Fans who’ve been waiting 15 years for the follow-up to Mario Strikers Charged likely won’t be disappointed with Mario Strikers: Battle League, the latest installment in the Strikers line arriving on the Nintendo Switch this Friday, June 10th. It combines all the arcade-sports fun of “Strike,” the Mushroom Kingdom’s own outrageous brand of battle soccer, with polished graphics, driving music, and ample play modes. Most importantly, Battle League continues in the proud Strikers tradition by offering gameplay that is easy to grasp but challenging to master, making each and every victory all the sweeter.
Unlike the manic motion-controlled gaming of Nintendo Switch Sports, Mario Strikers: Battle League relies on good, old-fashioned button-presses. When your team has the ball, the B and Y buttons are used for the ground and lob pass respectively. You can also hold the ZL trigger to enter free pass mode, allowing you to kick the ball to a specific location on the pitch rather than directly to a teammate.
The ZR trigger allows for limited dashing, R is reserved for dodging, and X is used to deploy the items picked up from the occasional question boxes that appear on the field, leaving the A button for shooting. You can hold it down for a more powerful charged shot, and if you or a teammate can catch a floating Strike Orb, the charged shot suddenly becomes a character-themed super move known as a Hyper Strike.
Hyper Strikes, however, require a quick-time button-press event to execute, challenging players to—again, using the A button—stop a pair of indicators at specific points. Doing so perfectly results in a flawless execution, a nigh-unblockable kick that can even score you a two-point goal. Whiff it, however, and despite the over-the-top animation, your opponent’s computer-controlled goalie, Boom-Boom, still has a chance to shut you out.
Without the ball, both L and ZL can be used to switch between players (assuming you have any computer-controlled allies), and Y becomes the tackle button. This is your secret defensive move, as tackles can even disrupt a mighty Hyper Strike.
Don’t let Battle League‘s simple trio of modes fool you; there’s much more there than meets the eye. The basic Quick Battle, for example, offers single console play (up to 8 players), local wireless (1-2 players), and online multiplayer (1-2 players against anyone, with friends, or against friends).
For single-player gaming enthusiasts like myself or just those looking to test their mettle at their own leisure, Cup Battles are the way to go. You (and up to three friends) can fight your way through six double elimination tourneys, pitting your dream team against the computer-controlled competition. In addition to earning the championship cup, success also nets you 400 coins that can be used to purchase specialty gear.
While not a play mode in itself, the Gear Settings menu is readily available on the Mario Strikers home screen. From within Gear Settings, you can choose a character and then see how each item of gear (head, arm, body, and legs) will affect their overall stats. Unsurprisingly, Muscle gear increases Strength at the expense of other stats (Speed, Shooting, Passing, and Technique), while Trick gear does the same for Technique.
This provides for some real granularity when putting together your preferred team, especially once you settle on your play style. My go-tos are all-arounder Luigi as captain, shooting ace Rosalina, speedster Waluigi, and strongman Bowser, all predominately kitted out in Cannon gear to increase their Shooting stat. But therein lies the rub. Gear must be unlocked for each individual character, so resting on one’s laurels is never an option. You have to keep winning to keep earning.
The final mode, Strikers Club, is an online club mode that seems tailor-made for competitive multiplayer. You can create or join an existing club of up 20 people that competes globally in both season and open play. Each member registers a Striker, their preferred character decked out in their favorite gear, but members can change their Strikers at any time to better meet the needs of the club.
Each club also has a club owner, a manager who chooses the club name and can customize both the club’s uniform and the appearance of its stadium. The latter is done by spending tokens earned in club play to alter the field, goal, fence, and other decorations.
With an alternating season schedule—one week on, one week off—and a focus on shared rewards, Strikers Club will surely appeal to the most competitive among us, but there’s also room for more casual or specialized players. In addition to name, uniform, stadium, and region information, club profiles also include policies. Club policies help attract the preferred kind of players, and they can range from a gameplay philosophy (“Just having fun” or “All about winning”) to a shared language (English, Spanish, or Simplified Chinese) to favored in-game features (“Uses voice chat” or “Wears Muscle gear”).
The more time I spend with Mario Strikers: Battle League, the more I come to appreciate the game. Unlike broader Mario Sports titles, it focuses solely on Strike, and it does so to great effect. The same can be said for its player roster; there may only be 10 characters to choose from, but the gear system assures that each and every one of them can be customized to your liking—assuming you’re willing to put in a little time and effort.
While I did find myself wishing I could just bulk unlock gear for the whole team and I’m sure there will be plenty of players who would prefer to take the goalie position themselves rather than cede that space to a computer-controlled Boom-Boom, I understand the logic behind both decisions. Rather than bog itself down in minutiae, Mario Strikers: Battle League instead focuses on the broad strokes—on visceral, fast-paced but always perfectly tuned gameplay. In doing so, it leaves the level of finesse, the level of pure tactical prowess, up to the players.
In this game, anyone can be a superstar, but Mario Strikers: Battle League isn’t above really making you work for it!
Review materials provided by Nintendo of America. This post contains affiliate links. Weegi’s Warriors forever!
