Pandora's Box: The Ultimate GameCube Tier List

#27: Mario Superstar Baseball

Rating: E

Players: 1-4

Price Range: ~$65 USD

A sports spinoff in the Super Mario series revolving around baseball.

Okay, now this is one of the more underrated Mario sports spinoffs, as this is actually quite great.

For one, the production quality. Namco, the one who developed this game, really knew how to push the system in many ways, as the game's graphics have aged extraordinarily well while keeping a consistent 60 FPS, always. The charm and music is also quite great as well.

And of course, the baseball itself, which is very fun. Simplifying the game while also giving fans a dose of fan service, especially those who enjoy something like Super Mario Sunshine with Piantas and Nokis batting on the plate. With Star Moves and accessibility, even if the controls take a little time to get used to, this is a very great spinoff.

The single player mode to choose a captain and play against other characters' teams to get more people on your own is very cool in addition to unlocking the baseball field relating to Bowser's Castle, and is actually quite hard, as this mode requires some patience, skill, and a bit of luck to get by, but pretty much everything is unlocked except characters and some fields.

Now, if I were to state any issues, the multiplayer modes have their own...downsides.

The normal multiplayer itself is really great, but standard baseball only allows for two players to face off, which is a little bit of a missed opportunity since other sports games let four on.

Speaking of which, the four player offerings are...okay.

Minigames are whatever, and Toy Field is arcade-like and has its own flavor, but it is no replacement for the standard game is just decent at the end of the day.

Overall, one of the better spinoffs. A bit expensive, and there is another entry on the Wii, but this is still a really great time, especially if you want to face another in the diamond with your favorite Mario characters.