With another year to possibly grace us with a new Mario sports game, I thought it’d be appropriate to reflect on the last one. And how that one quickly become forgotten amongst the Nintendo community. It had been 15 years since the last Mario Strikers game, and to give reference: Rosalina didn’t exist when the last Strikers came out. So needless to say, expectations from fans were high. I personally didn’t grow up playing Mario sports, but I hear endless praise for Charged back on the Wii.
But as we got closer to launch, Nintendo said those five little words that sent off warning sirens in my head: “free updates will be added.” This was immediately concerning. Now I don’t dislike free content updates on principle; after all New Pokemon Snap got one and that was pretty fun. The problem comes when we look back at the previous Mario sports games on Switch. Mario Tennis Aces had some fun competitive gameplay to stave off the monotony, but Mario Golf Super Rush I actually really hated. I was sincerely hoping Battle League wouldn’t fall into the same pit as those two.
But… it seemed like I was right to be worried. Battle League launched in June of 2022 and I bought it day 1 for full price. And I seriously wish I didn’t. There was hardly any single player content to keep me engaged, the stadiums all felt the same, the online was a crapshoot especially if I wanted to play with friends, and the overly precise timing and mechanics did not translate well into Nintendo’s online service. I bounced off hard, and by the time [Daisy was added](https://youtu.be/29qaA3suXBk) Xenoblade 3 was coming out and my attention was squarely on that. Not worth $60.
So that’s my little schpeel on Mario Strikers Battle League, one of the more underwhelming first party games I’ve played on Switch. But what did you think? Did you get more out of it more than I did?
by Asad_Farooqui
47 Comments
Pretty much the same as previous Mario sports titles on Switch. Not bad not great, light on content, shines best as a party game and a bit of a tough sell at $60.
I was pretty keen for it but i played the demo and it didnt feel good to play to me, then after the lukewarm reviews came out i iust skipped it. It seems like nintendo put the absolute bare minimum effort into these sports games and im a bit over it. Such a shame because they used to be amazing back in the day.
I was shocked at how bad it was on release and then shocked all over again when I saw the free updates ended after just three of them and they didn’t add any new gameplay modes or anything, just a handful of characters and customization.
The fact that ***Daisy*** was missing at launch was writing on the wall that this game was going to be lacking. Even after all of the updates, the game is still missing Petey Piranha, Hammer Bro, Monty Mole, Boo, Koopa, and Dry Bones from Charged. The Kritter goalies being replaced by the generic Boom Boom was also a massive downgrade in my opinion. The fact that Rosalina and Pauline are the only two new characters brought to the Strikers series with this game was a massive letdown too. Would’ve liked to see King Boo, King Bob-Omb, or even Kamek playable.
BL also offers no stage hazards which really limits variety. In Charged, the Thunder Island field could knock players off with various objects blown in the wind, the Sand Tomb field had Thwomps, the Lava Pit field had fireballs on the map and so on. BL has none of this so it got repetitive for many people.
So glad I didn’t buy this game. Genuinely hoping they don’t make a new Mario Baseball. There’s no way it’d have Toadsworth, the Piantas, or Kritters.
I started playing recently and it follows the same trend as the other Mario sports games on Switch. Fun & addicting gameplay but with a lack of single player content. Doesn’t stop me from enjoying the game but it’s a bit disappointing.
Underwhelming. Mechanics were decent, but you saw what the game has to offer after one hour. It needed a story mode or some other reasons to grind online modes.
The series has tons of potential considering it’s a Mario game, football is the most popular sport in the world, it came out just before the world cup and Fifa on Switch is bad… It could be the most played Switch Online game if done right.
Should’ve been max . 30€ or F2P. The free demo had 80% content of the full game.
Free updates will be added=Content gutted at launch to keep you playing after release.
Single player absolutely lackluster. Fun as hell when I get together w my buddies to game. Really wish they had just put more effort into it.
I also bought it on day one, which in this day and age is somewhat or a no no w games. Nintendo used to be known for their top notch day one releases, but after this, Mario party, and switch sports, makes me reconsider that.
I’ve had fun w it as I said, but theirs no way this game at launch, and even now, should have been $60.
I forgot it had come out
Enjoyed it for the first couple of weeks, really enjoyed how you could find your own way of playing and the competitiveness of most online battles.
