In Marioland they've invented a new attraction: a cannon with which Mario and his friends can be shot off. It presses them together until they form a ball with a protective coating so they wouldn't get hurt.
During the festivities that accompany this new invention, Prinses Daisy gets shot to the dungeons of a dark tower and of course it's up to you and Mario to get her back.
Of course, you'll first have to take on several enemies.

You end up in some kind of pinball machine where you have to hit several opponents with Mario. Targeting is a bit more difficult than with a real pinball game and you'll need some luck to hit everything.
First of all there are animals, mushrooms, snowmen, etc. These all give you points that you can later on exchange to buy an extra life, an egg (giving you two balls in the game), a tube (making it harder to loose your ball) and other items.

In the meantime you need to collect stars with which you can open portals to other playing fields. At the end of each level, the obligatory boss comes around and as usual he's pretty hard to defeat. If you succeed you get a key to open a fence in the tower that will lead to the last level. Also a cannon is placed in your game so it's easier to switch between playing fields.

In the fields there are also hidden entrances that lead to some sort of bonus levels. Once you find these you can easily earn a lot of points. Next to the main game there are also 4 minigames that can keep you occupied.