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This thread has been linked to the game 'Mario Strikers Charged Football'.
Mario finally makes his first appearance on Nintendo’s home console and even introduces Wii owners to its online capabilities.
No matter how the game turned out it was always going to be a success what with the red plumber and online play being its main selling points so developer Next Level games could have simply slapped on a few Wii controls and been done with it. However what they’ve done is crafted and tweaked its Gamecube attempt into an unbelievably fun game that isn’t just a last minute shoddy upgrade.
You could call Mario Strikers Charged a football game, however that would also be fairly inaccurate. Sure you have a goal, a ball and a team of players but there are so many fun twists and Mario elements thrown in too it seems an understatement to label it as another football game. It dares to be different and it really pays off.
You select a captain (from twelve famous Nintendo characters) and then three sidekicks (from eight supporting roles) to take to the pitch and battle it out scoring more goals than your opponents. The controls on offer are fairly simple and provide your usual shoot, pass, lob and tackle affair, but also at your disposal are a few other tricks. Since there are no real fouls in this game any means can be used to get the ball, whether it’s firing red shells and giant banana peels or body-checking a helpless Birdo into the surrounding electric fence. The latter is done with a simple shake of the Wii remote and feels incredibly satisfying. In fact while nearly all control is made using buttons and analogue rather than making full use of the Wii remote’s motion sensing, it’s probably for the better as it’s difficult to see how effective reading movements would be in a game as fast paced as this.
Smash Football was criticised for being a little shallow especially and Next Level have addressed this introducing a few new gameplay elements. For one characters have their own stats and abilities. Mario as always makes a good all-rounder and can perform a simple roll with the ball while Diddy Kong is fast but weak and can back flip over players if timed right. Captains also have weapons specific to them while sidekicks can use fully charged shots to take out the keeper via electricity, fire or even hammers. It’s these abilities and advantages that make picking the right team more strategic. Do you go for all out power or mix it up with some technical players?
How much you move the ball about has an impact on play now as well since passing causes the ball to change colour. The brighter the ball the more powerful your strikes but obviously the more you pass the higher your chances of being tackled. It isn’t much but it’s nice to have a little depth to the gameplay.
Originally a concern but now a welcome addition, are the Mega Strikes. Get the ball to the captain in some open space and hold the shoot button. This then brings up a bar not unlike that you find in golf games. Time your button presses to determine the number of balls and the speed they are launched toward the keeper. This is where it gets interesting. The view is then from the keepers eyes and using the pointing function on the Wii remote you try to save the three to six balls that fly past the screen. It’s great fun and can usually be saved with practice as online gamers have shown me stopping close to every shot I pull off. If you’re worried these mega strikes get in the way of normal play don’t threat as actually unleashing one is tough and only happens once or twice a game.
The modes available for the lone player are fairly decent with your main “Road to Striker Cup” consisting of three increasingly difficult tournaments. It’s fun and offers a wealth of unlockables but can make players suffer for its cruel difficulty. Twelve “Striker Challenges” put you in situations ranging from facing a five goal deficit to not being able to use any weapons. Again they are very difficult but reward your effort with cheats to use in matches providing interesting twists. That’s pretty much it in terms of offline single player options and apart from its unfair difficulty is really quite good. Then there’s the online mode.
Nowhere near as robust as the Live system of Microsoft’s console but still a good sign of things to come, the Wi-Fi service provides a fairly lag-free experience. Already people have showed disgust toward the Friend Code system which only allows you to add people if you have their code and vice versa. You can’t simply add someone you’ve enjoyed playing online. It’s annoying what you need to go through in order to add a friend but the good news is every stadium, captain and even cheat is usable online. If playing someone you know isn’t your thing then you can play some random person from Europe in a ranked match. Unlike friendly games your wins and losses are recorded which places you in a European table with thousands of other gamers. While the scoring system always results in you getting points (ten plus your goals scored if you win and the number of goals only if you lose) which is a little odd, at least gamers who disconnect are punished by losing points. As well as playing on your lonesome you can also play with a friend in the room on your team.
Of course you don’t need to play online to get some two or four player action going. You can use four remotes and nunchucks instead and as expected it’s great fun to play with people in the room watching them waving their arms around frantically.
