Move over, Jim Thorpe. Nintendo mascot Mario continues to make his case for assuming the title of "best athlete ever," this time taking time out from his apparently oft-neglected plumbing duties to shoot some handheld hoops on the DS. New details on the joint project from Nintendo and Square Enix, titled Mario Basket 3 on 3, have been disclosed in the latest issue of Famitsu.

Mario Basket 3 on 3 will be the first time in nine years that Square Enix and Nintendo will be working together on a game project. Back in 1996, Square, which hadn't merged with Enix yet, developed Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars for the SNES, which was then published by Nintendo. Those roles will be reprised, as Square Enix is developing Mario Basket 3 on 3, while Nintendo will be publishing it.

Screenshots of Mario Basket 3 on 3 reveal that the game plays in a half-court field. The upper panel of the DS features the main 3D game screen, with characters playing basketball, while the bottom panel shows the map, with icons indicating the location of each character. Another icon on the screen will indicate signal strength during wireless multiplayer games.

Mario Basket 3 on 3 is played with just the use of the touch-sensitive screen. Dribbling the ball around the court is done by tapping on the panel. The player can move to a certain area by tapping in that direction, and the character's speed can be controlled by the tapping frequency; the faster the player taps, the faster the character will dribble and run around. Passing the ball to team members is done by stroking left or right on the panel, while shooting the ball is done by stroking upward.

As expected for a sports game involving Mario, the developer is abandoning the idea of a straightforward simulation and plans on including various far-fetched features to make Mario Basket appeal to those who aren't hardcore for the hardwood. For instance, each character has a special scoring move, but such highlight-reel-worthy moves must be used wisely, as there is an associated risk to the reward. For example, an opponent might easily be able to steal the ball while one player is preparing to perform a special move.

In a short interview with Famitsu, director Toyokazu Nonaka of Nintendo and producer Shin Azuma of Square Enix revealed that Mario Basket 3 on 3 was a project that was brought up by Square Enix to Nintendo. Azuma said he came up with the idea of a basketball game for the DS while he was thinking of something that would make good use of the handheld's interface. After coming up with the decision that Mario would be the most suitable character for the game, he contacted Nintendo about the project, and the deal was on. Nonaka was surprised that Square Enix was thinking of making a basketball game rather than a role-playing game, for which the company is famous, but he also said he has no worries about the developer's ability to handle the project.

Characters confirmed from screenshots of Mario Basket 3 on 3 include Mario, Luigi, Wario, Princess Toadstool, Bowser, and Paratroopa. Nonaka and Azuma avoided giving details on the number of total characters in the game, though they hinted that there might be more than were featured in Mario Superstar Baseball. The developers additionally hinted that there might be some crossover cameo appearances, since the game is a collaboration between the two companies.

Mario Basket 3 on 3 is scheduled for release in 2006.