively easy. If theres a fly ball, a circle appears in the general area of where the ball will land. When your character is in the right spot, the circle will turn red, letting you know that you character will catch it if you stay there.

Along with the regular mode, there are also mini-games in Mario Baseball. I got to try Bob-omb Derby. Its basically Home Run Derby, except that youre smashing Bob-ombs that explode in the air. Theres a slot machine type meter next to the pitcher that goes through a series of symbols that determine the speed of the pitch. Mushrooms are slow balls, flowers are normal speed, stars are fast, and Big Bob-omb king is like a bonus ball. The more HRs you hit in a row, the more points you accumulate. After you go through a set number of Bob-ombs, the derby is over.

Ive mentioned R.B.I. Baseball a lot in these impressions because Mario Baseball feels like Nintendo ripped the game engine straight out of R.B.I., Nintendophied it, and pumped it full of steroids (haha), which isnt a bad thing as long as youre not expecting a sim-baseball game. The graphics are smooth and nice, sounds are loud and crisp (especially the repetitive Strike!), and the framerate is ace. I came away thinking that Mario Baseball is a fun little game that I would play with friends, much like Mario Tennis.

Angel Ruedaflores