This is one of the best looking games on the Wii with great character animation and a style that excels. Each stadium looks beautifully detailed and every character has been given care and attention when it comes to what they wear and how they act. The music also deserves a mention as it really is great. The pause screen plays elevator like music which seems so out of place it rocks and each new stadium has decent tunes that match the pace of the game. Also the wacky voices and noises add to the crazy over the top action too.
A special mention has to go to the artistic style and “extreme” look to it. At first I wasn’t thrilled hearing Next Level games were trying to give Mario a nastier look but somehow they’ve pulled it off with awesome flare. Each character is so full of personality wearing gritty armour giving angry looks as they stare each other down. The stadiums come to life too with their own gimmicks now ranging from lightning bolts striking the ball, broken fences leaving a cliff edge as your only surrounding and dropping thwomps waiting to stomp you. Finally the menu is very well themed and with its electronic and metal style interface adds to the whole experience.
Mario Strikers Charged Football, while a mouthful to say is one of the best multiplayer experiences on the Wii to date. It’s fast, frantic and extremely fun and even though the single player offline is still a little lacking and frustrating the included online mode is a real treat. Mario makes his debut and I look forward to what the red plumber offers next.
90%
No matter how the game turned out it was always going to be a success what with the red plumber and online play being its main selling points so developer Next Level games could have simply slapped on a few Wii controls and been done with it. However what they’ve done is crafted and tweaked its Gamecube attempt into an unbelievably fun game that isn’t just a last minute shoddy upgrade.
You could call Mario Strikers Charged a football game, however that would also be fairly inaccurate. Sure you have a goal, a ball and a team of players but there are so many fun twists and Mario elements thrown in too it seems an understatement to label it as another football game. It dares to be different and it really pays off.
You select a captain (from twelve famous Nintendo characters) and then three sidekicks (from eight supporting roles) to take to the pitch and battle it out scoring more goals than your opponents. The controls on offer are fairly simple and provide your usual shoot, pass, lob and tackle affair, but also at your disposal are a few other tricks. Since there are no real fouls in this game any means can be used to get the ball, whether it’s firing red shells and giant banana peels or body-checking a helpless Birdo into the surrounding electric fence. The latter is done with a simple shake of the Wii remote and feels incredibly satisfying. In fact while nearly all control is made using buttons and analogue rather than making full use of the Wii remote’s motion sensing, it’s probably for the better as it’s difficult to see how effective reading movements would be in a game as fast paced as this.
Smash Football was criticised for being a little shallow especially and Next Level have addressed this introducing a few new gameplay elements. For one characters have their own stats and abilities. Mario as always makes a good all-rounder and can perform a simple roll with the ball while Diddy Kong is fast but weak and can back flip over players if timed right. Captains also have weapons specific to them while sidekicks can use fully charged shots to take out the keeper via electricity, fire or even hammers. It’s these abilities and advantages that make picking the right team more strategic. Do you go for all out power or mix it up with some technical players?
How much you move the ball about has an impact on play now as well since passing causes the ball to change colour. The brighter the ball the more powerful your strikes but obviously the more you pass the higher your chances of being tackled. It isn’t much but it’s nice to have a little depth to the gameplay.
Originally a concern but now a welcome addition, are the Mega Strikes. Get the ball to the captain in some open space and hold the shoot button. This then brings up a bar not unlike that you find in golf games. Time your button presses to determine the number of balls and the speed they are launched toward the keeper. This is where it gets interesting. The view is then from the keepers eyes and using the pointing function on the Wii remote you try to save the three to six balls that fly past the screen. It’s great fun and can usually be saved with practice as online gamers have shown me stopping close to every shot I pull off. If you’re worried these mega strikes get in the way of normal play don’t threat as actually unleashing one is tough and only happens once or twice a game.
The modes available for the lone player are fairly decent with your main “Road to Striker Cup” consisting of three increasingly difficult tournaments. It’s fun and offers a wealth of unlockables but can make players suffer for its cruel difficulty. Twelve “Striker Challenges” put you in situations ranging from facing a five goal deficit to not being able to use any weapons. Again they are very difficult but reward your effort with cheats to use in matches providing interesting twists. That’s pretty much it in terms of offline single player options and apart from its unfair difficulty is really quite good. Then there’s the online mode.
