| Mario Superstar Baseball | |
 North American boxart of the game Mario Superstar Baseball for GameCube. | |
| Developer(s) | Namco |
| Publisher(s) | Nintendo |
| Main Development Staff | {{{devteam}}} |
| Platform(s) | Nintendo GameCube |
| Release Date(s) |  July 21, 2005  August 29, 2005  November 11, 2005 |
| Genre(s) | Sports |
| Ratings | ESRB: Everyone |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Media(s) | {{{media}}} |
| Input(s) | {{{input}}} |
| Preceded by | {{{preceded by}}} |
| Succeeded by | {{{succeeded by}}} |
Mario Superstar Baseball is one of the many Mario series installments featuring Mario and his friends playing sports, and the first in the Mario Baseball series.
Characters[]
Captains[]
Balance Captains[]
- Mario – Special Ball: Fireball
- Luigi – Special Ball: Green Fireball
- Princess Daisy – Special Ball: Flower Ball
- Birdo – Special Ball: Weird Egg
Technique Captains[]
- Princess Peach – Special Ball: Heart Ball
- Waluigi – Special Ball: Liar Ball
Speed Captains[]
- Yoshi – Special Ball: Egg Ball
- Diddy Kong Special Ball: Boomerang Ball
Power Captains[]
- Wario – Special Ball: Phony Ball
- Donkey Kong – Special Ball: Banana Ball
- Bowser – Special Ball: Killer Ball
- Bowser Jr. – Special Ball: Killer Jr. Ball
Team Players[]
Balance Characters[]
- Toad
- Koopa Troopa
- Shy Guy
- Goomba
Technique Characters[]
- Toadsworth
- Magikoopa
- Dry Bones
- Boo
- Koopa Paratroopa
- Dixie Kong (unlockable)
Speed Characters[]
- Baby Mario
- Baby Luigi (unlockable)
- Noki
- Paragoomba
- Monty Mole (unlockable)
- Toadette (unlockable)
Power Characters[]
- King Boo
- Petey Piranha (unlockable)
- Pianta
- Hammer Bro. (unlockable)
Chemistry[]
Chemistry is a unique feature to Mario Superstar Baseball. Player chemistry emphasizes the relationships between characters. Good chemistry occurs with two friends. When a player throws a ball to their "buddy", the ball travels faster than a normal throw would. Additionally, a player hits better when one of their friends are on base. Examples are Mario and Luigi, Diddy Kong and Dixie Kong, and Goomba and Monty Mole. Good chemistry is symbolized by a musical note.
Bad chemistry occurs as well. When a character throws a ball to a character they dislike, the ball travels more slowly and is sometimes out of line. Bad chemistry is symbolized when a small zigzag line appears next to the players. Examples of bad chemistry include Mario and Bowser, Wario and Peach, Waluigi and Daisy, and Luigi and King Boo.
Power Stars[]
Power Stars are used to use Special Ball moves. Most team players do not have a unique move, but some have the same as their captain buddy. Power Stars can be earned by interacting with the stage or through Star Chances. Star Chances happen randomly. The team who gets a player out or bats successfully wins the Star Chance and gains a Power Star.
Special Ball[]
Gameplay[]
Exhibition Mode[]
Exhibition mode is a standard one or two players game of baseball. Players fill out a roster and play a game of baseball. The player(s) can change settings such as innings, special ball, and mercy. There are six different stadiums in which players can choose to play in.
Note: the player must complete challenge mode once to unlock Bowser Castle.
Stadiums[]
- Mario Stadium
- Peach Garden
- Wario Palace
- Yoshi Park
- Donkey Kong Jungle
- Bowser Castle
Challenge Mode[]
Challenge Mode (the story mode of Mario Superstar Baseball) is a game mode where one player selects one of five Team Captains (Mario, Peach, Donkey Kong, Wario, and Yoshi) and plays with a pre-made team. The player's objective is to beat the other four captains in a game of baseball, on their own course. Players from other teams can be recruited after clearing certain missions. When you recruit the captain the player is not able to recruit other characters on their team unless the player faces Bowser Jr. After beating all four opponents, the path to Bowser's Castle opens, where the player is able to challenge Bowser's team. Once Bowser's team is defeated, Challenge Mode is cleared. Additionally, Bowser Jr. wanders the map. Coming in contact with him starts a short, one inning game where the player is put in various situations. If the players have had a captain join their team, then they can unlock characters on their team from Bowser Jr. Challenge mode is the only way to unlock characters.
Another (optional) quest in Challenge mode is the Superstar Challenge. Each character has certain goals that they must clear. Clearing the goals earns the character stars. Earning every star makes that character a Superstar and boosts all of their abilities.
There are four difficulties to Challenge mode: Mushroom, Flower, Star, and Special. Once Special mode is cleared, Bowser becomes a playable captain. When playing as Bowser, Bowser must beat the other five captains. In Bowser mode, Bowser Jr. does not wander the map.
Toy Field[]
Toy Field is a unique mini-game in that it is a 2-4 player baseball game. The game's objective is to get the most coins. Every player start out with 100 coins and can lose or gain them by batting, pitching, or fielding.
Mini Games[]
Each minigame is played on one of the six courses.
- Bob-omb Derby:
- Wall Ball:
- Chain Chomp Sprint:
- Piranha Panic:
- Barrel Batter:
- Star Dash:
Practice[]
This mode allows players to master and practice the basics of Mario Superstar Baseball, including batting, pitching, fielding, and base running.
Relevance to the Donkey Kong series[]
Donkey Kong and Diddy Kong appear as captains in this game. Dixie Kong is also playable. Donkey Kong also has a baseball stadium that relates to same things in his games like Klaptraps and Barrels.