A few years ago, Next Level Games revolutionized the way Mario played sports. They put him in a soccer match of the titans against his friends, with all the Mario arenas and items a player would ask for from a Mario Soccer game. It seemed like another Mario Kart or Mario Tennis, or any other Mario sports title that would easily be forgotten in the sea of other Mario spinoff titles out there. But Next Level added a new level of interactivity, with the addition of an electric fence and the ability to hit your opponents into it without a Red Card. Extra graphical details and an extremely expansive multiplayer mode made Super Mario Strikers just as memorable as Mario Kart, the plumber's ultimate spinoff.
Now, Next Level Games has teamed up with Nintendo once again to create an even more interactive, amazing, and well-done Strikers performance. But, will the sequel fall short of where the original stood, as we've seen with so many GameCube titles? Or, will Strikers Charged blow away the competition, finally delivering the awesome Mario Sports experience we've been waiting for since the N64? This is what this Review sets out to answer.
I will grade this Review on one to five stars, with five being better than one (no, I don't have a pun for you this time).
Graphics: *****
This game is not Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. You can't see each individual hair on Donkey Kong. Mario's mustache doesn't flutter in the breeze. Bowser isn't the ugly, menacing reptile that Super Smash Bros. Brawl portrays him as. So, why does the graphics category have a perfect score? Just look at the opening cutscene. It's rendered in such a gorgeous style, each cloud, crack, and electric bolt on the field looking insanely realistic. But, unlike many other games, the gorgeousness doesn't end at the opening cutscene. No, Donkey Kong isn't a hairball of fury, but this does extremely well for a Mario Sports title (especially in comparison with Mario Kart: Double Dash). However, what really blew me away was the after-goal cutscenes. If Shy Guy just got hit by a Bob-omb before he shot the ball in the goal, he'll still have the marks of the explosion, and his robe will be torn in several places. If Luigi was frozen while someone scored a goal on him, he'll mourn with ice crystals lining his clothes. This little detail really impressed me, and gave the game an extremely realistic feel.
Sound: **
Yes, the game has music. Is it perfect? No. After you turn off the game, you'll probably forget the music in this game almost instantly. The only song that really impresses me is the high-tension "Sudden Death" theme that plays when time runs out and the score is tied. Every character also has his or her own theme song that plays after they score a goal. Yes, even Hammer Brother has his own theme song. But, some of these aren't very good. When did Toad become hip-hop? Why is Waluigi's theme a banjo song? Why does Wario make the sounds of an accordion when he jumps onto the field? No reason. Add in the fact that none of these, save maybe Bowser Jr's, are actually any good, and the fact that they have them EVERY SINGLE TIME that the character scores a goal gets really annoying. On the plus side, Bowser Jr. doesn't sound as bratty, and Bowser has his good ol' growls and roars back. For subpar music and themes, and good sound effects, the game gets a two in sound.
Characters: ***
You get the big eight of Mario right off the bat! Oh, wait, Toad isn't a captain, and Waluigi and Daisy are there instead. Well, when you start with Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Bowser, DK, Wario, Waluigi, and Yoshi, the game isn't all bad. Plus, you get to choose between sidekicks, who each have their own strengths and weaknesses. Team up with any three-man (or woman) combo of Koopa Troopa, Toad, Dry Bones, Hammer Bro, Birdo, Monty Mole, Boo (don't ask me how he kicks a ball), or Shy Guy! And there are those Kritter guys from Donkey Kong Country that serve as your goalie. Oh, and there are three secret captains, two of which are spoiled for you in the opening cutscene! (Bowser Jr and Diddy Kong) I won't spoil the last one for you, but he should be pretty obvious if you've kept up with the GameCube Mario games. It's a good lineup, but where's Goomba? This is a sport that Goomba could actually play! And where's the Super Team that Bowser built? Wouldn't he use them to cheat the rest of the competition? Well, it's the lineup we all expected, and it's still pretty darn good, especially since you can choose more than one sidekick per match!
