Mario Hoops 3 on 3

"For all Mario Fans out there!"

I bought Mario Hoops 3 on 3 because I personally like all Mario based sports games (the only one I don't have is NBA Street V3). I was excited to play it so as soon as I purchased the game, I tore off the packaging and played it. It starts you off in a tutorial, where you get the hang of the basics of the game (passing, dribbling, shooting, and so on). It's easy at first, but once you acquire hard mode, the CPU starts knowing what to do.

The controls aren't too easy to master at first. You use the stylus a lot in this game, like a lot of recent games to hit the shelves. You move with the directional pad, and use the stylus to pass, shoot, steal, jump, and special shots. It's very confusing getting used to all of the different combinations that you have to learn to master the game. For instance, if you want to do a spin move, you have to move the stylus down, then up on an angle to spin around the defender.

The different modes are interesting. There is a normal exhibition, where you choose the characters and stage to play on. Then there's a tourney mode, where you play consecutive games against the computer. After you beat the original mode, there is a hard mode where you play against harder versions of characters. Then there's a dribble time trial mode, where you got to go around collecting one-hundred coins while avoiding the various traps and obstacles. It's irritating that the game gives you a hard time to beat. Within all of this, there are unlockable characters, like Birdo, Fly Guy, and characters like a Black Mage and a Ninja. There are also unlockable basketballs, liek a Watermelon ball, different color balls, and a beach ball for starters.

It's not a perfect ten, but it is definitely a DS game that you should buy. If you don't believe me, rent the game, play it for about a half an hour, and if you like it, then buy it.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 09/27/06