Time to suit up! It’s time to play some soccer! Yes, I’m from the Netherlands, so I refer to it as soccer, not football. Football is in our country what other countries refer to as American Football, not to be confused with rugby; that’s something completely different. Back in the day, I played a lot of soccer as a goalie/keeper on my local soccer team. I love the Mario Strikers series, especially since it’s NOT Fifa – fewer rules and more chaos. I poured so many hours into the original GameCube title, so when I booted up this version on the Nintendo Switch – I was met with a blast of nostalgia (and anime cutscenes!)
Tutorial time!
Like Lander stated in his preview – I highly advise you to play through the tutorial! After the first couple of completed tutorials, a lot of the controls and flow returned to me, but I have to admit, it all goes a bit deeper than you would expect. Unlike other Mario sports titles, Mario Strikers: Battle League Football controls 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. However, those are pretty basic and easy to learn; they work exactly how you expect them to work. And don’t be like me and try a quick game with your daughter, just to be eradicated by the CPU, since you don’t know all the moves (and gear).
The addition of the perfect moves, which can be trained in the tutorial section, is excellent! I haven’t played the second installment, so I missed out on that one (and I don’t know which moves were included), but I love that they reward you for pulling off some tricks in-game. If you, for example, manage to dodge an opponent’s tackle at the right time, you’ll perform a perfect dodge, resulting in a short speed boost. For every essential move, there’s a flawless execution of it which will take some time to master fully. These techniques range from perfect dodges and tackles to excellent passes and charged shots. After a few hours and a few cups under my belt, I had mastered some of the ideal techniques, which are crucial to master if you want to become good at this game. I love how the developers managed to create a Super Mario sports game that the casual audience can enjoy but at the same time offers plenty of depth to attract a more hardcore crowd. If I compare it to another game, I would say it comes closest to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in terms of casual and hardcore gameplay.
Gameplay – Let’s play ballllll
So, let’s talk gameplay. The game consists of a few modes, ranging from solo-play (in a way) to online competitive play. The solo play is the usual football cup you can work through and feature a double knock-out system. Each time you lose a match, you lose a heart, so even if you lose the final match, you can try again and kick those annoying buzzsaws right in the goal. Each cup became a little more complicated, and the team I met in my first final match was even more challenging since they had gear equipped (I’ll talk about that in a bit). So yeah, I had my ass kicked, but luckily we both had one heart left so I could do a rematch against them! I went full on the attack and beat them to take the cup home with my best boy Waluigi (and Yoshi, Rosalina, and Donkey Kong).
I mentioned gear in my last paragraph, didn’t I? Well, it’s a new element for the franchise and will undoubtedly have a considerable impact on the matches. In the customization, you could select different outfits for your characters to alter their stats. Like Lander already mentioned in his preview: “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 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.” This challenges you to either build some well-rounded characters or build some specialists that fit your gameplay. I choose the latter since I know I’m good at doing the Hyperstrikes and doing some great passes to my teammates, but I suck at dodging tackles or building up stronger tackles. So by investing in speed, technique, and passing, I was able to out-smart my opponents (and still got my ass kicked online).
Controls & Items
Mario Strikers is played in smaller teams of five against five, where you can control the four players on the field. The keeper (Boom Boom) will perform his tasks dutifully and does so impressively; it happened a lot that my keeper managed to stop a couple of potential goals – except for the Hyper Strikes (sadly enough) After you selected the four characters on the field, you’re ready to go. Where body contact is forbidden in the real thing, it’s a primary gameplay mechanic in Mario Strikers. Tackling your opponents when approaching your side of the field is perfectly normal and part of your primary strategy. I remember attacking my brother repeatedly, in which we electrocuted each other more than actually playing the GameCube entry. When playing, you can automatically switch between your characters on the field or change manually by pushing the right button. I preferred a combination of automatic and manual control since it made me in complete control of the action on the field. In general, the primary way to win the match is in which you need to combine tackling your opponents with some tactical passes between your teammates and some charged shots toward the goal to score. Luckily it wouldn’t be Mario if you couldn’t throw in some shields, bombs, banana peels, or charge yourself with a well-timed mushroom.
Hypa Hypa
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 also very similar. 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. Remember that even when the keeper can block 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 is easier or more complex; this depends on the level of technique. Mario, for example, is a rather all-around player and has an easier Hyper Strike than the powerful Bowser. Again, this adds an extra layer of strategy since you might want to prioritize specific Hyper Strikes. That being said, I liked performing Hyper Strikes with all characters simply because the animations are so beautifully created – it sometimes felt like an anime cutscene! I loved all the names for the Hyper Strikes as well, ranging from the Fire Cyclone (Mario) to Banana Blast (DK) or the Thorn Barriers (Waluigi). They have incredible effects and feels, leaving a mark on either the opponent or the field.
Next Level Games 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. It elevates the fun factor and makes it one of the better-looking games on the Nintendo Switch. The team nailed the graphical side of things in combination with the double playfields.
Conclusion
So to conclude! Mario Strikers: Battle League Football is probably the best Mario Strikers game from the franchise and pays off everything it promised. It’s perhaps even a better alternative to the FIFA legacy edition we got on the Nintendo Switch. Remember that Battle League Football is a party- and multiplayer game, so I you play it solo, you’ll probably be burned out pretty quickly. Luckily you can form online teams and play against people worldwide, so I don’t think you’ll be out of luck on that part – just a reminder. With a total of 10 playable characters, it still leaves room for more, so let’s hope we get to see even more jerseys, playable characters, and fields to play on.
