Mario Hoops 3 on 3

"Good job Nintendo!"

When I acquired Mario Hoops Three on Three I thought it would be OK because it was not made by Nintendo, Square Enix made it, they got permission from Nintendo to use their characters. Then when I got home I started playing it then I got hooked and played for hours. I beat most of the game, only not getting a few characters. At first it is really easy but when you get into the hard level you actually have to start trying really hard. Sometimes I would have to do a match three times before I could actually beat it.

This game relies on the touch screen a lot; you use the touch screen to pass, move, shoot, steal the ball and do your characters super shot. One bad thing about the controls is sometimes you try to pass but end up shooting instead. This is not a problem all the time but when you are about to have a breakaway and you accidentally shoot the ball, the other team usually gets the ball and gets a breakaway of their own. This happens because on the computer's team everyone can get the ball but on your side, only the player you control can get the ball. Switching players also is sometimes hard because when you switch they automatically give you the player (on your team) closest to the ball. Sometimes there is a player closer then the player you want because you want more room and more time to think what to do.

This game also has different modes like the dribble race time trial. This is where you run around the court dribbling on question mark pads. Whenever you dribble on one it gives you either 10 coins or one coin. You can hit these blocks as many times as you want until they disappear. Then when you get one hundred you cross the finish line. This is not one of my favorite modes because a lot of it is luck, depending on whether you acquire a ten coin or a one coin when you hit the pad.

The reason why I only gave this game a eight and not a ten is it would be a lot better with being able to play it on wi-fi and also the fact that it is hard to pass. This is a great pickup and play game because you can do a five minute match and then save it and in a few minutes play it again. I hope this helps your decision with buying this game or not!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/19/06