To a lot of Nintendo fans, the Switch seems to be the company’s way of granting as many fan requests as possible. The Switch saw several of the most requested characters make it to Super Smash Bros. thanks to Ultimate, the return of Metroid with a new installment, and the most acclaimed Zelda game since Wind Waker. One thing that people tend to forget is that the Switch era is one where some spin-offs are going back to their roots. The Super Mario spin-offs, particularly the sports games, are such an example. Mario Tennis and Mario Golf made a comeback in the form of Mario Tennis Aces and Mario Golf: Super Rush. Now, it is time for Mario Strikers, the ludicrously aggressive Super Mario take on soccer, to come back with Mario Strikers: Battle League.
Battle League is not only a game that fans of the Mario spin-offs have been wanting for over a decade, but it is also one that appears to aim to combine the strengths of its predecessors while moving forward for a fresh experience. While the familiar gear introduced by Mario Strikers Charged is back, and so too are the superpowered “strike” shots (now called “Hyper Strikes”), the iconic goals are now Boom Booms, replacing Donkey Kong Country’s Kritters. This is not the only change that Battle League will bring according to the trailer. The character selection screen shows Toad, a sidekick in the first two games, alongside characters that were captains. Additionally, the characters who were captains can be on the same team. This implies that Battle League will change the team dynamic, and specifically upgrade sidekicks.
How Mario Strikers Team Dynamics Used to Work
In Super Mario Strikers and Mario Strikers Charged, the teams consisted of a single captain that led a posse of sidekicks. The captains were major characters from the Super Mario series: Mario himself, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Wario, Waluigi, and Donkey Kong. Strikers Charged added Bowser, Bowser Jr., Diddy Kong, and Petey Piranha. The sidekicks were members of recognizable species from the Mushroom Kingdoms. Hammer Bros, Koopa Troopas, Birdos, and Toads were the original sidekicks. Shy Guys, Monty Moles, Boos, and Dry Bones were added in Strikers Charged. The original Strikers forced players to pick one kind of sidekick to stick to it until the end of the game. In Strikers Charged, players could pick one single species for their sidekicks, or pick sidekicks from three different species as well.
So far, Battle League has been confirmed to bring back most captains from the first two games, and Toad. While this Toad might be the individual character and not a random member of the species, the series never bothered separating the Toad everyone knows from his brethren. Alongside the revelation that characters who were captains in the first two games can be on the same team, this implies that captains and sidekicks, as methods to categorize characters, have been removed entirely.
This is a mixed bag for Mario Strikers: Battle League. One on hand, this will give more freedom to players regarding the customization of their teams. On the other hand, the strict way to classify characters the captain and sidekick concepts brought separated Mario Strikers from other Nintendo sports games.
Battle League seems to be taking the series into a direction similar to that of the Mario Baseball games. While this will happen at the expense of some of the series’ uniqueness, the sidekicks will be elevated to the same level as the captains. If they become their own character like Toad, they might get their own signature color scheme, emblems, and Hyper Strikes.
Very little has been revealed about Mario Strikers: Battle League aside from some playable characters, stages, aesthetic choices, and signature mechanics. Still, the lack of generic sidekicks means that the special shots from Strikers Charged will also be removed, leading to the loss of a layer of strategy. Nevertheless, the upgrade given to sidekick characters will hopefully make up for that creative decision and lead to Mario Strikers: Battle League being more interesting.
Mario Strikers: Battle League releases June 10 on Nintendo Switch.