I love Mario sport games. They’re basically always really fun. They take a sport and add various twists to them, making them much more interesting to play than the sports simulators that come out otherwise. As soon as Mario Sports Mix was announced, I was excited for it. Not only is it a Mario sport game, it was 4 Mario sport games.
I haven’t played the game a huge amount of time, and I won’t play it again for a while, which is why I’m writing this as an impressions post rather than a review.
Read on!
Developer: SQUARE ENIX Co., LTD.
Publisher: Nintendo
Date of Release: February 7th 2011
Platforms: Nintendo Wii
Genre: Sports
Rated E for everyone
Let’s go with a slightly different format here, since there’s 4 sports to talk about. So I’ll talk about what’s the same in every sport, and then my opinions for each.
Similarities between the sports
Each sport can be played in co-op or versus, in either 3 vs 3 mode, or 2 vs 2 mode, and all up to 4 players.
Each game includes items, which can be used to screw up the opponents, or make yourself more powerful. That’s actually interesting: if you don’t have the ball or whatever, items have a different use as when you do have the ball/puck (depends on the sport and such). So you can formulate different strategies in regards to which item you have and how you want to use it. Holding the puck in Hockey? Use that banana, it makes for a stronger shot, trickier shot.
Another element all the games have is coins. You can collect coins usually by stepping on “?” panels that appear on the floor, and, when you score points, those coins actually add themselves to your score. You can lose coins usually by getting hit by items. The only exception is Dodgeball, where the number of coins you have determine the power of your ball throws. That adds some strategy to the game as you have to try taking away coins from your opponents if you don’t want them to get sudden boosts in points.
The controls and character movements for each sport are fairly similar other than hockey (which is obviously slidier). The controls show some similarity, with the 1 button for passes and the 2 button for shooting. In all the sports, holding the 1 button will make your character rush forward to get ready for a combo. If you’re playing with a CPU, he’ll follow you in the combo too, otherwise you have to communicate with your fellow player to get it done. And every sport has a super bar on the bottom of the screen, which you use by pressing 1 and 2 at the same time, launching a powerful attack with various effects depending on the character.
As for the CPU, well, on any difficulty under Hard it’s completely useless, he basically can do nothing to stop you. On Hard and Expert games because a lot more intense and fun. One thing that sucks is that the Tournaments for every sport start at the Easy setting, where you don’t even have to try and you’ll have no problem beating them up and finishing the cups.
And, finally, the playing fields. A lot of the levels repeat through all the sports, but there’s a few levels that appear only in certain sports. There’s a lot of variety in the levels. One of the funnest, regardless of the sport, would be the Bowser Jr level, the pure randomness of the scoring system there makes it really fun.
Hockey
I’d actually compare this mode with old NHL games with penalties turned off and fewer players on the ice (or whatever else they end up skating on). Some playfields don’t have goalies but have other things instead (like breakable obstacles or other things) to block your shots. This adds variety since the gameplay will change according to the level, you’ll have to change your strategy depending on what’s going on around the field and what’s blocking the goal. It’s actually pretty fun, though some of the levels are way too easy to score on.
Basketball
It’s kind of similar to the Mario basketball game that Square Enix developed on the DS, but I find that it has a bit more in common with NBA Jam. It’s a super-simplified version of NBA Jam, with turtle shells and super shots, but it’s still a fairly good. The passing and shooting works great, if you move towards the basket and press the shoot button you can dunk, you can steal the ball, there’s a few defensive moves… It works well and it’s fun.
Volleyball
That’s probably the worst game of the bunch. It’s not bad, but just not up to par with the rest. There’s teamwork involved, trying to get smashes out of the opponents’ reach is fun, but the matches are ultimately way too long since it’s so easy to return almost anything. But this is also probably the sport in the mix that has the funnest use of special shots, as they sometimes affect all of the opponents’ field. It’s fun, but it drags out way too long.