Control: ****1/2
The controls are actually really great. You use both the Wiimote and the Nunchuck to control it. No cuddly little bag of gimmicks for the Wiimote to hide under. You pass with A, shoot with B, use items with C, and lob the ball up the field with Z. Oh, and you use dekes, defensive moves that can knock opponents away, teleport your character, or cause your character to do a backflip with the D-pad. On defense, you press A to switch your character, C to use items, and can steal the ball with the D-pad.
But, the best thing is that characters can really whack a character upside the head by shaking the Wiimote. There's just some satisfaction seeing little Toad punching Bowser in the gut and knocking the King of Koopas into the electric fence. It's still satisfying the other way around, too! This extra level of innovation really makes you feel like a part of the game, not just manipulating one team from another dimension. Plus, there's even a shooting game where you use your goalie to block and destroy several balls of doom! I'll get on that later. My only complaint comes with the goalie, Kritter. Why can't we directly control him? There have been so many times where I have lost the lead just because of an underaggressive goalie. Sure, he karate chops, he kicks, he cheats, he goes out of his little box with no penalties. But why can't I control him when he's not holding the ball? Well, besides Kritter, the controls couldn't be better. It's fun, it's simple, and it doesn't overuse motion control, something we've seen far too much of in recent days.
Gameplay: ****
Gameplay is really nice in this game. Basically, it's soccer where you can knock people into fences with metal claws and giant hammers. But that is not all that this game can do! Almost every stadium has its own gimmick that really adds to the competition. For example, Thwomps crash down on players in The Sand Tomb. A relentless ocean carries players off the field, as do flying tractors and cows in a tornado on the lethal Thunder Island. Lightning hones in on the metallic ball with shocking effects in The Wasteland. This really adds a diverse effect to the game that other Mario sport games don't often capture enough of. In addition, each captain has a "Megastrike", which is activated by holding B. This Megastrike allows the captain to shoot from three to six balls at the goal at once! However, this is equalized by the ability of a Kritter to block the balls in a shooting gallery-like environment, and the fact that the shot takes a long time to charge up. Each sidekick has his or her own Skillshot, which is a special version of a shot. For example, Shy Guy hops on a Bullet Bill and causes a huge explosion on the goalie. These are all powerful, and still all equalized. The only problem with this is that the computer seems to use these flawlessly in many matches. Unless you want to score one goal and hide behind Kritter for the rest of the match (which usually doesn't work), the computer will knock your block off, sweep you into the ocean, and perform a Skillshot before you can even realize that your favorite Birdo is gone! If the computer were a little less relentless than the gameplay would be a lot better.
Difficulty: *****
In one word: ARRRRRRRG! This game becomes a bike ride up Mount Everest, and fast! At first, I was happy. I breezed through the Fire Cup (the first round), winning each match by about 20 points. Hammer Bro left players starstruck as Waluigi easily landed a six-ball Megastrike. After trouncing Bowser Jr. and winning the cup, I was actually scared. "I hope the difficulty ramps up soon," I thought, hoping for something better than a complete shutout every match.
Well, I got it, and it wasn't pretty.
After advancing to the next cup (Crystal), I was ready to take on Diddy Kong for the gold once more. Little did I know that I had to play twelve matches to even get to him. TWELVE! Well, no problem, I thought. I had trounced ten in the Fire Cup with a total of over 100 points. This would be simple. And, even better, my first opponent was Bowser Jr, who I beat easily last time! Sure, he'd be a little harder, but he'd still be beatable easily.
I was in for a rude awakening.