Nowhere near as robust as the Live system of Microsoft’s console but still a good sign of things to come, the Wi-Fi service provides a fairly lag-free experience. Already people have showed disgust toward the Friend Code system which only allows you to add people if you have their code and vice versa. You can’t simply add someone you’ve enjoyed playing online. It’s annoying what you need to go through in order to add a friend but the good news is every stadium, captain and even cheat is usable online. If playing someone you know isn’t your thing then you can play some random person from Europe in a ranked match. Unlike friendly games your wins and losses are recorded which places you in a European table with thousands of other gamers. While the scoring system always results in you getting points (ten plus your goals scored if you win and the number of goals only if you lose) which is a little odd, at least gamers who disconnect are punished by losing points. As well as playing on your lonesome you can also play with a friend in the room on your team.
Of course you don’t need to play online to get some two or four player action going. You can use four remotes and nunchucks instead and as expected it’s great fun to play with people in the room watching them waving their arms around frantically.
This is one of the best looking games on the Wii with great character animation and a style that excels. Each stadium looks beautifully detailed and every character has been given care and attention when it comes to what they wear and how they act. The music also deserves a mention as it really is great. The pause screen plays elevator like music which seems so out of place it rocks and each new stadium has decent tunes that match the pace of the game. Also the wacky voices and noises add to the crazy over the top action too.
A special mention has to go to the artistic style and “extreme” look to it. At first I wasn’t thrilled hearing Next Level games were trying to give Mario a nastier look but somehow they’ve pulled it off with awesome flare. Each character is so full of personality wearing gritty armour giving angry looks as they stare each other down. The stadiums come to life too with their own gimmicks now ranging from lightning bolts striking the ball, broken fences leaving a cliff edge as your only surrounding and dropping thwomps waiting to stomp you. Finally the menu is very well themed and with its electronic and metal style interface adds to the whole experience.
Mario Strikers Charged Football, while a mouthful to say is one of the best multiplayer experiences on the Wii to date. It’s fast, frantic and extremely fun and even though the single player offline is still a little lacking and frustrating the included online mode is a real treat. Mario makes his debut and I look forward to what the red plumber offers next.
90%
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Mario finally makes his first appearance on Nintendo’s home console and even introduces Wii owners to its online capabilities.
No matter how the game turned out it was always going to be a success what with the red plumber and online play being its main selling points so developer Next Level games could have simply slapped on a few Wii controls and been done with it. However what they’ve done is crafted and tweaked its Gamecube attempt into an unbelievably fun game that isn’t just a last minute shoddy upgrade.
You could call Mario Strikers Charged a football game, however that would also be fairly inaccurate. Sure you have a goal, a ball and a team of players but there are so many fun twists and Mario elements thrown in too it seems an understatement to label it as another football game. It dares to be different and it really pays off.
You select a captain (from twelve famous Nintendo characters) and then three sidekicks (from eight supporting roles) to take to the pitch and battle it out scoring more goals than your opponents. The controls on offer are fairly simple and provide your usual shoot, pass, lob and tackle affair, but also at your disposal are a few other tricks. Since there are no real fouls in this game any means can be used to get the ball, whether it’s firing red shells and giant banana peels or body-checking a helpless Birdo into the surrounding electric fence. The latter is done with a simple shake of the Wii remote and feels incredibly satisfying. In fact while nearly all control is made using buttons and analogue rather than making full use of the Wii remote’s motion sensing, it’s probably for the better as it’s difficult to see how effective reading movements would be in a game as fast paced as this.
Smash Football was criticised for being a little shallow especially and Next Level have addressed this introducing a few new gameplay elements. For one characters have their own stats and abilities. Mario as always makes a good all-rounder and can perform a simple roll with the ball while Diddy Kong is fast but weak and can back flip over players if timed right. Captains also have weapons specific to them while sidekicks can use fully charged shots to take out the keeper via electricity, fire or even hammers. It’s these abilities and advantages that make picking the right team more strategic. Do you go for all out power or mix it up with some technical players?
How much you move the ball about has an impact on play now as well since passing causes the ball to change colour. The brighter the ball the more powerful your strikes but obviously the more you pass the higher your chances of being tackled. It isn’t much but it’s nice to have a little depth to the gameplay.
