Wii; �44.99; cert 3+; Square Enix/Nintendo
Like most titles featuring Nintendo's favourite plumber, you can't fault Mario Sports Mix for effort or production values. Certainly, it tries to cram in as many familiar elements, characters and locations as possible and does so with customary panache. However, this remains an odd mix of sporting events that adds little to the franchise or the party game genre that Nintendo created and still dominates.
What you get are four main sports ? Basketball, Dodgeball, Volleyball and Ice Hockey ? plus a few extra party games. The main events can be played in Quick Match or Campaign Mode, in either frantic 3x3 or a more relaxed 2x2 configuration. Campaign boasts a typically silly back story before launching you into Mushroom, Flower and Star Cup tournaments that unlock new players and power ups as you progress through the rounds to the finals, which are played out in all new stadiums.
Power-ups are collected by running your player over gold coins that are strewn around the courts. The coins either add to your score or reveal Star Powers, such as Koopa shells or mini mushrooms that can be activated by pressing A & B buttons together. But the stunted AI, especially in early rounds, makes it easy to rack up massive winning margins without needing power-ups at all.
As for playable characters, most of the usual suspects are present: from Mario and Luigi to Bowser and Wario, with a precious few like Princess Peach clad in sporty new costumes. Character abilities are graded according to speed, power and technical skill, with speedier players tending to call the shots.
All four sports are fairly easy to pick up and play, although the quality, familiarity and playability varies greatly. Ice Hockey, for instance, bears little resemblance to any known version of the sport, with bollards appearing on court to block shots and stymie players. Meanwhile, Dodgeball's throw-and-catch gameplay curiously doesn't involve dodging at all, while the party games are basically silly variations on the main sports, such as dodging bombs or throwing fruit at a giant plant.
Despite these problems, don't go thinking Sports Mix is a totally lost cause. Both Basketball and Volleyball combine similar effective controls with enthralling end-to-end action, raising the score to something approaching respectability and suggesting what might have been. With a few more and better chosen events and a major rebalancing of AI, Mario Sports Mix could have been a contender rather than a missed opportunity that appeals more to Mario completists than either sports or party game fans.
? Game reviewed on a Wii
Source: http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/gamesblog/2011/jan/26/mario-sports-mix-wii-game-review
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