Super Mario Strikers (GC)

[GamerDad]

Dave Long's Super Mario Strikers (GC) article - http://www.gamerdad.com/detail.cfm?itemID=2919

[SiW]

Dave, you mention it but don't make the direct comparison - is it better than Soccer Slam?

I wanted Soccer Slam for such a long time, but when I finally got to play it I was disappointed. It just seemed too slow. What I want is Speedball's gameplay. It doesn't have to be a future sport, it just has to be hard and fast. Deathrow on the Xbox borrows the ideas and cranks it all up several notches, but it was too complicated. Surprisingly, FIFA Street came pretty close, it just didn't have the longevity.

[Freakhead]

I just picked this one up. IT's a fun one. The review seems mostly on. A fun fun game that is a bit light in extra features above and beyond the core game. The animation and graphics tho as well as the control are superb.

I never played the Sega Soccer game, but this game is pretty fast and hectic with lots of back and forth action. Again you won't find the mini-games and special modes that you find in the other Mario sports games. Even the different stadiums I believe are different only in looks and not in functionality unlike the previous Mario sports games.

One quibble not mentioned in the review is that, like Mario Power Tennis, the power shots stop the action and show you a 5 second cutscene of your character going thru his power shot routine. There is some interaction during this time as you need to hit your 'A' button at the right time(s) during the cutscene to get the most out of your powershot.

Still I wish you could just have the powershots with extra graphical effects and no stoppage or at least an option for that. I did just get this game so maybe it won't be that bad. But it got to be annoying in POwer Tennis.

All in all a good fun arcadey party game on steroids.