Hooked Gamers - Mario Super Sluggers Review

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Mario Super Sluggers

August 20th, 2008 by ProfessorLayton

Get a Grip

Perhaps the biggest concern for me before playing this game were the controls. Could they deliver an intuitive experience? Before I start explaining the basics, I should probably bring to your attention that the controls explained are for the Wii Remote and nunchuk. The game can also be played with the Wii Remote held horizontally, but honestly, the game plays better this way.

When at bat, you hold the Wii Remote vertically and swing when the ball comes in range. To deliver a more powerful hit, simply swing the Wii Remote back first and then release when the ball comes in contact. Besides this, you can also use a character’s special abilities to deliver a more powerful move, such as DK’s barrel roll. To bunt, all you have to do is press and hold Z. Stealing a base can be performed by pressing down on the joystick and pushing the A.

Striker Out!

Let’s turn our attention now to the opposite corner, where things start to go downhill a little. To throw the ball, swing the Wii Remote down and to charge the ball, swing back and release when you’re ready to toss the ball. To use a character’s special ability, press A and B, similar to how you would use it when batting. As I mentioned before, the pitching system is far from perfect; sometimes it reads your basic pitches as charge pitches, wrecking your strategy. When at bat, your charge swings are often recognized as swings. Though the controls are far from perfect, the controls for pitching and batting work fairly well for a good chunk of the game.

Catch the Ball!

While out in the field, things can get a little hectic for a variety of reasons. The main reason is that each stadium has its own unique features – DK Jungle boasts a cannon that fires barrels unto the field, squashing anything that gets in its way. In addition to this, special shots and items can also wreck havoc upon the field. Thankfully, the controls for fielding are quite easy to grasp and work great.

Chemistry Lovers

Like a standard game of baseball, the main goal of a game in Sluggers is to get as many home runs as possible. Unlike realistic baseball games, Sluggers drastically improves on a concept introduced in the original; chemistry. How well a character performs in a game all depends on chemistry. In some scenarios, chemistry can be used as an advantage, but in others, it can turn against you. When choosing a roster, it will prove vital to pay close attention to chemistry because it will affect characters near each other in the field, as well as the batting order.

If a character tosses a ball to someone who he/she doesn’t have chemistry with, the speed of the ball will be downgraded. Chemistry can also prove to be a vital asset when a home run is a hit – two players with it can jump up and catch the ball, resulting in an out for the other team. In addition to this improvement, when the ball is tossed to a base and the runner is just about to step on it, a screen will appear in which the first team to input the correct button will win. If the offensive team wins, the runner will be safe. If the defensive team wins, the runner is out. While at bat, chemistry can give you items depending on whether the next batter has a strong enough chemistry with the current one.

Like previous Mario spin-offs, Sluggers includes a wide variety of characters, all of which have different stats. Bowser for instance is an exceptionally good batter but while in the field, he struggles to catch the ball. Mario on the other hand is a great all-around character. Though the cast hasn’t changed much since the original, a few new characters have been implemented, such as King K. Rool, Kremlings, and Blooper.