I love the Mario Strikers franchise a lot. I played the original on my Nintendo GameCube for countless hours and had a blast with its Wii sequel. Sadly, the following years after the Wii release, the franchise went dormant again, leaving me hoping for a glorious return one day. I was beyond excited when Nintendo revealed Battle League Football for the Switch family and couldn’t wait to get my hands on the long-anticipated third entry in one of my favorite Super Mario franchises. A couple of days ago, I was able to play this new game for a short hour, is this the game I was hoping for? Let’s lift a corner of the veil.
Learn the basics and train your skills
Before I could play some matches against my local Nintendo guy, I had to master the controls in the tutorial sessions. Considering the fact that I played both previous entries quite a lot, I was pretty sure I knew everything about Mario Strikers and how to control my small team of players. After the first couple of completed tutorials, a lot of the controls and flow did return to me but I have to admit, it all goes a bit deeper than what you would expect. Unlike other Mario sports titles, the controls of Mario Strikers: Battle League Football are rather complex. There are a lot of different basic moves such as running around with the ball, passing to your teammates, and tackling your opponent to regain control. Those are pretty basic and easy to learn, they work exactly how you would expect them to work.
A bit more complex is mastering the perfect techniques which can give you a small boost and advantage during the match. If you, for example, manage to dodge an opponent’s tackle at the right time, you’ll perform a perfect dodge which will result in a short speed boost. For every basic move, there’s a perfect execution of it which will take some time to fully master. These techniques range from perfect dodges and tackles to perfect passes and perfect charged shots. During my hour with the game, I was pretty confident in mastering the basics but I still had a long way to go to master the perfect techniques, which are crucial to master if you want to become really good at this game. I love how the developers managed to create a Super Mario sports game that can be enjoyed by the casual audience but at the same time offers plenty of depth to attract a more hardcore crowd. If I would compare it to another game, I would say it comes closest to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in terms of casual and hardcore gameplay.
Prepare for some chaotic fun
Once I learned the basics in some tutorial levels, it was time for my first real match against my favorite Nintendo PR manager. Unlike real football (or soccer), you play in smaller teams of five against five, where you’re able to control the four players on the field. The keeper will perform his tasks dutifully and does so impressively, it happened a lot that my keeper managed to stop a couple of potential goals. After you selected the four characters on the field, you’re ready to go. What I liked most about my hour with the game is the absolute chaos on the field. Mario Strikers isn’t like any other game on the market and combines the fun of soccer with over-the-top rules. Where body contact is forbidden in the real thing, it’s a major gameplay mechanic in Mario Strikers. Tackling your opponents when approaching your side of the field is perfectly normal and part of your primary strategy. When playing, you can automatically switch between your characters on the field or you can switch manually by pushing the right button. I preferred manual control since it made me in full control of the action on the field. If you want to win the match, you’ll need to combine tackling your opponents with some tactical passes between your teammates and some charged shots towards the goal in order to score. Of course, it’s a bit more than just that and it will certainly take some time to get used to the chaos on the field but once you enter the flow of the match, you’ll have a blast playing this. What I like most about it, is the fact that the outcome is unpredictable until the very end. The new Hyper Strike brings an entirely new tactic to the table!
The Hyper Strike is your most powerful move and can be activated by breaking a special item when it enters the field. It’s very similar to the Smash Ball in Smash Bros. Ultimate and the rush to break it first is very similar as well. If you’re able to break it, your entire team will be able to perform a Hyper Strike when one of them is on the opponent’s side of the field. You activate the Hyper Strike by pushing down your action button and timing your power precisely. If you manage to time it perfectly, you’ll automatically score a Hyper Strike goal, which will result in double points. If the timing of the shot is a bit off, the opposing keeper can stop the ball from hitting the nets. Keep in mind that even when the keeper is able to stop the shot, he’ll be left dazed and confused for a couple of seconds, so you better stay close for the rebound! Depending on which character, timing precisely is easier or harder, this depends on the level of technique. Mario for example is a rather all-around player and has an easier Hyper Strike compared to the powerful Bowser. This, once again, adds an extra layer of strategy since you might want to prioritize certain Hyper Strikes. That being said, I liked performing Hyper Strikes with all characters simply because the animations are so beautifully created. Next Level Games really paid a lot of attention to the details and they brought the characteristics of every character into their Hyper Strike. Not only in the Hyper Strike, but all characters also have fun animations and celebrations on the field as well. It really elevates the fun factor and makes it one of the better-looking games on the Nintendo Switch. In combination with the double playfields, the team really nailed the graphical side of things.
Customize your way to victory
The last gameplay element I was able to check during my hands-on was the customization of your team, a new element for the franchise and one that’ll certainly have a huge impact on the matches. In the customization, you could select different outfits for your characters to alter their stats. I was able to give Toad some equipment to make him stronger, which translated to a Toad that could easily tackle Bowser on the field. The outfits really alter the way those characters play on the field. You can alter their strengths with the right gear although it always comes at a cost. In the case of my powerful Toad, I did lose some speed to level the playing field. I’m really curious to see what players will come up with and what combination of gear will work best in the online modes. I love the fact that this extra element gives the game yet another layer of depth, making it by far the most strategic entry in the franchise.
Early conclusion:
Mario Strikers: Battle League Football is shaping up to become the best entry in the franchise by far. I only played it for an hour but I can’t wait to spend even more time with it. There’s so much more depth to be discovered and I’m curious to see how all those online game modes work. If you’re looking for a fun Mario Sports game that also offers the needed depth for the veterans, this one should be on top of your list. Come back next month for our full review!
