Super Mario Strikers

"Goal!"

As we all know, Mario is Nintendo's Mr. everything. Besides having to save the Mushroom Kingdom from Bowser, Mario has also shown the ability to party, race, be an RPG master, and also become an All Mushroom Kingdom star athlete. After playing golf, tennis, and baseball, Mario has now taken his talents to the soccer field in Super Mario Strikers. I must say that this game is fantastic, and it continues the excellent line of terrific Mario sports games.

So what makes Super Mario Strikers such a good game? Well, I'm not the biggest fan of soccer. I played it when I was growing up, but I always liked football better (where is Mario Football anyway?). I like the way that the developers designed this game. It seems that they took a good hard look at Sega Soccer Slam from a few years ago and designed Super Mario Strikers like it. The object to the game is simple; you pick one of eight captains and try to win the cup that you have selected (either Mushroom, Flower, Star, or Bowser). If you win, then you unlock more tournaments.

The gameplay is what I feel to be the key element to any sports game. I think that it is spot on in Super Mario Strikers. After you have selected a team captain, you then choose who your side kick team will be. You have Toad, Koopa, Birdo, or the Hammer Bros. to choose from. After you have made your selection, you'll be ready to play. The object to the game is simple; to score a goal in the other teams net. Obviously good passing is a must, but also you must learn to attack the other team's players in order to get the ball back. Yes I know that you can't do this in normal soccer, but it's a great element in this game. The best feature in this game has to be the power striker shot. Only the team captain can do one, but if can master lining up the two cursors, it's an automatic goal each time. Plus if you use a power striker shot the goal will be worth two goals instead of one.

Sure the single player mode is fun, but teaming up with someone else is also a blast. As everyone always says, two are better than one. There are also other modes as well, but the single player mode is a blast. With fantastic looking graphics, and awesome character sounds, Super Mario Strikers is a fantastic game, a must have game for all Gamecube owners.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/27/05, Updated 02/02/06