Being a soccer player myself, I have waited far too long to get a soccer game. The last soccer game I owned was Fifa ‘98 for the original Playstation. So, many months ago, I heard about Super Mario Strikers, and thought, “Hey, another Mario sports game…and I love Mario sports games…and this one is soccer…and I love soccer…hmmmm.” Went to a GameStop, played the demo, and fell in love with it. I could not wait until I got to own the game, but that was many months down the line. However, December has finally come, and I have the game. And wow. It is pretty friggin’ sweet.

The graphics are continually improving in Mario sports titles, and Super Mario Strikers is no exception. The opening cinematic is very nice, and well polished, as well as funny and cool for you soccer fans out there. Soccer fans are some of the biggest, so you will just love the cinematics and other moves to be talked about later. The in-game graphics are also very nice. I mean, they are all just nice and smooth, as are the animations. The effects are also well done; nice and stylized and flashy. I particularly like how if you use a bob-omb or other explosive weapon, then the field will be devastated, but repair itself in a second or two. The only real problem with the graphics is that the audience is made out of cardboard; meaning that they are two-dimensional and flat; although this does not really create a problem at all, since you never see them, except for the opening sequence. Other than that, the graphics and animations especially flow very well.

I mean, you can just see the emotion…..Beautiful.

The controls, as in every Mario game, are very simple. You use the analog stick to move, and the c-stick is your free-style juke stick, where you can spin around opponents and attempt to trip them up. You can also press Y while in possession of the ball to juke, although the C-stick is much easier and intuitive to use, since you will always go in the desired direction, as with the Y button you may not. The X button is used in conjunction with your items. You can hold three items, of which you can switch via the Z button, which feels out of reach to use, mainly because I always hold down the R should button, which is the boost. You have unlimited boost, although when using it, your ball control falters, but I have not found it to be too big of an issue, although it may come into play while playing more difficult opponents. The A button is used to pass, while the B button is used to shoot. You can hold down the B button to power up your shot, which will also put some sweet spin on it, and if you are the captain, you can power up enough to do a Super Shot. By pressing and holding the L should button, you can lob pass it, by pressing A of course, and you can do a chip shot with B.

While on defense or when there is a loose ball, the A button changes players, of which there are four on the field plus the goalie, and B slide tackles. However, I find that using Y to ram an opponent is both more efficient and fun; especially when you ram them into the electrified fence; gives me a grin every time. Although, doing so will usually have them get in your way of the ball, which is a bit frustrating, but no worries. Also, ramming slows you down a bit afterwards, to make up for its power. You know, to balance everything out.

Hahaha, pwned.

There is a nice collection of modes, although it is all soccer. Surprisingly, there are no mini-games. Hmm, I just thought of that right now…no mini-games…That is rather strange, considering it is a Mario sports game…Huh, no matter though, the game does not really falter due to this fact, although some mini-games would have been nice….huh. Anyways, there is a Grudge Match mode, which is your basic single game, where you can play a series of matches at one time if you want to see how many wins you can get, etc. There is a Custom Battles mode, where you create your own tournament; always fun. The main beef of the game is its Cup and Super Cup Battles, which is your main tournaments you play for trophies and unlockables.

There are four Cup Battles and four Super Cup Battles. You cannot play the Super Cup Battles until you have won first in all of the regular Cup Battles. Each cup will continually increase the amount of teams and rounds involved, starting at three games and ending at ten. A cool and realistic thing about the rankings and placings is that they are done by actual soccer rules, in that you get three points for a win, one point for a tie, and no points for a lose. So, in these tournaments, you get to choose the difficulty level, of which there are four, and possibly a fifth, as well as the time per game and what team you want. For teams, you choose the captain, from Mario characters such as Mario, Luigi, Donkey Kong, Peach, etc; as well as your partners, from Toads and Birdos, to Hammer Bros. and Koopas.

The scoreboard. Good luck, even though that dude is pretty much dominating…like me.

The last mode would be Strikers 101, which is a nifty practice mode bundled with videos to show you how to perform specific moves. So, if you are unfamiliar with soccer and/or the controls and how things work, then I would definitely suggest you take a look here first.

