A full review on the 1st online wii game inside.
GRAPHICS
The graphics are what you would expect from a mario game, cartoonish but stylish. I havent seen any low-res to high-res jumps, and theres no draw ins(not like theres much to draw-in in a fottball game). The stadiums you play in are all very impressive, from the vice(a standard pitch) with thousnads of cheering, jumping(and 3d) spectators, to Thunder Island, which has no walls, so you can punch opponents off the pitch, and the frequent hurricanes to take players out of the game for 10 seconds or so. The Character models are spot on, and they look even better doing the Mega-Strike. There is no slow downs, but is 'lagg' whilst playing online depending on your/there connection.
SOUND
Theres some good music playing in the background, and a few bings from the speaker and the screams of players getting hit by items, electric fences, or just cos you felt like running into them. Apart from this, there isnt much else in the sound department.
CONTROLS
The controls are easy to pick up and play. You use the A button to pass, B to shoot, C for items or powers, Z for a Lob, Z+A for a lob pass, hold B for the mega strike or the Side Kick Power Strike, and the D pad to steal the ball. So far...no motion snesing, which in my opinion is a good thing, but there is some motion sensing which is implemented perfectly. You swing the wii mote do a smash tackle, or a BIG HIT, and if your hit by a MEGA STRIKE you go into 1st person and control the keepers hands, and you have to destroy all the incomming balls, which is a very cool addition, and when playing multiplayer (on or offline) it forces you to think of Other ways to score, instead of constantly mega striking the opponent all the time.
GAMEPLAY
The gameplay in Mario, is very good. There is loads of unlockables. I belive there is 5-7 stadiums to unlock, and 3 captains to unlock. That might seem like much, but there more. Like captain cards, Brick Wall and Golden Foot tropheys. The game it self is easy at first, but quickly gets harder, the difference between the 1st and 2nd cup in difficulty is rather large, but it is possible once you find a captain and team that fits your playing style. There are a variety of modes in the game aswell, like:
.Dominator (your 1 on 1 vrs matches, this is also where you play multiplayer off line)
.Road to the Striker Cup (the campagin, which is rather long, and is where you unlock stadiums and characters)
.Challenge (this is where you unlock captain cards, each card has a cheaqt that can be used in Dominator mode)
.Strikers ABC (Tutorial)
.Wi-Fi connection (online gameplay, you can go co-op or alone to become the best in the world, with constantly changing leader boards and striker of the day awards)
ONLINE The online on Mario is excellent. Although there is no headset, or any way to communicate YET, it is still pretty well thought out, it has Ranked matches, and friendly matches, along with a Leaderborad that has 3 different layouts. The games take a few seconds to find, and about 20 seconds to set up. On ranked you get a randomly selected stadium, and then you and your opponent get to pick ANY of the captains, even ones you havent unlocked, then you select your team. This is a great way to practice with captains before you get them, and overall a very good way to quickl set up 3 miniute games of football. OVERALL
Overall, this is a Solid package, and for £30-£35 this is definatly worth it. With the great controls, loads of unlockables, huge variety of character play styles, loads of great stadiums, hundreds of different tactics and ways to score AND with the Online modes, this is definatly one of the best games on the wii. A must buy for all football/mario fans, and a great buy for ANYONE else!
9.1/10