Mario Super Sluggers

Did You Know?

• The game was nominated for the 2009 Nickelodeon Kids' Choice Awards for Favorite Video Game, losing to Guitar Hero World Tour.
• Nintendo of America's offices are based in the Seattle area and was the majority owner of the Mariners at the time of the game's release.
• On GameRankings, the game holds a score of 69.72%.

Game modes

Mario Super Sluggers includes game modes similar to those of Mario Superstar Baseball. The player selects a captain and eight additional players for the team, chooses the number of innings, assigns field positions, and picks from nine stadiums once they are unlocked. In the adventure mode, the player begins as Mario and must recruit all characters, which also unlocks all characters and stadiums. The plot involves Bowser Jr. taking over the ball parks; after defeating him, Bowser appears and must be defeated in his Castle. Five captains are available: Mario (Mario Stadium) and unlockable captains Yoshi (Yoshi Park), Donkey Kong (DK Jungle), Wario (Wario City), and Princess Peach (Peach Ice Garden), and the player may switch captains at any time. Nine minigames exist, some unlockable and some playable only in day or night. Certain minigames require the Wii Remote with Nunchuk or the Wii Remote held sideways. In one minigame, players hit baseballs to point spaces while others try to catch the ball; a catcher goes up to bat, and king medals are awarded for achievements. Toy Field can be played with either control method. Players learn batting, pitching, fielding, special moves, and base running. Records show MVPs of exhibition games, star players in challenge mode, minigame high scores, videos, and the intro movie upon completion.

Promotion

For the North American launch, Nintendo created a series of collectible online cards and a website serving as a virtual collector's album, promising a card for each of the 41 characters. The cards first appeared in banner ads on children's websites on August 18, 2008, and later as embedded hyperlinks on other sites such as YouTube. On September 5, 2008, the game was promoted at Safeco Field during a Seattle Mariners versus New York Yankees game. The first 20,000 fans received Mario Super Sluggers foam mitts, demo booths were set up, and cards were distributed. Each inning, a random fan won a Wii system and the game. Home runs and good plays triggered gameplay clips on the video screen featuring Mario, Luigi, or Bowser. A Mario mascot appeared before the game with the Mariners' mascot, the Moose, but left after the first inning.