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Mario Strikers: Battle League (known in Europe and Australia as Mario Strikers: Battle League Football) is an action-sports game for the Nintendo Switch, released on June 10, 2022. It is the third game in the Mario Strikers series and the first one in roughly 15 years following Mario Strikers Charged for the Wii in 2007.
Gameplay[]
Gameplay of a match between "Rockets" and Scramblers".
Mario Strikers: Battle League is a five-versus-five association football/soccer video game which features Mario series elements. It shifts away from realism, in favor of chaotic, over-the-top gameplay. The game maintains the main premise of the soccer sport, where players maneuver players around a field in efforts to pass and shoot a ball into a goal to score points, with the team with the most points at the end of a game winning the game. However, the game takes many liberties with the sport. Aggressive tackles and attacks are completely allowed, though they give the opposing player "items" to use at their disposal. Team players can tackle each other for boosting, and would not hurt the teammate. In matches, stadiums are merged with two, and additional upgrades can be purchased with in-game currency.
The game supports online play and two players can connect together during sessions. Strikers Club is an online mode where players can recruit up to 20 people and compete with other clubs online to earn points and determine rankings via the Season Group Ranking. Players can also join existing clubs. Host players can create names, customize attire colors, choose stadiums, pick policies, and set conditions. Co-op 2-player multiplayer is also supported in this mode.
Playable characters[]
These are the list of characters playable in Battle League. Characters in italic are indicated as newcomers.
- Mario
- Luigi
- Bowser
- Princess Peach
- Rosalina (new)
- Toad (new)
- Yoshi
- Donkey Kong
- Wario
- Waluigi
- Daisy (ver. 1.1.0)
- Shy Guy (ver. 1.1.0)
- Pauline (new) (ver. 1.2.0)
- Diddy Kong (ver. 1.2.0)
- Bowser Jr. (December 2022)
- Birdo (December 2022)
Gear[]
Gear can be customized.
Gear is used as customizable attire for characters to improve stats (e.i. gear with greater strength enables stronger resistance to being tackled by an opponent). Additional upgradable gears can be purchased with in-game currency.
Hyper Strikes[]
Hyper Strikes are special moves to ensure a goal, and is activated when a Strike Orb is collected. Each and every character has unique Hyper Strike moves. The goalie can still block the ball with enough resistance.
List of Hyper Strikes[]
| Characters | Hyper Strike | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Mario | Fire Cyclone | Jumps and ignites the ball with a bicycle kick, sending the ball in circular motions. |
| Luigi | Spin Tornado | Creates a green tornado before shooting the ball at the goal. |
| Bowser | Flame Cannon | Takes and flames the ball before throwing it. |
| Princess Peach | Dance of Hearts | Jump kicks the ball into a heart-shaped curve, stunning anyone it hits. |
| Rosalina | Orbital Burst | Kicks the ball into the orbit, and returns as a crystal before creating a flashing impact. |
| Toad | Drill Smash | Launched by a team of Toads and headbutts it midair, striking the ground to the goal like a drill. |
| Yoshi | Egg Stomp | Turns the ball into a giant egg and ground pounds it, sending it to bounce until it hatches. |
| Donkey Kong | Banana Blast | Eats a banana and slams it, creating a huge blast before launching to the goal in a banana-shaped motion. |
| Wario | Electric Ricochet | Buttstomps the ball, launching it straight ways and bounces off walls. |
| Waluigi | Thorn Barrier | Creates thorned vines as the ball launches, briefly trapping those in contact. |
| Daisy | Flower Spiral | Creates a circular area of flowers, and sends opponents spiraling upon contact. |
| Shy Guy | Propeller Dive | Sends a drill-like tornado, sending opponents spinning away. |
| Pauline | Swing Solo | Briefly sings, then hits the ball with the microphone with landing blast, stunning those in contact. |
| Diddy Kong | Barrel Boom | Shoots out of barrel, then creates a palm-shape blast, spinning opponents in contact. |
Fields[]
Unlike the previous Mario Strikers games, the soccer fields now consist of two individual halves, which are each themed after different characters. It is unknown if each field half will have individual stage gimmicks (like in Mario Strikers Charged) or will only have aesthetic changes (like in Super Mario Strikers). Like the previous games, electric fences that can shock players are present around the perimeter of the field.
- Mushroom Hill: Themed after a traditional Super Mario level.
- Lava Castle: Features a torch resembling Bowser's cuff.
- Horror Mansion: Resembles a haunted mansion resembling the Dark Moon from Luigi's Mansion: Dark Moon.
- Resort Jungle: Has a barrel and two vines.
- Princess Castle
Differences from other Strikers games[]
These are the following changes from past entries of the Mario Strikers games:
- Gears (costumizable attires) have been introduced.
- Hyper Strikes replace Special Shots and can only score one goal at a time, but if the Hyper Strike is successful (double blue or the goalie couldn't resist) the goal is doubled.
- Boom Booms replace Kremlings as goalies.
- The game supports up to 8 players.
- Stadiums are composed of two halves that are combined.
- The game seems to be less 'violent' compared to other games.
- At least 2 new characters have been introduced.
- Characters such as Daisy has been excluded from the initial roster upon release. However, Daisy was added as free DLC.
Development[]
The game was first announced during a Nintendo Direct on February 9, 2022.
It was developed primarily by Next Level Games with networking by SRD and production and coordination by Nintendo EPD Group 6.
Technical details[]
The game runs at 1080p in docked mode and 720p in portable mode. The gameplay runs at 60 frames-per-second, while the cutscenes and UI run at 30 fps. 5.1 surround sound audio is also supported.[1]
Post-release[]
The game was released on June 10, 2022 on Nintendo Switch. The game received Free post-launch downloadable content through updates with the first launching in late July. This update added the characters, Daisy and Shy Guy, some new gear and a new stadium.
Reception[]
The game received mixed to favorable reviews from critics. On Metacritic, the game has a score of "73", indicating "mixed or average".[2]. Most of the criticism revolved around the lack of features compared to contemporaries with a smaller roster and almost no alternative modes or settings
Pre-release[]
While many fans of the Mario Strikers games have praised the game for the series' return, others were divided over the absence of the character Daisy, who has appeared in the past games and was considered to be "iconic" in the Strikers series.[3][4]
Gallery[]
| Main article: Mario Strikers: Battle League/gallery |
Videos[]
References[]
- ↑ Mario Strikers: Battle League tech analysis, including frame rate and resolution (Nintendo Everything) Date: June 8, 2022.
- ↑ Mario Strikers: Battle League on Metacritic
- ↑ Random: Daisy Fans Are Worried She's Been Dropped From Mario Strikers (Nintendo Life) Date: May 15, 2022. Author: Liam Doolan.
- ↑ Mario Strikers Daisy Fans Are Ready To Riot Against Nintendo (Kotaku) Date: May 13, 2022. Author: Ari Notis.
Trivia[]
- Mario Strikers: Battle League was the last original game release to feature Charles Martinet voicing Wario and Waluigi before it was announced that he had moved to the role of Mario Ambassador. Kevin Afghani would succeed him in voicing both characters; voicing Wario starting with WarioWare: Move It! and voicing Waluigi starting with Super Mario Party Jamboree.
- It was also the last original game release to feature Deanna Mustard as Princess Daisy before Giselle Fernandez succeeded her in Super Mario Bros. Wonder.