Mario Strikers: Battle League Football, all that has been revealed at Nintendo Direct
Mario Strikers
Among the many games announced in the latest Nintendo Direct, many were pleasantly surprised by Mario Strikers: Battle League Football, coming on June 10th, in "only" four months. Excluding the football component of Mario Sports Superstars, there hasn't been a title dedicated to Marian futsal for fifteen years.Mario Strikers is a series born on GameCube, in 2005, with Super Mario Strikers; had an immediate following on Wii in 2007, namely Mario Strikers Charged Football. Both games have been well rated by critics (between 75 and 79 on Metacritic), and have enjoyed good commercial success (one and a half million copies sold the first, two and a half million the second). Both were developed by the Canadian Next Level Games, now fully entered into the Nintendo family (we had talked about their acquisition, in less pyrotechnic times from this point of view). They have not yet been confirmed as the software house behind Battle League Football, but it would be odd if it was concocted by someone else.
In addition to the quality and dynamics of the game, which we will discuss shortly, these titles are famous for having given an aggressive characterization to the world of Super Mario: whether it was to emphasize the tackles of the characters, whether it was for pure visual identity, it is likely that Mario Strikers himself has incentivized Nintendo to be more protective of its mascot. From that moment on, anyone who got their hands on Super Mario had to comply with conditions, and labels, which were not so strict before: see for example Paper Mario, with Intelligent Systems having to greatly limit its bizarre characters. .
Be that as it may, restrictions or not, the rough and "robotic" character of the series seems to have remained intact: that's all we know about Mario Strikers: Battle League Footbal l.
Game mechanics
Mario Strikers: Battle League Football: there will be various weapons to complicate the action The game seems to continue in total continuity with its predecessor, and given the time elapsed it is not certainly bad. Super Mario Strikers was born as a "traditional" cartoon five-a-side football game, similar to SEGA Soccer Slam, while its successor had introduced a robotic, mechanical component, which in this third chapter - or so it seems - has been further strengthened, with characters equipped with customizable armor.As in the best chapters of the Mariesque sporting tradition, the game is born by emphasizing a characteristic of the original discipline: in this case the "heaviness" of the ball, which in Mario Strikers: Battle League Football it is even made of metal (as in the predecessor, after all). Furthermore, and no one will be surprised here, to favor the pace of play (and the brutality of the action), there are no throw-ins. In the chapter for Wii a captain was chosen (Mario, Bowser, or another "famous" character) and he was associated with three supporting actors (Boo, Koopa). Also in Battle League Soccer you play in four plus one ("one" is the goalkeeper, of course), but it seems that, this time, there are no "supporting players". In short, no more Mario with three Boos: each character is one and only one. The formations will therefore be composed - for example - by a goalkeeper (always the same, it should be Boom-Boom) and Mario, Luigi, Bowser, Peach. It will be interesting to understand if the players can be chosen simultaneously by both teams, but let's imagine so (it is not obvious, however). Each of them will have an equipment, which can be modified with pieces (we suppose) to be unlocked over time: helmets, armrests, various types of armor.
Mario Strikers: Battle League Football: other than the smoke bombs in the field In the previous chapter the available actions were basic: pass, high pass / throw / cross (depending on the direction), volley, shot, loaded shot. Obviously tackles, more or less intended. In Battle League Soccer, a Hyperthroat has been inserted, which is activated after capturing a sphere, which occasionally appears on the field: at that point, loading the shot and stopping the bar in the right places (it is not easy at all, the dynamics already existed in the predecessor) it will be possible to score a goal that is worth "only" two points. Yes, only: in the Wii episode there were even five.
It sounds absurd, but we swear it works; in any case, many of the goals - we hope this will comfort you - in previous games were still made with "normal shots". In the hope that Next Level Games, provided it is developed by them, has eliminated those two or three ways that existed to always score, mechanically, at the limits of regularity.
Mario Strikers: Battle League Football: the stadium is formed by two halves As you may have noticed from the trailer, Mario Strikers also features Mario Kart-style objects to be used to retrieve the ball (or to make your way through your opponents). We cannot know what weight they will have in the new chapter; however, if it is aligned with its predecessors, the weapons will be important but not decisive.
Also from the presentation video, right at the beginning, we can notice another characteristic that, we suppose, will be important: namely that the stadiums will consist of two halves that will come together, and these two halves will each be tied to a particular character (team captain?). For example, in the trailer half of Mario merges with half of Bowser: imagine a stadium that up to midfield is San Siro, and the other half Olympic. We don't know how much relevance it will have in pure interactive terms, but the idea is certainly interesting.
Multiplayer and style
Mario Strikers: Battle League Football: there are no yellow cards, much less red , in this game Of course the multiplayer mode will be the heart of the experience. For logistical reasons, even without considering the potential pandemic complications, only a few will experience it: however, the possibility of playing offline in eight, four against four, therefore in such a chaotic but visually clear context, is really appreciable. Let's imagine that, since the four against four is present, each previous variant is allowed: one against one, two against one, two against two and so on. Who knows how the game engine will react to this stress, but we have the impression that Next Level Games (assuming they are them, we repeat), has done everything to facilitate the fluidity of the game: the appearance is pleasant, but we know from Luigi's Mansion 3 that they could be much more daring.Mario Strikers: Battle League Football: In this game the characters are very, very angry Online multiplayer, than in Mario Strikers Charged Football (considering the times) it was great, looks well structured. It will be important to understand how many will be able to play online from the same console (in futsal it is really fun to compete all together against another team), for now we know that individual competitions will be open (clearly), and that an option has been added " club". Twenty users will be able to be part of a virtual team, the results of which (presumably) will add up to each other. Finally, a not secondary factor for anyone with a bit of a football fetish: it seems that it is possible to customize the jerseys (Waluigi has an Inter face, and that's not a compliment!).
As for style graphic, despite having dropped the Nintendo cleaver (the kritters, the old goalkeepers, belonging to the world of Donkey Kong Country, have been removed), the historical character of Mario Strikers has remained intact and vigorous. Both in the illustrations, with their dirty outlines, both in the fierce expressions of the characters (when do you ever see a Mario so furious?), And in the robotic components of the characters. It won't be refined, in fact, it isn't at all, but there is no doubt that it has a strong identity, stronger than any other Super Mario sports title.
Mario Strikers: Battle League Football seems to be advancing in total continuity with its predecessors: this is why we expect a fun, simple and at the same time profound title, well-paced, full of objects and methods. The idea of creating the stadiums by "joining" two halves is nice, it remains to understand how much it will affect the action, in addition to the visual aspect. The local four-on-four mode seems to be potentially exceptional, and the online is well structured. Even on a graphic level, the title has maintained its aggressive identity: it is not refined, but certainly distinctive and recognizable.