Dodgeball
This one is fun, when you get used to it. I was hoping for something similar to Super Dodgeball on the NES, but this is fairly different. If you get hit by a ball, you can catch it before it hits the ground to not receive any damage. Rather than going out when you get hit, you go out when you lose all your HP which is a nice take on the concept. When you’re out, you get sent to the Box on the opponents’ side of the field, where you can catch the ball if it gets to you and, if you get a hit on an opponent from there, you get back into play. The levels here are quite cool. One of them changes the size of the playfield for either side for example, which really ramps up the game’s intensity, and there’s a bunch more cool areas to play in. It’s harder to learn how to play, but it’s satisfying.
Overall
If you’re going to get this game, be sure to play it with other people. When playing alone, the experience is a bit lacking as the computers don’t pose a huge challenge and make for scrappy teammates, but team up with someone against the computer, or get more friends along to have epic fights, and you’re in for a really fun experience. Every sport requires teamwork, and every sport is tremendously fun to play with someone else. Oh, and there are unlockables too, so that’s cool.
This is not a must-buy on the Wii, but it’s definitely worth it for the great multiplayer action (but nothing else).
]]>But the good games it did get were pretty nice.
Read on and see our 5 winners!
New Super Mario Brothers Wii
A new Mario 2D platformer, which is pretty much a tribute to Super Mario Bros 3 and Super Mario World… Is there anything bad to say about this? Not really. And the addition of a chaotic and incredibly fun 4-player mode just seals the deal. This is THE game to have this year on Wii.
Punch-Out!
I love Punch-Out!!. The simple gameplay might make it seem a bit meh, but make no mistake, learning every characters’ tactics and patterns and finding the way to beat them as fast as possible is really fun. Here the character selection is a bit weak, but the addition of upgraded versions of each character with new patterns and attacks definitely makes up for it. Â The same fun gameplay as before, and it still doesn’t get old.
Muramasa: The Demon Blade
This Metroidvania-style side-scrolling action RPG is one of the more unique games this year. Geaturing fast-paced gameplay, fun combat, lots of things to find and explore, multiple endings and 2 fun stories, this is a game Wii owners shouldn’t pass up on.
The House of the Dead: Overkill
This is the on-rail shooter in its best form. Â It’s simple, replayable, and fun as hell. The humor is just way over-the-top and hilarious (especially the scene before the final boss), the visual and story-telling style being remeniscent of 70s grindhouse films, the gameplay is fast and furious, there’s some replay value with the various difficulties, gun upgrades and things to find in each level, this is one of the really fun games this year.
Contra ReBirth
I did mention before that Contra is awesome, right? Well, it still is. A great sequel to a great series, and at a low low price to boot.
So of course we went and made a list of the 5 best multiplayer experiences of the year.
Read and and see our 5 winners for this category!
Borderlands
What makes Borderlands’ multiplayer interesting is the different classes you can use, and how everyone can customize them however they want, making each character relatively unique. Taking on quests with different teams leads to different strategies every time you play since everyone will play their characters a bit differently, and mixing up all the different skills can lead to deadly combos. There’s a good amount of quests to take on and going through them with multiple people is great fun. Not to mention DLC which adds more quests and things to do(instead of plain weapon packs), along with constantly adding new areas to explore as a team. And playing in multiplayer gives more experience and better loot, so what’s not to love? (thank you Josh for helping out on the text here)
BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger
Fighting games always offer some fun competitive play. And BlazBlue is definitely no exception. Trying out combos on other players or just testing who’s the best, BlazBlue is as fun as it gets in fighting games. Add in the great online play featuring near lagless matches at all times, using a special “synchronization” system that pretty much removes any lag.
Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2
Well, the follow up for the most popular online shooter is definitely gonna land a spot here. Taking up basically the same online system as CoD4, with some modifications like killing sprees and death sprees, as well as new perks, this will surely live on as the best online shooter until Modern Warfare 3 comes out. The PC version ended up getting a bit gimped, but it’s still a solid multiplayer title.
New Super Mario Bros Wii
While NSMBW is a great single player experience, it’s great to finally play a Mario platformer with up to 4 people at the same time. It’s chaotic and a lot harder than playing on your own, but it’s so damn fun. Pissing off friends by forcing them down holes or blocking their jumps by jumping on top of them never gets old. What I first thought would suck ended up being a great idea. Great job Nintendo.
