I have many great memories of the Mario Strikers games. I played a fair amount of these games in college and had a lot of fun! Mario Strikers: Charged’s controls felt a little more approachable than what we’ve seen in Battle League. Admittedly, it was a bit of a misstep for him to be the goalie in the Wii version during Mega Strike. However, the charge/speed that builds up during the pass was a huge addition to the original game and made the shots even more satisfying. There are some large shoes that must be worn. Let’s see how Mario Strikers: Battle League updates this classic Mario Sports series.
Battle League builds on the foundation of the previous two games, adding a series of subtle new gameplay mechanics. Now, just to clarify, a lot of the core gameplay is similar to the previous games. New features at players’ disposal in Battle League allow them to fine-tune their shots and passes. Holding the pass button or holding the shot button affects accuracy and ballistics. If you’re a quick thinker, you can make the gameplay dynamics more realistic. You might say, “Okay, what’s the problem?” Well, Mario Strikers games have always been a bit more arcade-like, but with a little more depth to the gameplay, this one feels a little lost. Yes, there are some cool new moves, but I think it comes at the expense of accessibility. It doesn’t have the easy-to-learn, hard-to-learn gameplay that sports games really need. A bit hard to learn and hard to master.
Moving on to the visual department, Mario Strikers has always had a great art style, and the Switch version deftly continues that legacy. The rough, thick borders around the characters are still there and lend a nice touch to all the action sequences. The art style especially shines during each character’s super-hi shot. The arena is also very well designed, although it doesn’t feel like there’s a lot of content. Of course, we plan to offer additional free content that will certainly add new characters and stadiums, but the initial offering is a bit bare-bones. Complement to
No Mario Strikers game is complete without multiplayer! Battle League raises the bar for stunning 8-player local multiplayer experiences. This is quite a feat. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate may be one of the only other games that allows him to play eight players locally, so it would be nice to see another game offer that. I was able to play with 8 players. The experience was fun, but there was also a lot of confusion. Finding your character can be difficult, and switching between the players closest to the ball can make it difficult to know where you are and what you’re doing at a particular time. Having a player for is a cool idea, but in practice it’s a bit more problematic. This applies a bit to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, so it’s not just a Battle League issue. If you don’t have a very large screen to handle the chaos, be prepared for some chaos. You can create your own team and participate in different season leagues. Multiplayer offers a lot of options both locally and online, which is great.
I was really looking forward to Mario Strikers: Battle League. It’s been a worthy successor for the most part, but the gameplay complexity is a bit of a hindrance. Even scoring goals can be a bit difficult overall. Soccer is definitely not a high-scoring sport, but scoring a goal in the allotted time is very difficult. This seems different than what I remember from previous games. It was a little easier to score goals and it’s definitely missed. Sports games have the balance they need, but Battle League tends to be a little more difficult. Still, there’s a lot to love about Mario Strikers: Battle League, but most of all I wanted a remaster of his first two games.
