Mario Superstar Baseball

***Mario Superstar Baseball*** is a video game for the Nintendo GameCube. It was developed by Namco and published by Nintendo in 2005. It features over 30 *Mario* characters competing in baseball across six different baseball parks.

The story of this game is presented in the opening cinematic, shown whenever the player starts the game. Mario and Luigi receive a flyer advertising a Bowser challenge tournament. At the same time, Princess Peach, Yoshi, Wario, and Donkey Kong also receive their own flyers. They begin to play various baseball matches until they face off against Bowser and his team.

In 2008, the game received a sequel for the Wii, titled *Mario Super Sluggers*.

## Characters 
The player can choose from 32 different characters. They are classified into 4 different categories according to their in-game abilities.

### Balance 
* **Mario**
* **Luigi**
* **Daisy**
* **Birdo**
* **Toad** (available in red, blue, yellow, green, and purple varieties)
* **Shy Guy** (available in red, blue, yellow, green, and black varieties)
* **Koopa Troopa** (available in green and red varieties)

### Technique 
* **Peach**
* **Waluigi**
* **Dixie Kong** (unlockable).
* **Boo**
* **Toadsworth**
* **Paratroopa** (available in red and green varieties)
* **Magikoopa** (available in blue, red, yellow, and green varieties)
* **Dry Bones** (available in gray, red, green, and blue varieties)

### Speed 
* **Yoshi**
* **Diddy Kong**
* **Baby Mario**
* **Baby Luigi** (unlockable)
* **Toadette** (unlockable)
* **Monty Mole** (unlockable)
* **Paragoomba**
* **Noki** (available in blue, red, and green varieties)

### Power 
* **Donkey Kong**
* **Bowser**
* **King Boo**
* **Wario**
* **Bowser Jr.**
* **Pianta** (available in blue, pink, and yellow varieties)
* **Petey Piranha** (unlockable)
* **Hammer Bro** (unlockable) - Unusually, his species variants Fire Bro and Boomerang Bro serve as his "color varieties"

## Stadiums 
* **Mario Stadium**: Takes place at Isle Delfino.
* **Peach Garden**: The front area of Peach's Castle made into a baseball stadium.
* **Wario Palace**: Located in some desert.
* **Yoshi Park**: Located on Yoshi's Island.
* **Donkey Kong Jungle**: Located in a jungle environment themed after the *Donkey Kong* games.
* **Bowser Castle**: It is Bowser's usual castle converted into a baseball stadium. It is the only unlockable stadium, which can be done by completing Challenge mode once.

## Game modes 
When starting the game, the player can choose from 7 different game modes to play from the game's main menu.

### Exhibition 
In this mode, the player has to play as one of twelve captains and also select one of them for their opponent. The player is then taken to form their team and the opposing team out of the other characters, which can include other captains.

### Challenge 
This is the main adventure mode. It is crucial to unlocking all of the game's content. The player can only choose one of five main captains: Mario, Peach, Wario, Yoshi, or Donkey Kong. The player has to defeat the opposing teams, recruit them to their side, and lastly face off against the final team, Bowser's Monsters. Sometimes, Bowser Jr. roams around the map, and if the player walks into him, they are forced to play a match against him.

When the player is playing against other teams, a warning with white flags can appear on screen before a character begins their turn. These are called Scout Missions, and if the player wins all of them, the character with the flags joins their team.

Each character also has their own Star Missions. When completed, the character becomes a Superstar player, and all of their skills improve.

### Minigames 
As an added feature, *Mario Superstar Baseball* includes six minigames, one of which is unlockable. Each of the minigames take place in one of the stadiums. There is also an unlockable tournament. 