Uncharted 2
For Naughty Dog’s first competitive multiplayer outing, Uncharted 2 is stunning. With many maps available, and with each being sizeable with many nooks and crannies to be explored, you’ll rarely find yourself bored of your surroundings. The upgrade system is well made, players being paid cash to spend on new skins and boosters for each kill and for performing specific actions during each match. Multiple game modes add even more depth to the Multiplayer and there is promised to be much on the way in terms of DLC. In short, there’s as much to enjoy in Uncharted 2′s multiplayer as there is in its singleplayer. (Thank you Wintrale for the text)
This game is loosely based on a japanese TV show that involves playing retro grames, which is called Game Center CX. I say loosely, because I kinda doubt the story in this game is the same as in the TV show. And add to that the fact that you don’t play any actual retro games, but instead you get a bunch of new games made in a retro style, inspiring their gameplay on actual retro titles.
What I’m reviewing here is basically eight 8-bit games, and I’ll also be reviewing the package as a whole. This will be kinda long…
Well, read on!
Story
Game Master Arino, the host from Game Center CX (I think), sends you back to the past in the 80s, and changes you into a kid. To get back to the present, you have to beat video game challenges given to you by Game Master Arino. Once you get in the past, you meet Arino, but as a kid, and he decides to help you out by letting you play his games. That’s pretty much it. No character development (other than Game Master Arino getting pissed when you finish challenges too fast), no setting other than 2 kids talking about games in front of a TV while playing games.
The “story” is really just there to get you to go forward in time to get more games as they come out in the timeline. Â But there’s one thing that confuses me… Why does my character WANT to go back to the present time? Being stuck in the 80s wouldn’t bother me much…
Games
So at each game’s release date, you have to do certain challenges in them, in order to go forward in time and unlock more games. Each game takes on a retro game’s gameplay and graphic style, so if some of them sound, look or play familiar, it’s intended. Also, in most of the games, getting 20000 points gives you an extra life, then reaching 70000 gives you another, then each increment of 700000 points gives you another. For points, there’s secrets in the game that give bonus points most of the time, by going through secret passages or shooting certin spots a few times until a “Hidden Character” appears for you to pick up.
In addition to the 4 normal challenges, each game has a “finish the game” challenge, and you can freeplay all of them once you finish the 4 base challenges for each. Just a note, in freeplay your Guadia Quest and Haggle Man 3 saves do not carry over from the story mode.
Cosmic Gate
why hallo thar Galaga. Yup, the first game is exactly Galaga. So that’s a great point here. Added to the usual Galaga formula (being stuck on the bottom of the screen to shoot enemies on top), you get a few new elements. There’s a power up which gives you a piercing bullet every 3 shots, which helps a lot in getting points. There’s also warp points. Those are activated by shooting a blinking enemy without shooting any of the others and then shooting the warp that appears until it swallows you, which makes you skip 3 stages, unless you get to a stage with a special portal that let’s you skip 12 stages. And every few stages there’s an asteroid field, and you get more points if you destroy more asteroid, and extra points by destroying the bigger ones.
This game is really fun if you like really old-school shooters, but sadly the challenges aren’t really… challenging. Beating an early stage, getting warps, destroying a giant asteroid and getting a certain amount of points. Easy stuff, especially if you were a good Galaga player. Also, the game can be finished in like 2 minutes using a super secret cheat you see in the magazine at the end of the story, so no need to go through all 64 stages to get to the end.
Robot Ninja Haggle Man
This time it’s a platformer. Uses elements from Mario, Bobble Bubble and a few others. You can jump, enter and exit doors, throw shuriken and summon allies by gathering 3 scrolls (gathering the 3 scrolls automatically summons an ally, you have no control on that). The goal of every level is simple. Kill each enemy, then kill the boss. All enemies can be killed by jumping on them, and shuriken can only stun them for the most part. Some enemies have different patterns as well. Each stage is a looping section. There are various doors in each stage. Entering them stuns everyone in the vicinity or kills everyone in the vicinity (depending on if they’re already stunned or not). The doors are colored. If you enter a red door, all red doors will spin and hurt things in their general area and again when you get out and the door re-opens, and the door you entered changes color. Getting hit twice kills you just like in Ghosts n’ Goblins.
