Some might say that this is a silly Mario Sports game. That it is a disposable title, made to be a good gift to get the kids in 2005 and then quickly be forgotten. It fulfills a quota of getting Mario out there to play all of the sports. No. This is what all baseball games aspire to be. When you're not just considering pure statistics, trajectories, timing. It's about managing resources. It's about counterpicking your opponent to take away their resources. It's about building a team to field all of your positions to best counteract everything your opponent can do. Mario Baseball starts at the character select screen, and continues on as a game of constant wagers between you and your opponent, calling bluffs to use your star powers to ensure runs, or faking your opponent out to make them whiff their opportunities. Of loading a lineup full of killers to force them to walk Bowser, only to immediately follow him up with Birdo who injects chaos into the ballfield. And then you actually hitting the ball and pitching and stuff feels pretty good, too. By far the deepest system of any of the Mario spin-offs, and it's got Pianta. I love that guy, he's stupid!