Mario Superstar Baseball is, as you would expect, baseball with a Mario twist. Sure, you've still got the basic stuff like throwing curveballs, deciding whether to hit for power or laying down a bunt, and trying to turn a 6-4-3 double play, but you've also got fireballs, super-powerful swings, outfield obstacles like Chain Chomps, and more. The game does a fantastic job striking that delicate balance between appealing to baseball fans and appealing to Mario game fans. There are also a ton of customizable options, allowing you to set the number of innings in each game, play under the mercy rule and even toggle automatic fielding and baserunning on and off. Those features are nice to have when you're playing against younger opponents.
The game is most fun playing a good old fashioned regular game against a real-life opponent, but thankfully the game does provide other game modes, both single and multiplayer. The main one-player attraction is the Challenge Mode, in which you pick a team captain and travel from stadium to stadium, playing other famous Mario characters and trying to win them over to your side. To do this, you have to meet a set of in-game challenges, such as striking out a certain player, getting a run in a key situation, etc. It's a fantastic system that I personally love, and it works so much better than the more adventure-style mode used in the sequel, Mario Super Sluggers. Topping things off are a number of different baseball-themed minigames and the Toy Box, an odd little game where you earn coins for successfully getting a hit or an out. There's a decent amount of depth here on top of the fun gameplay.