This game is really a good change from Cosmic Gate and is surprisingly fun to play. A bit easy though, and the challenges aren’t really hard. Killing 2 enemies in 1 jump, reaching a stage without using shuriken, reaching a stage without dying and reaching the halfway point of the game.
Rally King
An NES style racing game, using a overhead view and having kinda meh controls. This takes on the gameplay the R.C. Pro-Am games on the NES, with slightly more confusing controls. You start in 20th place, and you have to catch up to other drivers that somehow already started the race. Â Hitting other racers and walls damages you, and you explode when you get too much damage. This game implements some Mario Kart elements as well. You can get a boost start by holding the A button just before (or while?) the number 2 appears in the countdown. Also, by letting go of A and turning, you can drift. holding a drift long enough gives you a boost, which is pretty important to finish the challenges.
This game… isn’t very fun. It’s not bad, if you like this style of racing game. But the controls are too slippery, it’s way too easy to get damaged, and it’s not really that fun. The challenges are incredibly easy too. Drift boost twice, finish races and get a bunch of points (you should get enough by the time you finish the second course, if not before that (getting the panda hidden character in the first race makes it sure you’ll get the needed score in the first course).
Star Prince
This is a top-down shooter ALA 1942. A step-up from Cosmic Gate, from the same “imaginary” developers. There are various powerups this time, like fast shooting lasers, missiles that go in various directions, and an explosion in front of you in addition to your normal shot. There’s mid-bosses and big bosses (the same one in each stage from what I’ve seen) for added challenge. Shooting a powerup 12 times makes it explode, killing all flying enemy on the screen. After the first challenge, Kid Version Arino buys a turbo controller, so you can hold the Y button to shoot faster. You also have a shield by holding A or B, which unleashes a big counter attack all around you. You are not locked to the screen itself. You can more just a bit more to the left and right, and the screen scrolls with you, giving a wider range of movement.
This game is fun. But too easy, moreso when you get the turbo controller. There’s a few hard sections here and there though. The challenges are ridiculously easy as well. Finish the first 2 areas, getting a 1up (either finding the hidden one or getting 20000 points) and getting a certain amount of points. Shouldn’t take many tries to do.
Rally King SP
Now THIS is funny. It’s exactly the same game as Rally King, but it’s a special edition, and has different challenges. It’s funny because it’s a promotional item, full of in-game advertisment. Typical. You get it from winning a giveaway in the Gamefan magazine, so it includes their mascot. It’s really just a mockery of oldschool “special editions”.
Oh well. The game is still the same with added bumps on the road, and the desert is blue. The challenges are still easy, though some can be a bit harder than in the non-SP version.
Robot Ninja Haggle Man 2
Yay, more Haggle Man. This takes on the same mechanics as the first game. Just a lot harder, with more enemies, and enemies that spawn after a while in the stage. Added here is a healing item, an hourglass item to give you a time bonus, getting 3 scrolls doesn’t automatically summon an ally, so you can “store” them just in case you need them later. Also, you can “force” the boss to come out before killing all enemies (that’s required for a challenge). I don’t know how to determine what door a boss is behind, but it requires going in another door, and waiting a bit if the boss is revealed for him to come out, them you can fight him. Bosses here are “tougher” as they require 3 hits to die instead of 1.
Haggle Man 2 is loads of fun, better and harder than the first. But since the game itself is harder, well they decided to make the challenges a lot easier! Yeah, weird. The first game required finishing half the game, while this one requires you to finish 4 stages…
Guadia Quest
Dragon Quest? Well, pretty much. This though starts you with a party of 3 characters and you even have a monster-capturing mechanic to add a fourth party member. The basics are just like Dragon Quest. The battles play out similarily, but with the strength of hits change depending on which symbol appears when you attack. You can have multiple opponents in battle as well. Just to really parody DQ, to talk to people you have to press A, then select “Talk” in the menu that appears, hoping the person didn’t move out of range. To open chest, you have to go on them, press A, then choose “Look”. As for equipment, you get a modified version of the DQ menus to equip your stuff and it works really well.