Bowser Jr consistently knocked Waluigi into a state of unconsciousness, and his sidekicks kept all of my sidekicks at bay as Junior easily scored four points. The final score was 7-0 in Junior's favor, and all I could do was wonder, "What in the world happened out there?" After the first difficulty level, the computer gets extremely hard. Their cheating becomes easily noticeable, and you get slammed into an electric fence for most of the game. And I consider myself a half-decent game player, mind you! I spent the entire day practicing for the cup, thinking that I could defeat Diddy with a lot of practice and effort. And, for a time, I was right. I went 9-1 for the rest of the regular "season", being able to nab many clinch victories, and overcoming Junior in a rematch!
Then, I got to the Elimination Round.
In the Elimination Round, I had to defeat two opponents in a row to get to Diddy Kong. My first match was Junior. However, fate was not on my side, as the game had chosen my worst stadium, The Sand Tomb, to fight him on.
I lost in a 4-0 game.
It was crushing. But, there was still hope, since I did qualify for the elimination round. But, I was wrong. I had to do the entire season all over again! All 10 games! And that takes a good 45 minutes! By the time I actually reached Diddy, it was 3 hours later, AND I LOST TO HIM! Sure, you might say, enough strategy could get a person anywhere. Well, I HAD strategy, I HAD a fluent team, and I HAD lost four times! It seems that the Elimination Round's stadiums are all out of luck, so if you don't want to do the tedious qualifying round again, you’d better hope you love the stadium that the game picks for you. AT LEAST the game could've put in the feature to save when you get to the elimination round, but NOPE! And if you turn off the game when you're destined to lose, the game senses this, accuses you of cheating, and forces you back to the start of the cup! I am fond of video games, but I don't want to spend three hours doing the same thing over and over again! Even if you have a second player helping you out, it does no good! The teams are strong! I don't even want to imagine the difficulty of the Striker Cup Champion. Basically, flawless strategy, great combos, tons of items, and luck are all that will get you through this game.
Items: **
I personally don't like the item selection. There are bombs, which drop on one player of the opposing team, as well as bananas (and bunches), Mushrooms (increase speed for about 3 seconds), and Red, Green, Spiked, and Freezing shells. The shells come in both single and three-shell packages, with the one shells being larger than the three. Oh, and of course there are the infamous Super Star and Chain Chomp items. Finally, there is the captain item, which allows your captain to pull off a unique more to wreak havoc on the field. Mario grows huge, Peach turns opponents into harmless, immobile photographs, Waluigi makes a wall of vines (cleaverly named "Wall-luigi"), and Wario passes gas that messes up controls. Personally, I find the items unbalanced. One bomb could completely ruin a perfectly-made shot. Sure, this reminds us of Mario Kart, but what about Chain Chomp? It automatically hones in on the opposing team and chomps every last one of them. This basically ensures an instant goal, or a Skillshot or maybe a Megastrike! And the only thing you can do to stop it... is throw another item! The insanity they cause seems unbalanced, and it's just another thing to worry about in the extremely hectic game of Strikers Charged.
Multiplayer: *****
Ah, now this is where the game truly shines! In Striker's domination mode, you can go head-to-head against your opponent in an extremely tense match! The excitement of the game is truly brought when facing an opponent. There's even more satisfaction when Monty Mole knocks Peach into an electric fence, your friend screaming at the game as Monty drills under the goal; or when your friend is unable to block Bowser's Megastrike; or when Toad does a backflip over their goalie and runs into their goal. It's all the more worth it. The excitement reaches extreme levels.
Wi-fi: ****1/2
This game is great when it comes to Wi-fi. Right now, the only game to compare it to is Pokemon Battle Revolution. Mario completely soars past Pokemon, and in more ways than one (as it should be)! For one, Mario Strikers doesn't take 15 minutes to confirm a match. The longest lag period I've ever had was five minutes, and that was because my opponent was somewhere on another continent, struggling with their device (or they turned off the game... I dunno). There is barely any lag, and when there is, it's barely noticeable. The only problem I've had is when my opponent has had the game for months more than I have (I'm American, and Europe has had this game for a lot longer than the US has) and blow me away worse than the computers! But, then I play opponents at my skill level, and everything's great.
