Super Mario spin-offs have been part of the regular life of Nintendo fans since the days of the Super Nintendo. From Mario Kart, to Mario Party, to the numerous RPGs like Paper Mario and Mario & Luigi, the spin-offs have become an integral part of the Mario franchise, at least as much as the mainline games. In addition to the aforementioned subseries that emerged as a result of Nintendo wanting to expand Super Mario to different horizons, there are also the numerous sports games starring the Mushroom Kingdom’s denizens, with some of them also becoming their own subseries like Mario Tennis, Mario Golf, Mario Strikers, and Mario Baseball.
With the notable exception of American football, Mario and the gang have competed in almost every popular sport at some point thanks to these dedicated spin-offs and the compilation games like Mario Sports Mix and Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games. Although the aforementioned compilations are nice, they deprive a lot of popular sports from getting as much attention to detail, fantastical takes on the sports, as well as tributes to the Mario franchise as sports like tennis and golf. In this era of Mario sports games coming back the way fans love, Nintendo should commission a proper, standalone Mario hockey game.
The Popularity and Versatility of Hockey
One of the main reasons people think Nintendo always allowed the Mario gang to play games like tennis and soccer instead of sports like American football is their universal appeal. Soccer in particular has dedicated teams, players, and fans worldwide, with Canadians and Americans being the outlier. Even then, soccer still remains popular in North America.
In the 2000s, two Mario Baseball games were released, and Super Sluggers never came out in Europe and Australia because of baseball’s lack of appeal in those regions. This shows that Nintendo can prioritize regional interests if the market is big enough. Hockey may not be as international as soccer and tennis, but it is arguably just as popular a sport as baseball. Ice hockey is one of the highlights of the Winter Olympics, and is particularly popular in Northern and Eastern Europe, such as Scandinavian and Slavic countries. Even then, the game still has roots in Western European countries like England and the Netherlands.
Although the appeal of hockey is very Eurocentric, being only prominent in parts of Europe and North America, that is still a bigger market than baseball, especially since Japan will inevitably get a hypothetical Mario-themed hockey game. The United States and Canada on their own have an entire market of hockey. The NHL not only has its own games, but it is watched by millions of people across the continent. Some hockey teams, like the Boston Bruins and the Montreal Canadiens, have been around long enough to become part of the very cultural fabric of the region they represent.
Although it is stereotypically as a winter sport with specific rules, hockey is a game with plenty of variety in terms of rules and environment. Field hockey is almost, if not just as beloved and recognizable as ice hockey. A Mario game that focuses on hockey could take advantage of the multiple play styles and environments, creating an experience with seemingly endless replay value and gameplay combinations. The character roster could be as big as the one in Super Sluggers given how big hockey teams tend to be. The familiar Mario style would add an interesting twist to a sport as aggressive as hockey, just like it did with tennis and soccer.
Since this would be Nintendo’s first foray in standalone Mario hockey games, it would need to be careful. However, a history of enjoyable Mario sports games that spans more than two decades provides plenty of blueprints for Nintendo to follow. Hockey might be different from the other sports that the Mario gang has played in the past, but it’s nothing magical. All it needs is a crew that both knows the sport, and how to make the Mario universe compatible with it. If a sport as tame as soccer can be turned into strategic anarchy with Mario Strikers, then something with as much violence as hockey has plenty of potential.
Mario Strikers: Battle League releases on June 10, 2022, for Nintendo Switch.