In this game are monsters called “Guadia”. There’s multiple versions of that, with elements and such. And even a Game Master Arino Guadia that’s overly powerful. When you find them, you can try to form a “pact” with them. It makes them stronger when you do that(or so it seemed to me), and you have to defeat them for them to join you. When they do join you, they will progressively get interested/worried about the battle, dish out an attack, and go back to not caring for a little while. The leveling is just like Dragon Quest. Gets your stats up and you get spells and other skills at certain levels. And the graphics are exactly like Dragon Quest.
Overall this is a fun Dragon Quest rip-off/parody. There’s little direction as to where to go, you have to figure that out yourself by talking to people or just randomly exploring. The longest game here if you want to complete it, but still not THAT long. I have the feeling it won’t last the 20 hours XSeed(the people publishing the game here) are saying it lasts. The challenges though are easy stuff. Go to a town, reach level 7, get 1000 gold at once and beat the first boss of the game.
Robot Ninja Haggle Man 3
A complete revamp of the series. Big graphic boost, completely different gameplay, save feature, everything is different. Like the first 2, A jumps and B attacks (if you’re close to an enemy you use a sword, if you’re far you use shuriken) and pressing Up and B does your current special attack. Though here jumping on enemies doesn’t work. This takes on a more Metroid approach with some Ninja Gaiden/Shinobi mixed in. You get big and long stages and an RPG element. Enemies drop nuts and bolts when they’re killed, and you use those to buy stuff in stores. Health, special attacks, gears and gear upgrades. Gears give you special skills. attack power boosts, attack upgrades, high jumps. Each gear takes a an amount of gear power and you can’t go past that, but you can boost your maximum. The gameplay itself is relatively fast-paced and requires a bit of exploring like in Metroid, with various paths to take in each stage to find secrets.
It’s pretty fun. Really different from the other 2 Haggle Man games, but still interesting. The challenges are stupidly easy though. Find a gear, break an obstacle, finish the first level and kill 100 enemies on the second level.
BUT after you’re done with those, you get the final challenge: Beat all the games. Now that’s probably the only kinda hard challenge in there
The package as a whole
This is a fun little package. Graphically it’s kinda “cute”. While playing games, the bottom screen always shows you and Kid Arino, with you not moving at all, and Arino looking fucking bored.
The one really interesting part is the GameFan magazines. They give you tips, tricks, and cheats for the games which is pretty cool, and it’s really humorous. Each, like, 2 issues, the editor in chief changes for completely random reasons, the “in-depth reviews” are funny and really short (you know those short reviews I made of each game? They’re longer than their “in-depth” reviews). And to add to the comedy, there’s the “ask a question”-type section which never really makes sense (and one of the people asking a question is named “Homer Sexual”… funny stuff 
). Of course there’s a bunch of references to retro and new games everywhere (Zelda is seemingly a detective game there).
As a whole, this package is really good. Though it’s too easy for the most part, it’s very well done. A throwback at oldschool games, the graphical style is spot on most of the time and the gameplay feels very oldschool as well. Just to make it feel even more like oldschool games, there’s weird grammar errors (probably generated by the engrish translation), like “YOU SHOOTED x ASTEROIDS!” all over the place. You even get access to manuals for each game to get the basic controls and such. Great stuff, and it’s nice to see that the art of oldschool game-making isn’t completely lost (though Megaman 9 proved that last year already). The best games there are definitely the Haggle Man games, though all of them are interesting in their own right. I didn’t like Rally King much, but it’s still fun to see a new racing game in that style.
If you like Retro/8-bit games, you should NOT miss out on this. The presentation is fun, the magazines are great, the conversations are a bit annoying and useless but sometimes quite entertaining and the games are well made. Â The games are just a bit easy. But this game will most likely be really hard to find soon, so pick it up as soon as possible.
Now let’s hope the second game in the series, which comes out in Japan this month(maybe I should get it….), comes out here as well sometime, the game lineup is really interesting.