Mario Strikers: Battle League Review – Mario Strikers: Battle League Review – Just Off The Post

The beautiful and most popular game of soccer is, in many ways, the best. The way that players play, score and celebrate on the pitch is elegant. Mario Strikers Battle League has a lot in common with the real-world inspired Mario Strikers. However, its focus is on brutality and not beauty. 

Battle League’s setup is very simple. Players select from Mario, Luigi and other Mushroom Kingdom characters to form teams consisting of four players and one A.I. goalie. You then descend to customizable arenas before rowdy fans, where you battle it out for supremacy in soccer.

Battle League can sometimes feel more like a fighting sport than soccer. You can pulverize your enemy as many times you want. There are no rules. Kick them to the ground and place electric barriers around their heads. At them, shoot shells and bananas. You can use whatever cruel tactics you want. Competitiveness is what I love about this game.

Mario Strikers is a bloodsport that can be brutal, but it rewards players who use these tactics with strategy and tact. Every move you make on the pitch will have consequences. The ability to tackle is an effective way to break down the opposing team, secure the ball and give your opponents the chance to grab something from the crowd. You can score more points if you make a mistake in tackling and your opponent dodges. Mario Strikers was a lot of strategy. It kept me interested and I learnt the best way to score goals.

Hyper Strikes are the perfect example of strategic dancing. If you are able to time your shots correctly, these two-point shots can be scored through orbs on the field. The downside is that you could be blocked by opposing goalies or even worse open yourself up to attacks and other opportunities from your enemy team. Although the scene is exciting and entertaining at the beginning, I felt like I wanted to skip it and get back to the actual game. These moments are thrilling and can lead to pure excitement or crushing defeat in a flash.

Although pitch strategy is important, pregame team composition is just as crucial. Each of Nintendo’s most beloved characters has specific strengths. Bowser might be slow, but his shot is flawless. Donkey Kong excels at strength, knocking others off their feet and grabbing the ball. Toad can speed down the field quickly. When facing a team with greater difficulties, it is important to have a balanced team. My mistakes of loading up with shooters who are not good at passing led to me getting burnt, which was reflected in the fact that my opponent’s shot got intercepted and won. The need to balance required me to experiment with players I would not normally choose. This gave life meaning and purpose to casual matches, as I found the best characters that fit my style.

It is important to use gear once you have found a comp that you like. The coins you earn from matches can go towards equipment. This will affect the character’s control. The stat increases come with a steep price, however, since each buff to a category reduces the other. Although I initially ignored the gear system at first, as the challenges got more difficult, I found myself enjoying increased shooting and passing abilities, especially when I began to explore the different modes of Battle League.

Those modes are where Mario Strikers loses a bit of its luster – save for one exception. Cup Battles or Quick Battle solo sessions provide single-player play. While the former matches are your regular match, the latter allows players to move up in a bracket where they can compete for coins and trophies. Cup Battles were more entertaining than standard Quick Battles, as I knew that I was working toward more rewards. Cup Battles don’t have much in common with standard matches, aside from the difficulty of scaling up and team design based on a particular attribute. Sure, they were enjoyable, but I found they were helping me learn the game more than posing a considerable challenge – aside from the occasional competitive championship round.

Strikers Club offers the most fun of all modes. The new mode lets you bring in your character and start a league together with the rest of your friends. Club owners have many possibilities, including creating their own jerseys and naming the league. You can’t unlock some of the customization options unless you earn tokens through Strikers Club matches. This is disappointing for players who want only single-player mode. Still, I relished the heightened sense of competition I felt playing online, and I’m excited to keep building my club and experience a full season alongside a group of friends as time goes on.

For those looking for more of a challenge, there’s a hard difficulty in Quick Battle. This is not an easy game. The computer players can be smothering. They will charge you for any mishandling or ball-tampering. I enjoyed the additional difficulty as I had been able to navigate through Cup Battles before, but this exposed some of the game’s most frustrating A.I. 

Sometimes, I thought my goalie looked like Tim Howard. He blocked everything around him, without even breaking a sweat. Sometimes they’d let me rage and allow the weakest shot to one corner. Computer teammates are the same. They generally do a great job of getting in position to score or defend but let a ball dubiously bounce off their heads, which allows the opposing team to score easily. I have many errors that can cost me dearly in a match. However, nothing is more frustrating than being able to perform my greatest Messi impression for only one A.I. I have had teammates who cost me games. 

Mario Strikers Battle League might not be the greatest version of the game’s most popular, but the strategic matches and online games, as well as the energetic animations make it a very enjoyable experience. The single-player game may be a little lacking in content, but Nintendo’s return will bring the same joyous highs and heartbreaking lows as its suite of party titles.