Originally a concern but now a welcome addition, are the Mega Strikes. Get the ball to the captain in some open space and hold the shoot button. This then brings up a bar not unlike that you find in golf games. Time your button presses to determine the number of balls and the speed they are launched toward the keeper. This is where it gets interesting. The view is then from the keepers eyes and using the pointing function on the Wii remote you try to save the three to six balls that fly past the screen. It’s great fun and can usually be saved with practice as online gamers have shown me stopping close to every shot I pull off. If you’re worried these mega strikes get in the way of normal play don’t threat as actually unleashing one is tough and only happens once or twice a game.
The modes available for the lone player are fairly decent with your main “Road to Striker Cup” consisting of three increasingly difficult tournaments. It’s fun and offers a wealth of unlockables but can make players suffer for its cruel difficulty. Twelve “Striker Challenges” put you in situations ranging from facing a five goal deficit to not being able to use any weapons. Again they are very difficult but reward your effort with cheats to use in matches providing interesting twists. That’s pretty much it in terms of offline single player options and apart from its unfair difficulty is really quite good. Then there’s the online mode.
Nowhere near as robust as the Live system of Microsoft’s console but still a good sign of things to come, the Wi-Fi service provides a fairly lag-free experience. Already people have showed disgust toward the Friend Code system which only allows you to add people if you have their code and vice versa. You can’t simply add someone you’ve enjoyed playing online. It’s annoying what you need to go through in order to add a friend but the good news is every stadium, captain and even cheat is usable online. If playing someone you know isn’t your thing then you can play some random person from Europe in a ranked match. Unlike friendly games your wins and losses are recorded which places you in a European table with thousands of other gamers. While the scoring system always results in you getting points (ten plus your goals scored if you win and the number of goals only if you lose) which is a little odd, at least gamers who disconnect are punished by losing points. As well as playing on your lonesome you can also play with a friend in the room on your team.
Of course you don’t need to play online to get some two or four player action going. You can use four remotes and nunchucks instead and as expected it’s great fun to play with people in the room watching them waving their arms around frantically.
This is one of the best looking games on the Wii with great character animation and a style that excels. Each stadium looks beautifully detailed and every character has been given care and attention when it comes to what they wear and how they act. The music also deserves a mention as it really is great. The pause screen plays elevator like music which seems so out of place it rocks and each new stadium has decent tunes that match the pace of the game. Also the wacky voices and noises add to the crazy over the top action too.
A special mention has to go to the artistic style and “extreme” look to it. At first I wasn’t thrilled hearing Next Level games were trying to give Mario a nastier look but somehow they’ve pulled it off with awesome flare. Each character is so full of personality wearing gritty armour giving angry looks as they stare each other down. The stadiums come to life too with their own gimmicks now ranging from lightning bolts striking the ball, broken fences leaving a cliff edge as your only surrounding and dropping thwomps waiting to stomp you. Finally the menu is very well themed and with its electronic and metal style interface adds to the whole experience.
Mario Strikers Charged Football, while a mouthful to say is one of the best multiplayer experiences on the Wii to date. It’s fast, frantic and extremely fun and even though the single player offline is still a little lacking and frustrating the included online mode is a real treat. Mario makes his debut and I look forward to what the red plumber offers next.
90%
No matter how the game turned out it was always going to be a success what with the red plumber and online play being its main selling points so developer Next Level games could have simply slapped on a few Wii controls and been done with it. However what they’ve done is crafted and tweaked its Gamecube attempt into an unbelievably fun game that isn’t just a last minute shoddy upgrade.
You could call Mario Strikers Charged a football game, however that would also be fairly inaccurate. Sure you have a goal, a ball and a team of players but there are so many fun twists and Mario elements thrown in too it seems an understatement to label it as another football game. It dares to be different and it really pays off.
You select a captain (from twelve famous Nintendo characters) and then three sidekicks (from eight supporting roles) to take to the pitch and battle it out scoring more goals than your opponents. The controls on offer are fairly simple and provide your usual shoot, pass, lob and tackle affair, but also at your disposal are a few other tricks. Since there are no real fouls in this game any means can be used to get the ball, whether it’s firing red shells and giant banana peels or body-checking a helpless Birdo into the surrounding electric fence. The latter is done with a simple shake of the Wii remote and feels incredibly satisfying. In fact while nearly all control is made using buttons and analogue rather than making full use of the Wii remote’s motion sensing, it’s probably for the better as it’s difficult to see how effective reading movements would be in a game as fast paced as this.
