It is absolutely a Mario sports game. It's fun to learn how the game works, but kinda frustrating until you get there. The cast is alright, but I remember it being expanded pretty well in the sequel. If playing this game did anything, it made me interested in playing the sequel again. The story mode is short and sweet, although scouting is a little meh in this game due to mostly being RNG on if you'll even get the opportunity. At least the games are short so you aren't wasting a ton of time if you happen to not get Yoshi when you wanted to.