Review of Mario Strikers: Battle League

As a kid, I played some version of combat football on old consoles where it wasn’t played so completely by UEFA/FIFA rules – starfish, kicks and bodysuits flying around the field was normal and overall the game was very physical. The comparison with Shaolin Soccer is self-evident. So when Nintendo announced a new game in the Strikers series, I started to look forward to it. Although the previous parts eluded me.

• Platform: Switch
• Publication date: June 10, 2022
• Developer: Next Level Games
• Genre: Sports
• Czech location: Not
• Multiplayer: Yes (local/online up to eight players)
• Data to download: 3 GB
• Game time: 5+ hours
• Sales version: Digital and physical
• Price: 1499 (digital), 1549 (Xzone)

Football is not like football

In Mario Strikers, you take control of a five-man football team (you can control up to four of them – the goalkeeper is always AI controlled) made up of famous characters from Nintendo games. Mario, Luigi, Bowser or Donkey Kong and a few more people will race on the field. Game Room is a fast-paced arcade football game that can sometimes turn into an almost thrashing Smash Bros. style race. and similar fighting games. Classic Nintendo items like banana peels, colored shells or bombs can help you win. The football game is so full of effects, and when you switch, it moves smoothly and looks very beautiful. The rules of the game are very simple and the game is also suitable for younger players. Definitely don’t expect more complex systems like in FIFA or PES games, even an overpriced football ignoramus like me enjoyed the game.

As I mentioned at the beginning, Strikers is a game where you play a simplistic soccer game with a hint of Mario Kart and Smash Bros. Everything is allowed, nothing is forbidden. The field is surrounded by an electric fence and kicks, body kicks and all other physical attacks are allowed and in most cases required. In addition, there is always a tortoise shell in order to remove an annoying player in case of emergency. The controls are pleasantly simple – ground, air, sprint, dodge, change player and shoot. There are several types of bullets – regular, stretched, or the so-called hyper impact, which can be performed after raising a special arable land that appears on the field from time to time. After collecting it, you can try to stretch the bullet until time slows down and you have a moment in a short QTE mini-game, after which the character performs a unique overhead shot, as if pulled out of some sports anime. If you hit the net, you are always rewarded with two goals instead of one, and if the QTE succeeds flawlessly, this shot cannot be blocked either. Therefore, the correct use of this mechanism is crucial and very often decides whether to win or lose.

Strikers is a game where you play a simplified soccer game with elements of Mario Kart and Smash Bros.

As already mentioned, hockey physical attacks are allowed here, but I would definitely not recommend exaggerating. If you are too aggressive and attack a player who does not have the ball, the opponent will receive a free item for immediate use. And there is no better feeling than to take revenge by throwing a bomb at such a player or using everyone’s favorite red projectile at a critical moment. So don’t go overboard at all costs and keep your aggression only for those moments when you want to take the ball or when he decides an important situation. For example, when the enemy is in the middle of a short QTE Hyperstrike.

Another couch hit for the Switch

Each player has several characteristics – strength, speed, shooting, passing and technique. They determine how individual characters move, how they excel in particular roles, etc. For example, Bowser is excellent with the Force, so he is suitable for attacking other players and, conversely, can withstand the “tackles” of weaker individuals such as Toad . However, he pays for this with slowness and not quite a significant talent in other statistics. As you play, you collect gold coins that you use to buy equipment, which you then modify these statistics in a similar way to Mario Kart. If you think that Mario could be a little faster, no problem. All you have to do is buy him a piece of equipment that increases speed at the expense of another state. Unfortunately, this is where all the “customization” ends.

By now it should be clear to everyone that Strikers is a multiplayer game. You can play up to eight players locally on the same Switch or online. Local MP shares game modes with single player – quick battle or cup (short cup where you need to win only a few matches). Online multiplayer has two game options – Quick Battle and Strikers Club – the maximum number of players in one team on one console is also limited to two (I don’t understand why). The quick fight is probably self explanatory and needs no explanation. Everything revolves around the Striker Club. You create a club (or join someone) and play under its club colors. This is a multiplayer ranking option full of statistics and inter-club results. In the Striker mode, unfortunately, only quick battle (called Open Match) is again available, and therefore the potential remains completely untapped. Unfortunately for me personally, online games of this type lose quite a lot of beauty, and I get much less pleasure from them than from local games “live”.

Perfection does not exist

Unfortunately, the game as a whole is far from perfect. Don’t get me wrong – once you get on the field, it’s an absolute hit. Everything looks beautiful, moves briskly, and the gameplay itself does not compete with the best arcade mp games. Nintendo just might make this type of “sofa” and Strikers would thus enrich the sub-genre of these games with football entertainment. Unfortunately, not everything went as well as the gameplay. The game does not suffer from bugs, I have never crashed and even the FPS does not drop. There is only one problem, but even more.

Unfortunately, not everything went as well as the gameplay.

This problem is undoubtedly the ossification of game content. There is nothing in the game other than the above modes. There are only ten characters, which is five by five in the game (or four by four, because the goalkeeper is always the same, and his AI is often of very questionable quality) is a very, very desperate problem. Unlike other games of this type, Strikers has no unlockable characters and even the equipment is not diverse – on the contrary, it is very limited. Separate parts (helmet, gloves, body and shoes) have only five options and that’s it. This desperate austerity and emptiness is reflected in the game modes, of which, as I mentioned, there are only two – Quick Match and Cup. There are no more interesting modifications to the principles of the game. The absence of 3×3 is especially freezing. Too bad, because the game room is really fun and the lack of content makes it pretty bad. Although the amount of DLC (free and paid) is promised, this does not excuse the situation on the day of issue.

chopped fun

If you like multiplayer games that bring a lot of fun and laughter (or swearing) at parties, Mario Strikers has a place for you. While the price tag is adequate, there is something to discuss, but in the final, most likely, we will talk about the purpose for which you want to buy the game. An overpriced soccer ball like this one is not easy to find. There are definitely games that will give you more fun for the same or less money, but it would be a mistake to condemn Mario Strikers: Battle League without any thought. The game is definitely fun, and especially with friends you will have a lot of fun – it’s just an experience compared to the party king Mario Kart is a bit superficial.