With Games like the classic old school Super Mario Bros. series and the more recent Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, I'd expected better from Mario Superstar Baseball. Unfortunately, I was let down with most of the game play. Many of the game play modes and key components feel weak and aren't very interesting and the game doesn't even allow 4 players to partake in a real game of baseball..

Gameplay:

The game offers special Star moves that give an added dose to overall performance when playing against other teams. You can also pitch slow balls, curve balls and Charge-Up throws. Much like real-world baseball, you can hit the batter forcing him to walk if you're not careful. Playing practice mode will help you figure out how to use these moves and more, while playing Exhibition will allow you to take on the AI or another player in a regular game of baseball.

You can choose from 6 fields to play in, each belonging to a "main" character - some have special features like Yoshi's Park has Piranha Plants that'll catch the ball giving the base runners a better chance to get on a plate or to steal an extra base; Peach's Garden has hedges that'll slow most balls down enough to give the base runner a little bit more time, as well as floating boxes for the ball to bounce off of.

Players can do Dive Catches and Jump Catches in the outfield, and Dash by repeatedly hitting the "B" button, though your character may go out of control while dashing infield. You can slide into a base the same way you dash by repeatedly hitting the "B" button. Stealing bases can be tricky using the "Y" and "Z" buttons along with the control stick.

When playing the field if you're not used to the controls the bases can be somewhat confusing and instead of throwing to first base you might just end up throwing to home or second base, but it's relatively easy once you get the hang of it. All in all the gameplay isn't bad (other than some slip ups with the fielders throwing to the bases) and is fairly easy to pick up and play.

With watered down minigames such as Wall Ball, Barrel Batter and Chain Chomp Sprint it's no surprise when you're bored with the game. Challenges, exhibitions and practice are fair, though I wasn't pleased that you could not play on the same team with another human player (you can play separate teams with only two players, and four player in minigames but that doesn't make up for it).

The game does offer staple characters like Donkey Kong, Luigi and Mario, and some special appearances from a myriad of new characters. Each character has special moves like Star Swings and Star Pitches – for instance, Yoshi throws an egg while Mario throws a speeding fireball that's nearly impossible to hit. In the challenge mode you can buy special equipment that will assist you in your next game, such as; a "Power Bat" to increase your chances of hitting a home run and a "Buddy Emblem" to help your team play better as a team.

The toy field minigame wasn't all that exciting either, compared to "toy fields" of past Mario games. Compared to the games from the Mario Party series, this one doesn't hold up very well. Like the minigames, this game mode wasn't interesting because you really don't have to do anything other than pitch or bat, or collect coins should the ball land on the "coins" "button".

Presentation:

The sound track is similar to other recent Mario games: (semi-catchy but not overly annoying ) simple enough to be playing in the background while you concentrate on hitting the next homer. Along with the music, each character has his or her own set of sound effects as they power up for a swing, nail a hit, etc. Over all the sound effects weren't all that bad.

The graphics are similar to most other Mario games on the market: some of the Star Swings are pretty neat but most are too similar, like Toad and Baby Mario hitting a fly ball as their special move. The animation is pretty solid and the graphics are crisp and clean, but the overall presentation doesn't go out of its way to be different to all the other Mario Sports games on the GameCube.