Review: Mario Strikers: Battle League could be the game of the summer
Game details
Developer: Next Level Games Publisher: Nintendo Platform: Switch Release Date: June 10, 2022 ESRB Rating: E for Everyone Price: $60 Links: Amazon | Nintendo eShop
When it comes to sports video games, I'm of the opinion that the wackier they are, the better. If I want a game that captures every detail of a real sport accurately and authentically, I'll just go outside and play that sport myself, or maybe watch some professionals do the same. In a virtual version, I want to see the sport enhanced with features that would be impossible on a real field of play.
Much like its predecessors, Mario Strikers: Battle League fulfills this video game sports fantasy quite nicely, offering what is essentially the Super Mario Kart version of simplified soccer. And while the game has some balancing issues (especially in single-player mode), as a whole, it's a frenetic and fun take on the sport that could easily sustain a strong online multiplayer community.
The more things change
If you played the original Super Mario Strikers on the GameCube or its 2007 sequel on the Wii, you know the basics here. While the game is ostensibly a four-on-four game of soccer (without the possibility of the ball going out of bounds), it more closely resembles a knock-down, drag-out brawler most of the time.
You'll find yourself constantly charging at nearby opponents to knock them down and get the ball or prevent a pass, without a yellow or red card in sight. Then, on offense, you have to constantly be ready with a quick-reflex dodge or be on the lookout for an open pass to avoid losing the ball to a similar pummeling.
Despite the full-contact changes to real soccer, this is still a game of careful positioning. On offense, you have to push forward for a charged, centered shot without overcommitting and letting the defense come back with a fast break. On defense, you have to be careful that tackling the ball carrier doesn't leave you out of position to block a pass or a powerful charged shot. Battle League's lob passes also open up the field in the third dimension a bit, letting you sail the ball over a tight defense and set up a good shot that can more easily get by the computer-controlled goalkeeper.
Mario Kart-style items like shells, banana peels, and bombs are also still in play here; they are effective on offense to create some much-needed space or on defense to stop an attack quickly. Those items now come in boxes thrown down on the field at random, which sometimes necessitates breaking up a play and running out of your way to pick them up. The game also self-balances a bit by providing the losing team with item boxes that only they can pick up throughout a match.
Two goals in one?
Much like previous Super Mario Strikers entries, Battle League includes a special, potentially unblockable shot that's worth two goals if it goes into the net. These "Hyper Strikes," as they're called this time around, end up being a little too central to success in Battle League, though.
In previous Strikers games, only a single team captain could perform the powerful Super Strikes or Mega Strikes, which required extra charging time to bring up a moving power meter that determined the accuracy of the shot. This gave opponents the opportunity to keep close guard on that captain and allowed plenty of time to unleash a well-timed tackle or item use to prevent the shot from going off in the first place.
In Battle League, though, Hyper Strikes are instead tied to glowing orbs that randomly fall onto the field. Whichever team is able to rush to that orb first has a 20-second window for any character to charge up a Hyper Strike when on the opposing side of the field. The charge time for that shot has been reduced, too, with opposing players going into an ineffective slow-mo as soon as the accuracy meter appears.
This all makes it much easier for players to clear out a bit of space (perhaps with a well-timed item) and attempt a power shot as soon as they cross into the opponent's half of the field. And with a little timing practice for the swinging power meter, getting that shot off means releasing an unblockable, instant two-goal swing.
These Hyper Strikes are so important to a match's outcome that quickly obtaining the power orbs when they drop ends up being the key moment of many matches. I played plenty of games in which one team completely dominated in terms of ball possession, shots on goal, and even standard goals scored but lost because the other team racked up unblockable Hyper Strike goals.
The best defense if your opponent gets a power orb is to secure the ball and run out the 20-second power clock, playing defensively and passing back and forth to prevent a steal rather than moving the ball forward. Though effective, this mode of play is much less exciting than the frenetic action that characterizes the game when a power orb is not in play.
Missing the Goldilocks zone
Since a single player can only control one of the eight players on the field at once, effective AI is key in a game like Battle League. And while the AI here is pretty good at effective positioning and believable strategy, there are some balance problems when it comes to the difficulty tuning.
When playing Battle League on its normal difficulty setting, the opposing side is almost comically non-aggressive, with opposing characters often standing in place and watching rather than going after a ball-handler charging up for a shot. Against these opponents, it's way too simple to just collect almost every power orb, waltz across the center line, and unleash a fully charged and potentially unblockable Hyper Strike. That's true even if a defensive player is standing right next to you, in position to break up the shot with a quick tackle if they wanted to.
Turn the difficulty up to "hard," though, and it's like the aggressiveness dial has been cranked to 11. At this difficulty, opponents become harshly effective, tackling nearby characters at the drop of a hat and making even basic passing and shooting an incredibly difficult game of positioning. That's not bad, per se, but it requires a level of constant focus on dodging and separation that was a little too stressful for this reviewer.
As I played dozens of single-player matches, I found myself wishing for something between the almost-automatic wins I was getting on normal difficulty and the almost guaranteed losses I was handed on hard. Maybe this is a personal problem, and I just need to keep practicing to take on the next tier effectively, but I can't help but feel that other players will fall into this difficulty valley with me.
Meritorious multiplayer
AI balance complaints go out the window in multiplayer matches, of course. Against a human opponent, the game becomes a battle of quick strategy and reaction times, with both players fighting for space on a cramped field. Figuring out your opponents' strengths and weaknesses can be as important as your own execution here, as is quick-tuning your strategy to take advantage of holes in your rivals' game plan.
The game also does a good job of balancing items (and, seemingly, goalie effectiveness) to prevent matches from tending toward blowouts. Most of the online multiplayer matches I tried during a pre-launch window set up by Nintendo ended up being exciting slugfests that came right down to the wire.
The one problem I had with online multiplayer came when I paired up with another human on the same team. Here, the interface gets a little cluttered, making it hard to quickly differentiate between your character, your partner's character, and the AI teammates. This can make it harder than it needs to be to coordinate passing and shooting, especially if you're paired up with a random partner without voice chat (to avoid that, the game lets you join online "Strikers Clubs" and can pair you with other club members that happen to be online when you want a match).
If the online multiplayer remains as smooth and engaging as it was in our pre-launch tests, Battle League could end up being the competitive grudge match of the summer.
The Good
An excellent "video-gamey" take on the basics of soccer
Tight mix of positioning strategy and reflex-based on-field brawling
Great art and animation on a varied set of Mario characters
Online multiplayer is smooth and well-balanced
The Bad
Hyper Strikes are a little too powerful for their own good and dominate the rest of the game
AI difficulty vacillates between too easy and too hard.
The Ugly
Watching a Hyper Strike sail past the goalkeeper at the last minute, turning a tight win into a tight loss.
Verdict: Buy it if you have friends to play it with (or are willing to take on Internet randos).
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