Cheats: *1/2
Cheats aren't often in games, but they are in this one. Basically, they're pathetic. Most of the cheats take away features that are part of the fun (no Skillshots or Megastrikes, instant Megastrikes, etc). Even worse is the fact that you have to go through insanely difficult challenges to get to them. I only won one of them by luck, and two others were at the difficulty of the Fire Cup (insanely easy). However, I did have fun with instant Skillshots. They made the game so hectic, thus giving the game half a star more than it's one star destiny.
Humor: ****
You know, this game is actually pretty humorous. Usually, this happens after a character scores a goal. Sure, Mario and Luigi are good sports and just do small victory dances, but that's not to say everyone else doesn't have a good hand at humor. Donkey Kong runs to the camera, and in his excitement, knocks out the cameraman! Daisy starts looking cute toward the camera, says "I'm hot stuff!" and touches her body, releasing steam. And, of course the maker of mischief himself, Waluigi has the most humorous of all. He seems to be screaming for his life when he jumps down on the field, but then gets up and shoots a disco pose. Even more humorous is when he taunts "You want the ball?" and then throws it at the head of an opponent's sidekick, yelling "HERE!" all the while. And who could forget Bowser Jr, trying to act tough against his opponents by actually saying the word "Roar!" And when it shows the opponent losing, it's pretty funny, too. Junior gets really angry and kicks his foot on the goalpost, but that hurts, so he jumps up and down, holding his foot. Luigi looks like he's about to have a mental breakdown and strangle someone! Overall, the humor is there. I just wish it was present all of the time, and not just cutscenes.
Replayability: ***
Whatever you do with this game depends on your ability to find friends. If you're looking for a single player adventure, this'll do you good for about two days of frustration, and its shelf life will considerably decrease. If you can muster up a second player, then the fun may never stop! As long as there is competition, there is always a reason to play. New strategies can be discovered each day! And, if you have Wi-fi, the fun IS endless. Compete against anyone you want, anywhere you want, facing a new and unique opponent and their team each time! Until you can prove you're the best in the world, there's no reason to stop! And, that's only one of you, so the rest of you have a lot to prove! Basically, if you can muster up more than a single player experience, this game can give you weeks of fun, thus an average rating.
Fun Factor!: ****1/2
But, past all of the cheating computers and pathetic cheats, past all of the shiny graphics and banjo-playing stick figures, this game is fun at heart. It shows just how Mario plays soccer, and what he will do to win, win, WIN! Sure, there comes frustration, a long drought of playing, and extreme difficulty. But, if you can muster a team in the free-play Domination Mode and create a strategy, you could plow through the hours of torment and become one of the best in the world! Add in Waluigi throwing the ball at Koopa Troopa's head and Diddy Kong turning into a Buddist monk when he does his Megastrike, and you've got a humorous, fun adventure that could last for a long time!
OVERALL: **** out of five
Mario Strikers Charged is an excellently well-rounded game. Adding classic humor, better graphics, and awesome Skillshots to the original game was a genius move by Next Level Games. The sport of soccer has become Mario-ized into a game with infinite multiplayer power. Plus, Wi-fi is excellent, and far better than the slow Pokemon Battle Revolution.
Recommendation:
Ya know, this is the easiest recommendation I've ever thought of. This game is an experience that no one should miss. However, if you have no pals to shoot around with, or can't find a good Internet connection, I suggest a rental. If you do have friends and an immediate working internet connection, though, this is a must-buy! It's a fun thrill ride with thousands of players worldwide that you can get humiliated by (or humiliate, your choice of which you'd rather be). And even if you had the original Strikers, this one is a must-buy! It does to Strikers what Melee did for Super Smash Bros. It's all the original was, but double! Next Level Games took what were the biggest problems with the last game out, and added so much new content for a more hectic, fast-paced, and overall more fun soccer experience. Pick it up, try it out, and watch the sparks fly!
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