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> Results: Super Mario Strikers
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The fantasy action sports game has become a mostly lost art. There was once a time when multiple action-sports games were available covering just about every major competitive athletic league. Electronic Arts had the Mutant League in the 16-bit era. SNK gave us Super Baseball 2020 on the Neo Geo. In the NES era, there were a number of great baseball games that didn't take anything seriously! As games have become more and more realistic, only Nintendo regularly goes down the action-sports road. Super Mario Strikers recalls one of the few (and best) action-sports games of the last five years, Sega Soccer Slam.
Your team is comprised of a single familiar Mario character and a supporting cast of Toads, Koopas, Birdos or Hammer Bros. This puts the emphasis on positioning your signature character to make the best shots on goal. It also lets you pit Mario against Peach, DK against Wario or any combination thereof. Apparently the Kremlings of Donkey Kong Country are trained from birth to be goaltenders and they do a pretty fine job of playing the position. It's not just a traditional game of footy that you engage in, though. This is the Mushroom Kingdom, where turtle shells, banana peels and even bob-ombs regularly defile the pitch.  Many of the traditional Mario World power-ups are available to you to break up a good play. Unleash a bob-omb at the right moment and players will fly in all directions, leaving a crater in the field and those at ground zero blackened from the explosion. The animation is fabulous. It absolutely stands as the high point of the visual presentation of the game. Collision detection is sharp and control is precise and quick. There's no question this game was played and tuned again and again to a finely polished hue. Sometimes your upfield rushes are invaded by an angry Bowser or even a runaway Chain Chomp, lending some randomness to the total control you have over your team. The single-player game is entertaining, features a wide range of difficulty settings and a number of Cups to play and stuff to unlock. The game does wear a little thin after awhile though, so it's imperative that you have some human competition available to thrash. Multiplayer keeps you coming back again and again with its player-controlled game setup, tournament modes and quickly paced action. It's easy to breeze through five or so games in thirty minutes time because of the default five minute game length. Sit down for an hour and you can easily play out an entire tournament with family or friends. The superlative animation, hilarious sound effects when characters get slammed into the electrified fence surrounding the field and constant quick ball movement and scoring will have everyone laughing and supremely entertained. It's a shame the single-player game isn't a little more robust. If there were some extra challenges included or maybe even some kind of silly story mode, it would really help fill out the experience. It's clear that Nintendo spoiled everyone with Super Smash Bros. Melee's seemingly unlimited challenges and gameplay depth. Super Mario Strikers is nearly the equal of that Nintendo masterpiece when it comes to multiplayer, especially when you get two players of equal skill onto the pitch. It just doesn't go far enough with the extras or even the "Marioization" of the sport to make it all the way to the top. It's still absolutely worth playing and will be a staple of Gamecube multiplayer for years to comeļ¾a ringing endorsement on a system with many multiplayer masterpieces.  
There are a couple surprises in Super Mario Strikers that parents should be aware of. Electrocution happens a lot. The characters scream pretty violently when they get nailed too. It's very Bugs Bunny, but since they censor that stuff on TV these days it's probably best to make folks aware of it. Same goes for the way everyone gets blown up by bob-ombs and end up blackened but otherwise none the worse for wear.
Also, when some of the characters score a goal, their celebrations are a little bit on the lewd side. Daisy touches her rear indicating how hot she is while Waluigi throws his hands toward his thighs and thrusts his pelvis. Not sure who thought that was sensible for either of those characters, but there it is nonetheless. Wario also shakes his rear at the camera while smacking his own butt. All this is probably ok in most homes, but it does seem a little out of character when you see it coming from the Mario gang. It's offset by some fantastic celebrations by the Toads (they spin on their mushroom caps) and the Koopas who slide on their shells like soccer stars should. If none of the above bugs you, this game can definitely bring the whole family together for an entertaining night of gaming. It's easy to pick up, you can play with any combination of four players on two teams and kids will love the fast-paced action based on a sport they've probably played and hopefully enjoyed. Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Super Mario Strikers |
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