"A very violent and brutal game of soccer"

As a Mario fan and a Soccer Player, I was very happy to hear that Nintendo was now releasing a sports game based on soccer. They've used many other sports in the past, but nothing like this before. So, on Christmas, I received this as a gift. I placed my copy in the Gamecube and pressed the power button. Here are my thoughts:

Gameplay
The Gameplay of Strikers is much like indoor soccer meets hockey. There are no fouls or penalties, just straight playing until someone scores. Match times can be set, then you play and try to score more than the other. If you tie, it goes into sudden death. Normal, right?

There are several moves you pull, headers, bicycle kicks, slide tackles and the feature new to soccer: Big Hits. You can now smash players over (even if they do not have the ball) and run away with it. You can also slide tackle other players, but if you hit from behind, you will take longer to get back up. If you hit someone into the board, they are shocked with electricity for many seconds. The hits are BRUTAL. No joke.

To prevent players from going gung-ho on their runs of smashing and crashing, Nintendo made it so that all cheap hits award the team that got pasted an item they can use on the other team. I prefer to turn items off because I can't count how many times I've been playing and messed up thanks to items.

The players can choose a captain and their choice of Sidekicks. The sidekicks don't do anything but give you teammates, while the Captain determines the position. For example, a Balanced player will play defensively and passive aggressively. While an Aggressive will play on forward.

A feature included is the "super strike". This is a very cheap move that will give you TWO goals providing you can pull it off properly. If you mess it up, the goalie will beat it at you and you are knocked out for a bit. Only the captain can perform this move, except for the unlockable team, where everyone can use it. Fortunately, this feature can be disabled.

The Goalies are quite good at some points. They are invincible to hits, as if you touch the other team's goalie, they will smash you to the ground. They will pull of huge save most of the time, but most of the goals are just unlucky. Passes and crosses are your best chance. Every once and a while you can pull a big deke on a keeper, but you have to go at the exactly right moment. Sometimes you will stun the other goalie, allowing a small slide in.

Another feature is the "Bowser Attack". Bowser will sometimes show up and beat the crud out of whoever has the ball. This can be disabled.

There are a number of game modes: Such as the cups, or instant matches. There are even custom tournaments you can use for playing in a tourney with some friends. This is fun. You earn trophies for cup play, for hits, goals, games etc.

There are a number of "cheats" that can be unlocked which are mainly for fun. Things like "field tilt" will make the field tilt sideways as you play, making the ball harder to control. There are also custom item settings, so you can use "shells only" for example.

Gameplay is overall very good, with a few bad things mainly because of overdone features.

8.5/10

Graphics/Sound

The Graphics for this game are nothing amazing, like most Gamecube games. They are polished and nice, which is what you only really need. They won't make you sick but they won't make you go "WOW!" The female characters (Peach and Daisy) have caused a lot of controversy with their scanty uniforms, but this is fine as long as you are over 12 years old or mature enough.

The Sounds are nice, the character sounds are great, mainly grunting and celebrations. The music isn't usually heard because you are too absorbed by the crowd and the gameplay. Sudden Death music is a whole new pace.

Sound: 8.8/10
Graphics: 7.5/10

Play Time/Replayability

Sports games are always replayable forever, or until you are bored of them. Whatever comes first, you know? The Single Player unlocks and things will take you maybe 10-15 hours at most, while the multiplayer lasts as long as there are friends around really. Cheats extend this until the life of the game is about 30 hours, depending on your devotion.

Replayability: 9/10

Buy or Rent?

If you can find this game for under $30 Canadian (or about 25 dollars american) then you should definitely get this. Any more and you might be regretting purchasing this depending on your result. If not, rent it! If you rent it, then don't buy it because most of the fun will be taken with the rented copy.

Overall Rating: 8/10

Super Mario Strikers is once more, a great game with a few annoying parts. No real "problems" just features that have been over featured and made ridiculous.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/14/07