* **Bob-omb Derby**: The player has to hit the Bob-ombs fired at them from an automatic launcher. The minigame takes place in Mario Stadium, uniquely during the night.
* **Wall Ball**: The player must measure their strength carefully when throwing because their goal is to hit the transparent wall. The rest are red brick walls and Bowser walls. The Bowser walls have to be avoided because they take away half of the player's points. The minigame takes place at Peach Garden.
* **Chain Chomp Sprint**: Players must run around the baseball bases, collecting as many jewels as they can before the Chain Chomp wakes up. If the Chain Chomp wakes up, the characters must not move, otherwise the Chain Chomp attacks them, taking away half of their jewels. The minigame takes place at Wario Palace.
* **Piranha Panic**: Players have to hit three colored Piranha Plants with matching eggs. The Piranha Plants are featured in red, blue, yellow, green, and purple varieties. The purple Piranha Plant is larger and shows up by itself at regular intervals, but players can shoot any colored egg at it. The minigame takes place at Yoshi Park.
* **Barrel Batter**: The player is required to have precise aim, as their goal is to hit 15 baseballs and 15 colored barrels. By hitting them in just the right place, the player can score potentially lots of points. The minigame takes place at Donkey Kong Jungle.
* **Star Dash**: Four characters must run around a tube, collecting coins and the more elusive coin bags. There are also mushrooms that increase the player's speed temporary and Poison Mushrooms that slow them temporarily. The Super Star is the most powerful item, not only increasing the player's speed but also enabling them to move faster. The minigame is unlocked alongside Bowser's Castle.
* **Mario Grand Prix**: A tournament that the player can unlock by winning every minigame at the star level. The player plays through all six minigames for points to win the gold medal (1st place), silver medal (2nd place), or bronze medal (3rd place).

### Toy Field 
Set in an arena, this game mode consists of four players running, batting, and pitching to earn lots of coins and break records.

### Records 
In this mode, the player can view the different records that they have achieved, including for the mini-games, Toy Field, and challenges. The player also see all of the superstars that they have earned in Challenge mode. In the exhibition mode, they can see their MVPs.

### Practice 
The player can choose from different game tutorials that teach the basics of baseball, such as throwin the ball, running between bases, batting, and catching the ball.

### Options 
The player can adjust the options here, such as the sound and vibration of the controller.

## Chemistry 
When a character has chemistry with another, a music note appears inside a small speech bubble. Characters with good chemistry can throw the ball faster between one another and with more direction than a normal pass. Similarly, a character who is batting hits harder when they have chemistry with another character who is on base.

Any characters who have poor chemistry are marked by a purple "swirl" appearing inside a small text cloud. A character throws a slower pass and never goes straight toward a character who has poor chemistry with them. There are no differences for if one of the characters is batting.

## Special skills 
* **Wall Jump** ( Mario, Luigi, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Toadette and Bowser Jr. have this special talent.): The character can jump very high while against a wall.
* **Sliding Catch** (Mario, Daisy, Shy Guy, Koopa Troopa, Dry Bones, Toadette, Noki and Wario ): The character slides on the ground to catch the ball.
* **Super Catch** ( Peach, Toadsworth and Diddy Kong ): These character can catch the ball more easily.
* **Quick Throw** ( Peach and Daisy ): This special talent means that when characters receive the ball, they instantly pass it to another base.
* **Laser Beam** ( Bowser, Donkey Kong, Pianta and Waluigi and Wario ): These characters are very skilled at passing, but only toward the home plate.
* **Body Check** ( Bowser, Hammer Bro, Petey Piranha, Bowser Jr., Wario, Birdo and Toad): One character hits a basement, allowing them to reach the base more safely.
* **Super Jump** ( Luigi, Waluigi, King Boo, Boo, Paratroopa and Paragoomba): The characters can jump very high.
* **Clamber** ( Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Dixie Kong and Yoshi ): The character climbs up the wall to catch the ball.
* **Ball Dash** ( Monty Mole and Goomba ): The characters move much faster when they have the ball.
* **Tongue Catch** ( Yoshi only): Yoshi uses his tongue to catch the ball.
* **Suction** ( Birdo only): Birdo uses her mouth to pull the ball in.
* **Magical Catch** (only for Magikoopa ): Magikoopa uses his wand to attract the ball if it is nearby.

## Special items 
Each of these items are only available to the 6 captains and 6 vice-captains in Challenge mode only. The player can buy each of them for 200 coins at the shop. They all have the same ability: enabling characters to use their Star Skill for hits and throws. 

* **Red Fireball** = Mario
* **Green Fireball** = Luigi
* **Lovely Heart** = Princess Peach
* **Pretty Flowers** = Princess Daisy
* **Egg** = Yoshi
* **Pink Egg** = Birdo
* **Gnarly Garlic** = Wario
* **Whiskered Eggplant** = Waluigi
* **King Banana** = Donkey Kong
* **Chimp Banana** = Diddy Kong
* **Bullet Bill** = Bowser
* **Jr. Mask** = Bowser Jr.