February 2022's Nintendo Direct presentation introduced many new games to get fans excited for Nintendo Switch releases coming in the first-half of the year and beyond, not least of which was Mario Strikers: Battle League. Mario Strikers: Battle League is the long anticipated return of the soccer based spin-off series that last appeared on the Nintendo Wii with Mario Strikers Charged, and while fans only have to wait two more weeks to get their hands on the newest entry, Nintendo has announced that an online demo will begin next week, allowing fans to try the game early.
Mario Strikers debuted on the Nintendo GameCube with its first entry, Super Mario Strikers, releasing in 2005. The game was developed by Next Level Games, the western studio known for its work on the Luigi's Mansion series. Two years later in 2007, Next Level Games and Nintendo released Mario Strikers Charged, a sequel that built upon its predecessor by adding new characters, modes, and online functionalities.
The series then took an extended break, disappearing for almost 15 years until Mario Strikers: Battle League was announced for Nintendo Switch and is set to release on June 10th. The game will be the first release from Next Level Games since it was acquired from Nintendo in January 2021 and is a collaboration between the studio and Nintendo EPD.
Ahead of the game's anticipated launch on June 10th, Nintendo has now announced the Mario Strikers: Battle League First Kick demo event, an online network test similar to the ones held for Splatoon 2 and Nintendo Switch Sports before launch. This network test will run between June 3rd and 5th, the weekend before the game's official release, and is available to download on the Nintendo Switch eShop now. Since the demo is centered around the game's online mode, it is only available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers, and players who download it now can access the game's tutorial ahead of the technical test next weekend.
Nintendo has also confirmed that Mario Strikers: Battle League will receive free content updates including characters after its launch on June 10th, which hopefully means fan-favorite character Daisy can make a comeback after the confirmation that she will not be in Mario Strikers: Battle League when it launches.
Mario Strikers: Battle League will launch on June 10th 2022, exclusively for Nintendo Switch.