Smash Football was criticised for being a little shallow especially and Next Level have addressed this introducing a few new gameplay elements. For one characters have their own stats and abilities. Mario as always makes a good all-rounder and can perform a simple roll with the ball while Diddy Kong is fast but weak and can back flip over players if timed right. Captains also have weapons specific to them while sidekicks can use fully charged shots to take out the keeper via electricity, fire or even hammers. It’s these abilities and advantages that make picking the right team more strategic. Do you go for all out power or mix it up with some technical players?
How much you move the ball about has an impact on play now as well since passing causes the ball to change colour. The brighter the ball the more powerful your strikes but obviously the more you pass the higher your chances of being tackled. It isn’t much but it’s nice to have a little depth to the gameplay.
Originally a concern but now a welcome addition, are the Mega Strikes. Get the ball to the captain in some open space and hold the shoot button. This then brings up a bar not unlike that you find in golf games. Time your button presses to determine the number of balls and the speed they are launched toward the keeper. This is where it gets interesting. The view is then from the keepers eyes and using the pointing function on the Wii remote you try to save the three to six balls that fly past the screen. It’s great fun and can usually be saved with practice as online gamers have shown me stopping close to every shot I pull off. If you’re worried these mega strikes get in the way of normal play don’t threat as actually unleashing one is tough and only happens once or twice a game.
The modes available for the lone player are fairly decent with your main “Road to Striker Cup” consisting of three increasingly difficult tournaments. It’s fun and offers a wealth of unlockables but can make players suffer for its cruel difficulty. Twelve “Striker Challenges” put you in situations ranging from facing a five goal deficit to not being able to use any weapons. Again they are very difficult but reward your effort with cheats to use in matches providing interesting twists. That’s pretty much it in terms of offline single player options and apart from its unfair difficulty is really quite good. Then there’s the online mode.
Nowhere near as robust as the Live system of Microsoft’s console but still a good sign of things to come, the Wi-Fi service provides a fairly lag-free experience. Already people have showed disgust toward the Friend Code system which only allows you to add people if you have their code and vice versa. You can’t simply add someone you’ve enjoyed playing online. It’s annoying what you need to go through in order to add a friend but the good news is every stadium, captain and even cheat is usable online. If playing someone you know isn’t your thing then you can play some random person from Europe in a ranked match. Unlike friendly games your wins and losses are recorded which places you in a European table with thousands of other gamers. While the scoring system always results in you getting points (ten plus your goals scored if you win and the number of goals only if you lose) which is a little odd, at least gamers who disconnect are punished by losing points. As well as playing on your lonesome you can also play with a friend in the room on your team.
Of course you don’t need to play online to get some two or four player action going. You can use four remotes and nunchucks instead and as expected it’s great fun to play with people in the room watching them waving their arms around frantically.
This is one of the best looking games on the Wii with great character animation and a style that excels. Each stadium looks beautifully detailed and every character has been given care and attention when it comes to what they wear and how they act. The music also deserves a mention as it really is great. The pause screen plays elevator like music which seems so out of place it rocks and each new stadium has decent tunes that match the pace of the game. Also the wacky voices and noises add to the crazy over the top action too.
A special mention has to go to the artistic style and “extreme” look to it. At first I wasn’t thrilled hearing Next Level games were trying to give Mario a nastier look but somehow they’ve pulled it off with awesome flare. Each character is so full of personality wearing gritty armour giving angry looks as they stare each other down. The stadiums come to life too with their own gimmicks now ranging from lightning bolts striking the ball, broken fences leaving a cliff edge as your only surrounding and dropping thwomps waiting to stomp you. Finally the menu is very well themed and with its electronic and metal style interface adds to the whole experience.
Mario Strikers Charged Football, while a mouthful to say is one of the best multiplayer experiences on the Wii to date. It’s fast, frantic and extremely fun and even though the single player offline is still a little lacking and frustrating the included online mode is a real treat. Mario makes his debut and I look forward to what the red plumber offers next.
90%