Green shells for Goalposts! Scorchio!
Once upon a time it was just Mario, humble platforming plumber and all-around nice Koopa-bashing good guy. Then it was Mario Kart; and from there Nintendo's imagination seemed to run wild. Since the N64 appeared we've had Mario Party, Mario Tennis, Mario Golf and the Mario-fronted Super Smash Brothers, as well as Mario's first foray into the world of football, Super Mario Strikers on GameCube.
Mario Strikers Charged is the follow-up to that largely overlooked little gem. It was Mario's tennis exploits which seemed to take the plaudits on Cube, but this time Nintendo have made sure soccer is firmly the sport of choice for eager Wii owners. Indeed, they believe in 'Charged so much that they've decided to go and make it the Wii's first online title.
Not the typical game
First, let's get one thing clear - as you may have guessed from the title, and the sheer fact that it's a sporting game involving Mario and friends - 'Charged is not your typical eleven-a-side footballing feast a la Pro Evolution Soccer and co. No, Strikers instead does for the footy genre what Mario Kart did for racers and imbues it with all manner of frantic over-the-top cartoony gameplay.
Players start a match in Mario Strikers Charged by picking their team captain from a range of the core Mario characters including Mario himself, Luigi, Bowser and Donkey Kong, and four other, more minor characters, such as Koopa turtles and Boo the Ghosts. And, pleasingly, it's an instantly pick-up-and-play experience, with none of the stuffiness of the more 'serious' football titles flooding the market, but plenty of typical Nintendo idiosyncrasies to make it fun.
Does for the footy genre what Mario Kart did for racers and imbues it with all manner of frantic over-the-top cartoony gameplay.
The big one being Megastrikes. A little like a Super Smash Brother's special move, Megastrikes in Mario Strikers are basically a charged-up shot on goal, with each team captain having their own individual version.
Facing a Megastrike yourself will mean using the Wii Remote as a pointer and moving a hand around the screen to stop several oncoming balls, while instigating a successful megastrike can see you register up to six goals at once. That means that in a mere heartbeat you'll be able to turn the game on its head, and make Mario's moustache twitch with anger as he ends up on the wrong end of a nine goal footy thriller.
Footie with a Wii spin
Other than the pointer aspect, controls in Mario Strikers Charged will work more like your typical footy title, albeit with a definite Wii spin. The Nunchuk analogue will be used to move players, with A passing, B shooting, and a flick of the Remote instigating bone-jarring tackles, while other buttons still can be used to fire some of the Mario Kart-like power-ups you'll find dotted around the pitch: with everything from banana skins to green shells making this truly the most frantic footy title that's probably ever been envisaged.
And that, we're pleased to say, should bode incredibly well for the Friend Code activated online mode. It's a typically family-friendly Nintendo online offering in another easily accessible release which doesn't take itself too seriously - and yet a game with enough going for it to warrant more than just a passing playtest, from even the most discerning gamer.
Colourful, frantic and fun in the extreme, Mario Strikers Charged should continue the Wii's legacy as the first choice for easy-access novelty sports games, and may kickstart the Wii's presence as an online gaming system in the same way Mario's racing exploits did on DS.
Preview by: Mark Scott
Preview Published: 20.04.07