Onto the specifics of the gameplay, and all of its wonderful intricacies, so prepare yourself for seemingly random, short sentences. The first thing that makes this soccer game different from any other would have to be the use of items. These range from bob-ombs to turtle shells and bananas. Most items have two different forms, one with a single projectile, and the other with three. The items are implemented very well into gameplay and do not feel cheap, unfair, or anything of the sort. They add a great element to the game, and an extra layer of strategy as well. One must conserve their items and use them at the right moment. You get items from many things, such as getting a goal, or getting off a good shot, or even from getting hit. And the effects of the items, graphically speaking, are pretty sweet with nice explosions, and if a character gets exploded….yeah…he or she turns black with soot; it is cool.

With some passes, like, open ones in front of the opponents goal, there will be a green trail behind the ball and it will go into slow motion so you can prepare for a nice shot at goal. You will not always score by any means, but it is yet another cool feature and effect. And with the Super Shot, that only the captain can do, a sort of power meter-type situation is employed. Here, there are two bars in which you need to stop a fast-paced line on, however you really only need to stop it in the second section to score the goal. Stopping the bar in the first small section will make the second section larger, making it easier to perform this move which nets you two points, instead of one. Also, you go through a little animation cutscene thing when you perform one of these moves.

When you lob pass it, and then decide to shoot off the pass, the character will either do a bicycle kick, header, or scissor kick, depending on where he or she is in relation to the ball. These are pretty sweet. The animations are flawless and just so awesome, especially when you score. There is just something about it. You soccer fans know.

Then, once you have scored a goal, the character that did so will do a little victory dance or move, in a cutscene, and then a nice replay will be shown, which you can skip. At the end of the game, of which there is only one half, which is kind of lame, but works, the three best plays of the game, or highlights are shown. These are always fun to watch. Then, like most Mario sports games, your stats will come up, showing you how many goals, shots on goal, power passes, etc. you performed.

A sweet plus and incentive in playing is that there are special awards you can achieve by scoring goals, and doing special moves. These are the Milestone Awards. You will be awarded with a bronze, silver, and finally gold trophy as you progress in the game. Once you have gotten gold, you also unlock a cheat, such as custom power ups, weak goalies, or field tilt.

Unfortunately, you cannot control the goalie, although he does a pretty good job on his own, so there is no reason to worry really. When he picks up the ball however, you can move him around and choose to toss the ball to one of your players or kick it out. Also, when the goalie has the ball, if an opponent is in reach, he will kick or punch him, knocking him down. Hehe, it is pretty funny. I mean, he is pretty tough and will just knock the stuffing out of you. Good times. But yes, the computer goalie is very good, which makes the game fun and challenging, so you must pass well and wait for your chance to be open to shoot the ball if you want to score. Also, you can hit the goalie with a powerful shot to make him dizzy, and if you have another player in the box or close by, you can get an easy goal; just one strategy to keep in mind.

Another cool little feature is that when your captain is open, he will call to you to let you know that he is so. So you will hear Mario say something crazy or some other guy whistle and all sorts of things. It is pretty helpful and just one of those things that makes you say, “Hey…..that was cool.”

There are also seven fields, and possibly more, available in the game. However, they really are not that much different from each other. Also, they all seem to play the same, with the “terrain” having no effect on the ball or the way your players run. It would have been nice if there were some more diverse looking fields and environments and if they actually had an effect on gameplay.

The only thing that I do not like about the game, or rather, that I think could improve the game, is that it needs to have some kind of indicated to say that you have possession of the ball. Most other soccer and sports games have such an indicator, whether it be a different color or shading. This brings about a problem when you are in front of the goal, but there is a lot of smoke or something else in your view so you cannot decipher if you do or not, which can impede you from scoring.

Super Mario Strikers is simply a soccer fan’s dream. It is the best of both worlds: soccer and Mario goodness. Not to mention it brings some sweet multiplayer action to the table, with four player multiplayer, choosing whichever team you want to be on. I mean, you and three of your other friends teaming up for a Cup Battle? That just spells out good times; or create your own tournament for some sweet competition. This game is going to stay in my cube for quite some time. It is quite possibly my favorite Mario sports game to date, and that is saying a lot.