Super Mario Strikers [ 2nd Opinion ] (GameCube) Preview

My initial feeling towards this title was one of apprehension and complete utter disinterest. In all honesty, whilst I loved Sega Soccer Slam on first merits, the game proved to be an ultimately shallow experience that grew tiresome very quickly indeed. However, ever the easy-going guy, I was willing to put any negative bias to one side and see just what had been turned out under the watchful eye of Nintendo.

First impressions were not exactly impressive at all, unfortunately. After having to wait for quite a while to get on the damn game, since its original GameCube system was constantly over-heating due to fan troubles, I had built my expectations up considerably. Coming to it, now hooked up to a lovely big screen monitor that had previously housed a demonstration of Nintendogs, from an intense session of Mario Kart DS multiplayer proved to be rather anticlimactic.

It looks gorgeous, no doubt about it – flashy colours splayed all over the place, glitter, glamour, beaming lights, fancy effects, the whole shebang. Next Gen has gone full out to enhance the title to make it stand out from the crowd. Sure, this looks nothing like the extravagant Pro Evolution Soccer 4 or even EA’s FIFA series, but considering the cartoon nature of the game, it would look rather out of place, so the direction decision was definitely the correct one. And on the larger screen, wow, everything zipping around at such high speeds had me almost drooling with anticipation.

That is exactly why when I jumped on to a one-player Grudge Match, choosing to play the only option of Mario’s team against Donkey Kong’s, I came away afterwards feeling somewhat dejected. Run around, get tackled, tackle back, shoot, hope for the best, repeat. Sure, I won, but there was no passion or emotion behind it. Everything just seemed extremely bland – like I had just played Sega Soccer Slam 1.5. However, all that changed after I watched the professionals playing on the game – especially as one of them was a dedicated tester who had been playing it non-stop, learning the ins-and-outs and all the intricacies that make it special.

Suddenly, when James and I stepped up to the mantle, the game took on a whole new light. Dashing around, flicking between players rapidly, doing fancy little chips, twists and turns – Super Mario Strikers really did magically become the crazy fun-fest that most Nintendo multiplayer games are and should always be. The most impressive bit comes when in front of goal, though, as rather than just tapping B to try and knock it past the goal-keeper, if you keep it held down a special bar pops up and if you stop it at just the right place your player unleashes a lethal blast at the poor man between the sticks. And boy does that ball fly…You can only sit back and pray that your goalie blocks it or else you are likely to be in dire straits, especially if the lead character is the one scoring.

The teams, you see, are made up of one lead character (such as Mario or DK in this demo), with the remaining team members being made up of little Koopas, Toads, and so on. Then, if you end up scoring a goal with the main character then you can end up with two points instead of just the one! And each character will shoot in a different fashion, with DK using his fists to blast the ball home (handball, anyone?), which adds a nice touch. But you must also watch out for Mario Kart-style weapons being fired by your opponents tapping 'Y'. Nothing worse than a Red Shell zooming your way as you are about to score! Eventually I finished with a victory that was far more satisfying. Looks like being a great multiplayer experience and the idea of four players scrapping really does get me excited. What was not shown, though, were what other modes are available to ensure that the longevity holds out. It would be a great shame if there was not a load more crammed in for the ride, but for the moment we will just have to hang fire until later in the year to find out.