After two weeks, two inevitable things happened:
1. Lack of meaningful content became painfully apparent and frustrating. It was a very, very lazy release.
2. As with every single game ever, other players found a way to completely nullify my enjoyment. Within just a few days, YouTube was filled with “Most OP team, score from anywhere with THIS method!!”, and the braindead masses certainly followed, as they always do. 95% of matches then came Vs the same teams, same setups, same single tactic, which was basically just being able to tap shoot from the halfway line with a geared up Rosalina, and it’d still go in at least half of the time because the goalkeeper is busted. Tactics became useless, playing good football became useless, and whilst I was still winning most of my games, the matches were just so incredibly boring and dull, that even winning wasn’t satisfying nor enjoyable. Every time the opponents would get the ball, they’d just try and get to the corners near the halfway line, tap shoot, and hope for the best; rinse and repeat.
Tl;dr:
– First week, 10/10
– Second week onwards, 3/10
It felt so off compared to Strikers Charged on Wii. I don’t know about golf as its not my thing, but Tennis Aces was a great evolution of the mechanics of previous Mario Tennis games and despite the lacking content, felt great to play and online play kept me coming back. Battle League, along with having barely any content, and much less than Tennis Aces, just did not feel as good to play and control as strikers charged on Wii. The main annoyance is the removal of the ability to tackle anywhere on the field and lock it behind charged hit, but also the smaller arenas and revamp of how items are provided…it just is not as fun as Charged or even the cube game.
So disappointed.
The Mario sports games this generation look the part. They look and animate great. But the gameplay and/or features on the games are lacking.
They feel like they were shorted development time to get the games released quickly.
Or they are being used as a “base” for a next gen fleshed out version. Similar to how Mario Tennis Wii U was the base for Mario Tennis on Switch.
The gameplay itself is pretty fun, but it’s pretty content bare if you want to play solo. It is pretty fun in local multiplayer too, so in that sense I’m glad I bought it. Otherwise it’s a tough sell, especially since they’ve stopped updating the game.
I just got it like a month ago. I like it. I keep having super close matches online.
ALMOST A YEAR? 🥴
It doesn’t deserve 60$ price tag.
Gameplay is solid there’s just not enough there. The game should be half the price and for the most part the free updates did little to increase replayability. Also incredibly disappointing that you can only play with one other person on your team online.
Fun with a few friends for local play, but not something I’d play by myself
Not satisfied.
It’s ok to play online but the lack of events, tournaments, unlockables etc makes you lose interest after a some time.
This shouldn’t be 60, it’s just wrong, I know Nintendo can get away with it and good for them but this was a completely lazy effort.
Even the updates are lacking, and we just had 3 of them, many characters were left out. No new modes were added. The stadiums were basically the same with different colors, no hazards or any other unique things for each stadium.
Worst of all as a party game you can’t play 4 vs 4 online which is ridiculous.
You’ll enjoy it at first because the gameplay is good but after 2-3 weeks of playing it I highly doubt you’ll touch it again like most people.
$30 max.
only nintendo can get away with this theft
It makes me angry just thinking about this game. It had so much potential and it didn’t even require changes to the gameplay, not for me at least. Just more content. A LOT more content.
But it is our own damn fault because we pay Nintendo FULL PRICE for half-assed games…
The freaking game has three modes and that’s if we count quick match as a separate mode. Then there’s cup mode and online seasons. That’s a disgrace.
If it had actual content in it from launch I’d probably still be playing it
It’s just crazy looking at how many games I spent 60 dollars on when they released only to play them once or twice and decide it sucks and never touch again
It taught me to never blindly purchase a new game before reading the review ever again, even a premium Nintendo title.
Waste of $60
Glad I never bought it.
Dead on arrival.
Daisy not being in the game at launch really showed me and my friend group just how little they really care about the sports games and the demo wasn’t worth justifying $60.
I’d rather just go play the older ones. Just like with the other sports / party games on Switch.
I think it is great game
Here’s a point for comparison for its roster
Mario tennis aces launched with 16 and added 14 characters for a total of 30. It’s mostly a 1v1 game but 2v2 exists
Battle league launched with 10 characters and after updates increased to 16, it’s a 4v4 game.
So sad that it’s like 60% of the game it should’ve been. I love Strikers so I bought the game to vote with my dollar and show I’m happy the series was coming back but other than that it kinda feels like wasted money.
Can you get the original Mario strikers on the switch?
