Topic: Comparing Mario Baseball (GC) and Ken Griffey Jr. (SNES)

[Shecky]

So I've only played the demo of Mario Baseball.  However from what I've played there's really no question that this game tries to be the new Ken Griffey Jr.  However there were some things that just didn't seem the same that detracted from the short experience I had with Mario Baseball.

Here's what I could come up with.  Mario Baseball:

1) Plays a *lot* slower than KGJ.  Running, throwing, etc in KGJ just seemed faster.  Actually players had ranges of how fast they could run, throw.... I remember "Pucket" an outfielder with a 10 rating for an arm that could throw out a player at first from the outfield.

2) Has some minor annoyances such as basemen taking off on pop flies.  I'm fairly sure that in KGJ they would stop halfway automatically.  However after conversing with someone they were confident that KGJ played exactly like Mario Baseball in this regard.

3) No pitching substitution, or need for it.  Maybe this is just absent from the demo.

4) Is a bit bland on presentation.

[trip1eX]

Well I'll comment on a few pts.

1)  The characters all had 4 variable abilities - one of which was fielding.  I think fielding may have included how far or fast you throw too, but I'm not positive.  I know you can throw faster if you time the joystick move and button press right (like a smash attack in SSMB.)

2.  A bit annoying, but easily controlled by learning to hit x to halt all your runners immediately on a pop fly.  

3.  Pitching substitution is in Mario Baseball.  Your pitcher starts panting when he or she gets tired and you should replace him or her.

4.  Well I thought Mario Baseball was pretty colorful and looked good  The characters were all well done and looked nice.  They had a lot of characters in the game so I think they skimped a bit on some of the animations in many departments.    

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

I play it with my friends on the weekends sometimes.

1.  The ratings on the character select screen only tell half the story.  The Running, I know for sure, affects how fast a batting character runs after hitting the ball.  Fielding, i'm guessing, is how fast they run in the outfield while not in possession of a ball, but they run FASTER once they do have the ball; and their default throwing ability.  Throwing in the field is based on a "buddy" system.  All the characters are set to be coorperative with a selected group of characters.  If the thrower and reciever aren't buddies, the throw is slow and weak.  If they are buddies, the throw is OBVIOUSlY fast.  Buddy pairs can be spotted when a Music Note Icon pops up by them when the ball is thrown, which means you have to discover the pairings yourself.

2.  X tells the runners to go to the previous base, Y tells the runners to advance to the next one.

3.  Pitching power/quality is affected by how long you hold A, and when you let go (like a simple, invisible Mario Golf swing meter).  The more power pitches that are tossed, the sooner your pitcher will want to retire.

4.  Standing is a very basic action, not a lot happens until the ball is in motion.  Every [type of] character has unique animations for swinging, strike-outs, pitching, running, and stepping to the plate.  Some characters have specific special catching/reaching abilities in the outfield by pressing A.  (Yoshi's tongue, wall jumps, paratroopa flying high, etc)  Special pitches and swings are performed by holding R trigger then holding A.

Menus are simply menus, and the interface isn't very animated.

[trip1eX]

1.  Oh yeah I forgot about the buddy system.  That also affects how they hit btw.  You want to put your buddies together in the batting order to get the most out of them.  So Mario should bat after Luigi ( or vice versa) for example.  And if Luigi is on base then Mario gets a some kind of hitting bonus.  You can actually see which guys are buddies with each other when making out your lineup (before the game) by highlighting a player and looking for other guys in the lineup with musical notes next to their name.  The buddy pairings are (loosely) based on the relationships between the characters in the Nintendo universe.

2.  You can also use Y and X and up/down/left/right on the stick to send  or return specific runners to specific bases.  

[Shecky]

Quote
Originally posted by: trip1eX
3.  Pitching substitution is in Mario Baseball.  Your pitcher starts panting when he or she gets tired and you should replace him or her.

Hmm, well then that would make it identical to KGJ (FWIW).