If there is a sport, there is a Mario game for it. The Olympics, soccer, auto racing, basketball, golf, tennis, and heck, somewhere in Nintendo's secret R&D headquarters, there's probably a Mario lacrosse game. But there are really only two sports that most Americans care about: baseball and football. And until Madden: Mario Edition comes out, baseball is the only one of those two represented in game form. On the Gamecube, we saw Mario Superstar Baseball, and now on the Wii, we have Mario Super Sluggers. But is the newest Mario sports game on the Wii a big improvement over the previous game? In a word... no.
Super Sluggers plays a lot like Mario Superstar Baseball; in fact, there are no new modes in Super Sluggers at all. Challenge mode features a new storyline, but plays rather similar to the one in Superstar Baseball. The same is true for the mini-game and Toy Field modes, which are identical to those found in Superstar Baseball, except with Wii remote controls replacing Gamecube controls. Like Superstar Baseball, Super Sluggers' stadiums feature unique quirks or pitfalls, and the game makes use of items that can be used to cause further chaos on the field. They help make the game fun when you're playing with other players, but for simgle players, they don't really add a lot to the overall experience.
Super Sluggers has a few different controller set-ups. It makes use of the Wii remote for pitching, specifically to determine speed and curvature, and uses it to judge when the bat is swung. However, it's way too easy to just waggle your way through this game, especially when compared to the baseball mode in Wii Sports. Hitting could have been so much better, while pitching is at least a bit more controllable. Still, it's a bit of a letdown, especially when you consider that the first sports game on the Wii seems to use the Wii remote better.
Using the optional nunchuk attachment, though, opens up more than the Wii remote on its own. The ability to steal bases, make diving catches and actually move players around become available as a result, which makes this the preferred way to play the game by far. You can also hold the Wii remote sideways to play without any waggle what-so-ever, but it maps all the actions to only a handful of buttons.
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