Mario Sports games have such fun mechanics. I wish the Switch ones weren’t so half-assed. Like if you look at even the shitty FIFA games on Switch, they have way more (albeit recycled) content.
Like even if you put a simple season mode in there, that would pretty fun. Like you play 25 games or whatever and then you have playoffs to win the championship. Tried and true basic stuff
Reading through the thread, I’m just surprised people have managed to play online. I’ve never been able to find an opponent, though I rarely wait longer than 2 minutes before losing patience.
Anyway, I’m not exactly pissed I bought it recently. I tried the demo and the core gameplay is fun enough for pick up and play sessions to satisfy me. There’s enough variety in your approach to gameplay that even playing offline, the gameplay itself is always fun.
The problem is that, yeah. Outside of picking up and playing to kill 4-20 minutes, there’s just not enough to do. The lack of content is actually atrocious. There’s really no excuse for this level of laziness.
Shit. I just bought this today new for $40. 🙁
It’s definitely fun, especially with someone else, but pretty disappointed with the lack of a story mode of sorts
It was a pretty big disappointment for me. They tried to go all esportsy with it by putting in a bunch of gameplay elements but it lost some of its charm in the process. Not really pick up and play, too complicated for children.
I just wanted a big dumb soccer game with Mario characters in shoulder pads.
I was so excited for it but I never ended up buying it. I’m sick of the trend of releasing a half baked game. Mario golf is great now, but man was that light on content at release. Same with Mario tennis. Omg don’t even get me started on Super Mario Party with their fuckin 4 boards only
I personally regret the purchase but my niece likes it so there’s that
Hope they start making finished games instead of releasing an unfinished game and finishing it later calling it free updates for promotion
Solid gameplay mechanics, but lazy in nearly every other facet. Strikers should have never been sold at full price. Hell it’s barely worth half price with how little substance there is to this game. Everything that’s been added in the DLC should have been there at release, and even then it still would be severely lacking in content.
I am glad this game exists. I had been wanting a Strikers game on the Switch since I bought it in 2018. It is very fun and I think the gear was very cool to add so that you can customize your squad to an extent.
Two gripes: 1. No tournament mode?!?! My buddy, my brother, and I would spend hours doing tournaments against CPUs and it was a great time!
2. The roster is so uninspired. After seeing the updated rosters from Golf and Tennis, I was so excited. “Charging Chuck?! King Bob-bomb?! This roster is going to be great!!!” I wasn’t even all that concerned after the announcement only had 10 characters because I thought the support for the biggest sport in the world that was released the same year as the World Cup would at least rival those other two. It’s alright now, but could have been truly legendary if support hadn’t stop or if NLG was given more time to beef up the initial roster.
there are games we, as a human species, shouldn’t waste time on, and then there are games you should make sure the aliens we share this planet with don’t waste time on, too.
take me to your leader.
I bought it for $35 and played with my nephew twice. It’s a fun game, but I haven’t even given it enough time to know how lacking most say it is.
Does anyone know how well it sold? If the fan base is so disappointed, will any data convey that message to Nintendo?
Gameplay – Little complaints here, surprisingly deep game with good balance. Gear customization is fun, and is at least something to unlock and potentially keep you playing. Would have liked some different stadium types, but understand how those would’ve caused issues with online play. 8/10, basically what I want out of a Strikers game.
Roster – Extremely lacking at launch. Would’ve been happy with 12 characters initially (maybe base roster plus Daisy and Bowser Jr) and then DLC bringing us up to ~20. Missing characters like Koopa Troopa, Petey Piranha, Toadette, Boo, Dry Bones. Every other sports game gets a few, unique, wacky characters, like Chain Chomp, Blooper, Wiggler, Ninji, etc. 4/10 at launch, currently around 6/10.
Content – This is where the game suffers the most. Only single player mode is tournament, which has almost 0 replay value. Really needs some sort of campaign or side missions. Appreciate the gear as unlockables, but would’ve also enjoyed earning stadiums/characters. Multiplayer modes are fine, the strikers club concept it pretty cool. 3/10
Overall, I am glad to have purchased/enjoyed it. The best game in the series in many ways, but just doesn’t have as much content, personality as Charged. Doubt we’re getting any more DLC, but I’d easily pay for some sort of expansion (and please give me Petey Piranha back!!).
Have to play it first. Lemme dust off my old preorder bonus cards that remind me every day Daisy wasn’t in release.