Mario hits the courts in this interesting 3 on 3 basketball game.

User Rating: 6.6 | Mario Basket: 3 on 3 DS
Nintendos little plumber has come to the DS once again, but this time Mario and friends decided to give the game of basketball a dose of thier unique mushroom kingdom character. The premise of Mario Slam Basketball is easy: select three characters from a roster of well known Mario characters ranging from Mario himself to Luigi, Yoshi, Princess Peach and even Boo and Paratroopa, then hit various themed courts in tournaments to prove your selections are good enough to win a coverted trophy. Each game consists of two halfs and the aim is simply to score as many points as possible before the game is over.

The scoring system is very different from regular basketball, because, lets face it, a simulation this aint. Dunks and layups score 20 points each, which a special move basket can score 40 or more depending on where you are on the court. Your score can also be increased by bouncing the ball on ? squares dotted about the court, which pop out coins much like the blocks in traditional mario platform games. When you dont have the ball, these squares also produce useful defenive items like blue and green shells or ba-bombs to help make your opponets drop the ball for one of your team to pick and score. As this is a DS game, most of the game is played using the stylus, with the D pad used for moving your character about the court and one of the shoulder buttons used to switch characters. In theory, this is a cool system that lets you really feel like playing BBall, the reality however is somewhat different. While the stylus controls work and work quite well, they certainly arent perfect. Often while you are trying to pass to a team mate with a stroke of the stylus in thier direction, you will instead shoot the ball, giving the oppostion an easy way to grab the ball and score (especially in the later tournaments).

The game also lets each character perform a 'Special Move' which is a super dunk that pretty much cant be stopped and can be assisted by your teammates. However, in order to perform these moves you have to tap the touch screen at certain points in a certain order twice, which can be ok when it is say Luigi who only has 3 points to tap to form an 'L' shape but maddening when its Mario who has 5 and to form an 'M'. And for some unknown reason, yoshi must also make the same 'M' shape.

By far the biggest problem with this game though, is the lack of substance, as there is only 4 tournaments in the game, with 3 games each. While this is bolstered by an unlockable hard mode, the main crux of the game is painfully short and can be completed in just a few hours. There are the training sections that show you how to control the game, but again, this is a short distraction. The mini games will provide more options to keep you going, but they just highlight how short and shallow the main game is. The multiplayer is available over wi-fi with other cart users and is really quite entertaining, but again the controls can get in the way. The graphics are your usual mario fair, with sharp character models and detailed, animated courts with various hazards that range from squids that grab the ball, ghosts or giant man eating plants for nets. The sound is also excellent, giving fans all the nosies they need from the cast and giving it that authentic 'Mario' feel.

All in all, Mario Slam basketball is a decent, fun game let down by a lack of single player substance and slightly dodgy controls, but mario fans will probably lap this up while they awaiting his next platform adventure, and while that is not a bad thing, they may find themselves wanting.