Mario Strikers Charged

Mario Strikers Charged Mario Strikers Charged Football (PAL)
Boxart of Mario Strikers Charged Football
Developer(s)	Next Level Games
Publisher(s)	Nintendo
Series	Mario Strikers series
Engine	Open Dynamics Physics engine
Platform(s)	Wii
Release	May 25 2007 June 7 2007 July 30, 2007 TBA 2007
Genre(s)	Sports game
Mode(s)	Single player, Multiplayer, Online

Mario Strikers Charged (マリオストライカーズ チャージド, Mario Sutoraikāzu Chājido, known as Mario Strikers Charged Football in Australia and Europe) is a sports video game for the Wii. This game was announced at the 2006 Leipzig Games Convention as the sequel to Super Mario Strikers for the Nintendo GameCube.

The game supports the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, through which players can participate in online matches and tournaments. This is the first Wii online game to be released outside Japan, and is the first Mario game to be rated E10+ by the ESRB.

Gameplay

Two teams battle for the possession of a metallic soccer ball. Players with the ball pass using A and shoot using B. Holding down B will allow the player to charge their shots. The color of the metallic ball can change depending on how often it is passed. A charged white ball has a much greater chance of going into the goal than a purple colored ball. Using the control pad will allow the player to use a deke to fake out an opponent. The way the deke is performed varies among the captains and sidekicks. Players without the ball can shake the Wii Remote to tackle another player. If opposing players are tackled without the ball, the player's opponent will get an item. Pressing A will allow the player to switch between characters. Using the control pad without the ball will allow the player to preform a slide tackle which can gain immediate possession of the ball.

Items

All items from the previous game, such as the various Koopa Shells and the Chain Chomp reappear. Each captain also has a special item that they can use to wreak havoc on the field.

Mega Strikes and Skillshots

The captains of each team are able to perform a Mega Strike by holding down B. The Mega Strike is similar to the Super Strike in Super Mario Strikers, but instead of one big shot, a Mega Strike can split up into 3-6 individual shots which all fly toward the goal at a certain speed. The number of balls and the speed of the balls depend on the timing of when the buttons are pressed. To defend against the shots, a player must target and block the balls in a goal blocking mini-game with the goalie using the Wii Remote by aiming it at the screen. For every shot the player successfully makes, a goal is awarded to his/her side.

Sidekicks are able to perform skillshots to attack/distract the goalie, making it easier to score.

Online features

The online modes feature ranked random matches and unranked friendly matches.

Ranked matches put players up against a random opponent of a similar skill level and are restricted to players in the same region in order to maintain connection stability. A billboard showing the player's Mii will be shown along with the "Striker of the Day". The Striker of the Day is the player who can earn the most points on a daily basis within a one week season. Players can earn points by winning matches, scoring goals, and even losing matches (although they won't earn as much as winning). Disconnecting from a match will cause players to lose points. The ranked matches do not use friend codes, are region specific, and support 1 vs. 1 and 2 vs. 2 player matches.

Friendly matches are casual matches in which players can go up against their friends. Unlike the ranked matches, the unranked matches use the friend code system, are not region specific, and there is no point system involved for winning or losing matches. Players are able to import their Mii, each Mii has their own friend code so that users can have separated friends lists than other people using the same console. The unranked matches support 1 vs. 1, 2 vs. 2, and 3 vs. 1 player matches.

Characters

There are a total of 12 captains and 8 sidekicks to choose from to form a five-player team (captain, three sidekicks, and goalie). All characters wear armor, and players are able to choose more than one kind of sidekick for their team. All characters are separated into 5 categories: Balanced (balanced in all areas), Playmaker (speedy and good passers), Power (good shooters and good defense), Offensive (good shooters and passers), and Defensive (speedy and good defense). The Kritters return from Super Mario Strikers as the goalies.

Captains: Special Items

Each captain has their own item that they can use to wreak havoc on the field. The item is obtained by shooting after the ball has been charged up, or by being tackled without possession of the ball. A captain can use a special item to mess with captains and sidekicks attempting a skillshot or a mega strike.

• Mario: Super Mario- Mario grows big giving him the power of stomping their opponents to the ground, making them paralyzed for a short amount of time. The only way to stop him is through a sliding tackle or an item.

• Luigi: Super Luigi- The same abilities as Mario's Super Mario.

