Mario Strikers: Battle League Review - Fun, Colorful, Soccer-Adjacent Gameplay
It's been a long wait for Mario Strikers: Battle League, the latest entry into the soccer-based sports title from Nintendo's Mario lineup. Whereas other titles like Mario Tennis and Mario Golf feel like they've found their footing already, Mario Strikers is oft-forgotten alongside those. While the latest game does a lot of work to establish what a current-gen Mario Strikers experience should feel like, it's also strayed furthest from its soccer roots as a result, creating a fun sports experience that doesn't really pay homage to its inspiration in the same way the other Mario sports titles do.
Mario Strikers: Battle League features 5-on-5 team battles, with each team made up of recognizable fan favorites from the Mario franchise. One of the most immediately noticeable elements is the lack of character unlocks in the game's progression system, which seems to be saving these for DLC. It's a little surprising, since part of the replayability in these types of games comes from character unlocks, and it definitely hurts the title's appeal to have so much of the total roster available from the start.
Related: Nintendo Switch Sports Review: Super Simplistic Mega Fun
That said, the roster players get is full of the staples of the Mario franchise, with those not making the initial cut being less prominent characters like Boo or Shy Guy. There's also stat attributes associated with each character, which makes designing a team a little bit more involved — some character, like Waluigi, are fast but not technically proficient, which means he's better off setting up plays while better finishers, like Mario, should be on the end of them.
Those who want to put characters together that don't mesh well aren't without options thanks to the
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