Mario Strikers Charged

"Possibly only as good as Strikers...PSYCHE!"

Well, the franchise of soccer/football is back with Mario Strikers Charged. This game is about Mario and the gang trying to compete for the Striker Cup, along with attempting challenges along the way. You have to use pure strategy, placing your team where you want them.

Graphics: 8/10
Sure, they're decent graphics, but what do you expect from a Wii console? Xbox 360 graphics. Course not! The graphics for this game feel a lot better than the graphics for the first game, Super Mario Strikers. Of course the graphics are better than the first, but the feel is...fresher, I guess. I can't think of another word for it.

Controls: 9/10
Great controls. Now, I would have to say that the controls for the first game were better, around 9.5. The controls for the Wii include motion-sensitivity, which is good and bad. The feel of being in the game is the good part. The bad part is that you don't want to move around to much. You use the Wii Remote to tackle by shaking it, and toggle through items by flicking the Nunchuk. Now, through this, you could want to use a freeze shell, slide tackle, deke, and go for the goal. Well, if you move around to much, you could use a bomb on someone close to you on accident, tackle instead of steal, completely miss the ball, and you get squished by Super Mario. Yeah, don't eat much sugar.

Gameplay: 9/10
Okay, the good part of the game. We'll start with the surroundings. You have 5 players: A captain, 3 sidekicks, and a goalie. The captain can do any things everyone else can't do. First, the captain can do a Mega Strike. This replaces the Super Strike from the prequel. This shot allows you to score up to 6 goals! WOW! But, the gauge goes a lot faster, and there is a possibility of having your strikes demolished, or they might not even make it in! The goalie stops strikes by pointing the Wii Remote at the screen, and for every ball that appears, click "A" on it. This will destroy the shot. Also, the captain can use its special ability, i.e. Mario grows huge, Wario's Gas Mask, etc. The sidekicks have skillshots, which are great depending on how you use them. Dry Bones charges the ball with electricity, and stuns the goalie, allowing a free shot from anybody on your team. These shots seem more successful than Mega Strikes, as they mostly ensure one goal. If one goal is what you need, don't spend forever trying to do a Mega Strike. Finally, I will explain the goalies in the game. They are immune to any items, offensive dekes, and special powers. But, they aren't immune to most skillshots, like Dry Bones'. That's all I need to say.

Wi-Fi: 7/10
Yes, why rate the Wi-Fi so badly when that was half the reason I wanted the game? (many other people, too?) Well, it's very easy to explain: n00bs. They only tackle somebody, averaging 75 hits a game, no steals, no shots, no mega strikes, no possession of the ball. Just hits. It stinks how you want a fun, competitive game when someone out there decides to annoy people to death instead of challenge them. Now, for technical, not biased issues. The lag of this game is very uncommon, depending on the connection. Now, if you face someone with a 2-star out of 4-star connection, don't challenge. There will be lag. Lots of it. The good news is, your records are saved by daily and weekly (season in this game) and are reset on Sunday/Monday, depending on location. This way, you can take a break for work, come back when you have a week off, and there won't be people with 50,000 points on the board comparing to your 300. Plus, the Wi-Fi is region locked. The possible explanation for this is that Europe and Australia got the game 2 months before us. Nintendo wanted others to have fair advantages because the other 2 regions have probably mastered techniques.

Rent/Buy: If you are a Strikers/slight soccer fan, buy this. If you aren't sporty or hate Mario-esque games, at least rent it.

I hoped you liked my honest opinion of the game. Definitely worth trying out.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 08/01/07