Super Mario Strikers

Super Mario Strikers Mario Smash Football (Europe, Australia)
Developer(s)	Next Level Games
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Series	Mario Strikers series
Platform(s)	Nintendo GameCube
Release	18 November, 2005 5 December, 2005 19 January, 2006 6 April, 2006
Genre(s)	Sports game
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer

Super Mario Strikers (known as Mario Smash Football in Europe and Australia) is a soccer video game that was released exclusively for the Nintendo GameCube. It was developed by Next Level Games, and published by Nintendo. The game was created in the vein of other Mario sports games such as Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, and Mario Power Tennis, and is loosely based off of Sega Soccer Slam, another soccer video game. Nintendo has confirmed that a sequel titled Mario Strikers Charged will be released on the Wii.

Gameplay

Super Mario Strikers features five modes of play. The first is Grudge Match, an exhibition game that can be played by up to four players. Second is the Cup Battle, which has the player's team competing against computer controlled teams for the cup trophy. Third is the Super Cup Battle, which is an enhanced Cup Battle tournament that must be unlocked by winning all the regular Cup Battles. Fourth is the Custom Battle in which players customize their very own game and tournament to play in. Last is the Strikers 101 tutorial, where beginners learn the basic and advanced powers/skills of the game. The controls are simple set up, and primarily only the control stick (moving), the A button (passing), and the B button (shooting) are used.

Features

• Electric Fence: In every stadium, there's an electric fence that surrounds the playing field (as a result, there are no throw-ins), shocking anyone who is slammed into it.
• Power Ups: There are many power ups (à la Mario Kart) to pick up and use against opponents, such as Bob-ombs and Chain Chomps. Tackling an opponent without the ball will earn the opponent a power up. Releasing a charged shot will earn your team a power up. Each team captain has a special kind of power up. For example, Donkey Kong's bananas are much larger than those of the other captains. The power ups can be turned off in the gameplay options.
• Super Strikes: Super strikes are charged shots that can be only used by the team captain and result in a goal worth two points. To activate them, press and hold the B button. Once activated, the player must press the B button when the moving white line goes over each of the two dark green lines in a golf-like meter. Hitting the left mark greatly increases the size of the right mark, and hitting the right mark will score the goal. Hitting both marks result in a perfect strike with extra animations. Missing the right mark will cause the ball to be caught, bounced off, or reflected by the goalie. The super strikes can be turned off in the gameplay options.
• Bowser, King of Interference: Bowser appears in the game, but is not playable. Instead, he drops in randomly to wreck havoc on the field by breathing fire, stomping on players, tilting the field, and shooting items. The Bowser setting can be turned off in the gameplay options.
• The Stands: The stands are filled with Toads, Koopa Troopas, Yoshis, and Birdos. In the intro, the stands are also filled with Piantas, Nokis, Ukkikis, Paragoombas, and Bumptys.

Characters

Teams are made up of five members. The captain leads the team. Three sidekicks that are color coded to match the captain and a Kritter (a Kremling enemy from the Donkey Kong Country series) form the rest of the team. Players cannot mix and match their sidekicks, so if they choose Toad, then they lead a team of Toads. The only exception to this rule is if the player chooses the Super Team, which will give the player control of a team with all robots. The Super Team is unlocked by winning the Bowser Cup. Each Super Team member (except the goalie) can perform a super strike.

Captains

Balanced Captains:

• Mario
• Yoshi

Playmaker Captains:

• Luigi
• Princess Peach

Aggressive Captains:

• Donkey Kong
• Wario

Offensive Captains:

• Waluigi
• Princess Daisy

Robotic Nightmare:

• Super Team

Sidekicks

• Toads
• Koopa Troopas
• Birdos
• Hammer Bros

Goalies

• Kritter
• Robo-Kritter (Super Team goalie)

Stadiums

There are seven stadiums total. Three of these stadiums (The Palace, Pipeline Central, and The Underground) are available at start. Four more stadiums must be unlocked by:

• Finishing in the top 3 for the Mushroom Cup (unlocks Konga Coliseum).
• Finishing in the top 3 for the Flower Cup (unlocks Crater Field).
• Finishing in the top 3 for the Star Cup (unlocks The Battle Dome).
• Finishing in the top 3 for the Bowser Cup (unlocks Bowser Stadium).

Reception

IGN gave the game a 7.6/10, or "Good" rating, citing a very fun multiplayer experience, but lacking in depth and options. This game has an average critical review score of 76% at Game Rankings. [1]

Awards

In GameSpot's E³ 2005 coverage, this game was given the award "Best Sports Game", and was nominated a finalist for "Best Game of Show". It received GameSpy's "Game of the Year 2005" awards for "Best GameCube Sports", "Best GameCube Multiplayer", and was ranked #2 for all GameCube games in 2005. It also received IGN's "Best of 2005" award for "Best GameCube Multiplayer Game". It was even nominated a finalist for "Sports Game of the Year" by the AIAS for the 2006 Interactive Achievement Awards. [2] This game is now a Player's Choice title for the GameCube.

External links

• Official site by Nintendo of America
• Super Mario Strikers at IMDb
• Template:Nintendo.com
• Super Mario Strikers at MobyGames
• IGN Cube's Super Mario Strikers site.
• Next Level Games.