I’ve struggled with the Mario Sports titles in recent years. I’ve enjoyed them enough, but as someone who loved the earlier games because they were arcade sports games with Mario added, the increasing focus on powerups and specials has made these games a little too gimmicky for their own good.
Mario Strikers: Battle League is an entirely different beast. This is an excellent arcade football game first and foremost, and while it has the Mario characters, power-ups and specials, they don’t overpower the experience. I absolutely love this game and in the video, I explain why I think it should be a hard lesson for the developers of Mario Golf and Tennis going forward.