• Princess Peach: Freeze Frame- A picture is taken, and everyone caught in the photograph are stuck inside a black and white photo. They are immobile, and act like the environment (as they can be walked over) temporarily.

• Princess Daisy: Crystal Turret- Daisy punches into the ground as giant orange crystals erupt from the earth slamming into any opponents who are close enough for contact.

• Yoshi: Wreakless Egg- Yoshi transforms into a giant egg, that can roll over the opponents, making them paralyzed for a short amount of time. Yoshi can't shoot or pass while in egg form, but if he rolls over the ball, he brings it into the egg. The power can be turned off by releasing the c-button, or attempting to shoot.

• Wario: Foggy Fart- Wario emits a green fart cloud that reverses the controls of any player (except Wario) who touches the gas.

• Waluigi: Wall-Luigi- Waluigi sets up a wall of vines wherever he runs, acting as a wall. It also makes him run a bit faster.

• Donkey Kong: Bolt Quaker- Donkey Kong pounds the ground, with the force blowing all players away in a large radius.

• Bowser: Flaming Rage- Allows Bowser to blow fire, using up his meter as he does so.

• Diddy Kong: Eraser Beam- A tractor beam will appear in front of Diddy, taking away anyone caught in it for awhile.

• Bowser Jr.: Deafness Screech- Bowser Jr. unleashes a scream that shrinks all the players hit by it, slowing them down and decreasing the power of their shots.

• Petey Piranha: Dirty Rain- Petey spews up to three brown goop wads in a similar fashion to Super Mario Sunshine, which slows players down drastically.

Sidekicks: Skillshots

Each sidekick has a unique shot, which can be used when a shot at the goal is fully powered up. This may be used to execute a perfect Mega Strike made by the captains.

• Koopa Troopa: Shell Strike- The ball turns into a huge steel shell, knocking the goalie unconscious, enabling anyone to kick the ball into the goal.

• Shy Guy: Bullet Bill Strike- The ball turns into a Bullet Bill, which fires at the goal with Shy Guy holding it, blasting the goalie unconscious and anyone else near the radius, enabling anyone to kick the ball into the goal.

• Toad: Incineration Strike- The ball is set on fire, and when blocked by the goalie, sets his hands on fire, making him unable to pick up the ball for a short amount of time.

• Boo: Stealth Ball- Boo becomes invisible and can pass through any character, including the goalie, to launch the ball.

• Birdo: Eggstreme Strike-The ball is surrounded by a huge egg, which can easily pass the goalie into the goal if it is not completely blocked by the goalie or another player.

• Monty Mole: Subterranean Ambush- Monty Mole digs into the ground with the ball before jumping back up and tackling the goalie into the goal along with firing the ball. If Monty Mole is too close, the Goalie can block the ground where he appears and will knock him away into the electric fence.

• Hammer Bro.: Pain Hammer- Hammer Bro. jumps into the air throwing some hammers towards the goalie, knocking him unconscious, and immediately shooting the ball towards the goal.

• Dry Bones: Electroball- The ball is surrounded by electricity, electrifying the goalie or anyone else who touches it.

Stadiums

All 7 stadiums from Super Mario Strikers return along with 10 new updated stadiums for a grand total of 17 stadiums.

The newer stadiums have certain characteristics. Thunder Island has blowing wind, which can blow players off the field. Other stadiums have obstacles such as Thwomps to make scoring more difficult, and some have terrain obstacles.

For the most part, the older stadiums remain faithful to the original. There has been some remodeling, retexturing, and relighting done. For example, Bowser Stadium's flooring has been improved texture-wise, and some of the audience seating is missing as if it had been blown away, thus being able to see out into space. There also seems to be less light and the goal nets have been changed as well.

Reception

Currently, reviews of the game (mostly from the U.K.) have been generally positive with an average critic score of 78% at Game Rankings. Official Nintendo Magazine praised the pick-up and play feel of the game, giving the game 91%. Eurogamer also favored the added strategy and feel to game, giving it an 8/10. UK magazine NGamer criticized the game for its low amount of game modes, but overall felt that it was a definite improvement over the GameCube original, giving it 78%. Edge magazine was concerned about the overwhelming power of the Mega Strike feature, giving it 6/10. IGN gave the game an 8.3 out of 10 and an editor's choice award.[1]

External links

• Mario Strikers Charged page at wii.nintendo.com
• Mario Strikers Charged Football at Official European Site
• Mario Strikers Charged at IGN
• Mario Strikers Charged at Game Rankings