Mario Makes The Goal!

ESRB Rated E (mild cartoon violence)
1-4 players simultaneously
Uses 5 memory card blocks

Super Mario Strikers is a soccer game full of the "Mario madness" that makes Mario sport games so fun. The games action is fast paced, and can get a bit rough (this seems to be a soccer/football hybrid). Unfortunately, the game is a bit lacking in its customizing ability.

GAMEPLAY: The basics of SMS are easy to learn; some of the trickier maneuvers take a little more practice. The B button is used to shoot; holding it longer will charge up the shot. When your team has the ball, passing is done with the A button. If you don't have the ball, the A button switches your control to the teammate who is closest to it. Pushing the control stick in the direction of a teammate and pressing A will switch you to that player. By holding the L button, passes and shots will go higher in the air, allowing the ball to go over opponents who are in the way. When your opponent has the ball, you can press Y to do a hard tackle, or press be to do a slide tackle and steal the ball. To avoid being tackled, you can press Y to do a deke (dodge). However, since the Y button dose not allow you to determine which direction to deke in (up or down), the C stick is a better choice. Holding the R button makes you run a little faster; if you press it just after deking around an attacking opponent, you will receive an additional boost of speed. There is one maneuver that can only be done by the team captain: the super strike. When your team captain has the ball, press and hold B until a meter appears. This meter is black with two zones: each is yellow with a green section in the middle. A white line swings from right to left and back across these zones. The point is to press the B button as the line moves across each green section. If the second green section is hit, the ball will go in the goal. If you hit both green sections, the ball will not only go in, but it will take the goalie with it. Either way, a super strike goal is worth double the points of a regular goal. There are some additional objects on the field besides the players. Classic Mario items, such as banana peels, bomb-ombs, giant shells, and others can be used by pressing the X button. Bowser will occasionally crash onto the field as well, adding to the chaos on the field.

PLAYING MODES: There are four playing modes in all. The training mode gives you tutorials and lets you practice. A grudge match is a single game against an opponent of your choosing. Cup battles are a series of tournaments: the Mushroom Cup, Flower Cup, Star Cup, and the Bowser Cup. You must beat each one to unlock the next. Winning the Bowser Cup gives you access to the final playing mode: super cup battles. Just like the cup battles, they must be won in succession.

TEAMS: A team consists of six players: one captain, four sidekicks, and a goalie. The captains are: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Wario, Waluigi, Donkey Kong, and Yoshi. There is also a team where all the players take on the role of team captain: the Super Team. You can unlock the Super Team by beating them in, and then winning, the Bowser Cup. The main problem with this game is its lack of sidekicks; you can choose only one of four: Birdo, Toad, Koopa, and Hammer Bros. You also can't choose a goalie; all goalies are the same (they seem to be the Kremlings from the Donkey Kong Country game series). Making a team would be more enjoyable if there were more sidekicks to choose from, and if they didn't have to all be the same. Of course, it would be nice to be able to choose a goalie as well.

GRAPHICS: During play, the view is fixed at the sidelines, while the replays show various angles. The action on the field all looks great, and the super strikes are especially well created.

Super Mario Strikers is overall a great addition to the series of Mario sports games. While the ability to make a more customized team is definitely lacking, the game can still provide a challenge: setting the difficulty level to superstar or legend will surely test your reflexes.