Mario Strikers Battle League Football in the TEST: Just missed the Champions League
Fast kicks, fouls and goal celebrations! Fans had to wait around 15 years before they could finally play with Mario and Co. again. Mario Strikers Battle League Football is now available for the Nintendo Switch and impressively shows that football can also work without a referee. As good and fun as the gameplay is, the game has a big problem. Everything about it in our big test.
Mario Strikers Battle League Football Review: Fun kick that quickly runs out of breath
The gameplay remains largely true to the previous parts. In 4v4 matches you pass and kick your way to the insane goal hunt. Referees have just as little place on the field as they do Fair play. You shove your opponents into the electric barrier or unleash tanks, bombs or other items on the other strikers while you thunder the pill into the square.
Hyper Shots: Hit the goal with full force
And you can take “thunder” literally. Especially if you remember the hyper shots served. These cool staged and strong Special Kicks are the latest version of the super shots from previous parts.
A hit counts directly as two goals, but you have to charge the shot first and place two cursors with good timing without being knocked over by the enemy. Each character has such a shot. So Bowser sparks a huge fireballwhile Wario throws his butt at the ball to throw it towards the goal.
Simple controls with surprising depth
Mario Strikers, of course, thrives on couch co-op, i.e. matches with friends together in front of the same screen. Accordingly, you can kick a round with buddies at any time.
The controls prove to be very smooth, so that even inexperienced ball kickers can quickly find their way into the game. In addition, the game offers a whole range Tutorial Videos, which introduce you to all the moves on the field. Meanwhile, professionals can advanced tricks appropriate, for example feigning jostling. Especially for a Mario game, the Control surprisingly much depth.
The game principle proves to be refreshingly entertaining. So Mario Strikers is always suitable quick kick for in between with friendsalong with a great presentation.
the character animations create a great feeling of being in the middle of the match, while the stages bursting with detail and compact enough that there is always one scoring chance after the next. But sometimes it’s something chaotic so that you sometimes lose track – especially when one or the other tank is racing across the field.
Big problem: Mau scope, especially for single players
So there are plenty of credits for gameplay, but the latest Mario Strikers offshoot for Switch deserves some as well yellow cards.
Unfortunately, there are always the same, repetitive animations for each character. A little more variety would have been desirable. And as great as the stadiums look, unfortunately there is a lack of stage hazards, so that each arena plays completely the same. Special surfaces such as sand or ice or even special obstacles would have contributed to the necessary, playful Mario flair. Where’s the lava on the field when I kick Bowser’s castle, please, Nintendo?
But all this is still to be overcome. The much bigger problem: The range of modes is very meager. Savings are made especially on single-player content.
career mode? none. Any challenges? Except for a series of tournaments, nothing is offered. minigames? Unfortunately not.
You have the choice to deliver individual matches either against the computer or against friends. tournaments you can either compete alone or together against AI teams. So you see: Unfortunately, the game does not offer anything other than the usual matches. In the tournaments there is also no possibility to design your own versions that you can tackle against friends.
Unfortunately, this leads to the fact that the gaming fun is relatively limited during longer sessions run out of breath quickly. “Mario Strikers Battle League Football” is therefore more suitable for shorter kicks in between.
How about the online mode?
In addition to games in couch co-op or local multiplayer, you can also on-line meet on the virtual lawn.
You either create your own team or you can join another team. The connection proves to be solid for the most part, but we had it from time to time stuttering. To be able to gamble online, you need one active and paid Nintendo Switch Online membership.
Few characters, lots of equipment
With 10 characters there is admittedly a fairly manageable field of participants, especially with regard to the fact that each team has 4 players. Although characters can also be duplicated on the field, it still happened to us that only the same characters were used in the matches. Hopefully the roster will be expanded by Nintendo in the future.
After all, Mario, Bowser, Yoshi and Co. have different ones Strengths and weaknesses, causing character selection to affect your team strength. Some characters are fast speedsters, others have powerful shots up their sleeves, and then there are the heavy chunks that can foul you with full physical effort.
unlockables there is in the form of equipment for your characters. For each player you can buy different sets of helmets, protective armor and Co. with in-game coins (however, each part has to be bought individually).
Each equipment affects a specific one character trait from which you can improve the strengths of your players or correct any weaknesses.
shortcoming: You have to dig deep into your virtual pockets. the Equipment is relatively expensive and in free matches you only earn a weary dime. You have to pass tournaments or play many matches online to get the necessary pocket money. Real money purchases are completely avoided.
Reference-www.playcentral.de