Mario Sports Mix

MARIO SPORTS MIX

Although not specifically a basketball game, Mario Sports Mix is essentially a sequel to Mario Hoops. It too was produced by Square Enix, and features most of the characters appearing in that game. The big difference, however, is that this game features basketball alongside volleyball, dodgeball, and hockey, all in one. The mechanics for the four games are about what you'd expect. Basketball has two teams trying to toss a ball into a hoop, volleyball has two teams on either side of a net lobbing a ball back and forth, dodgeball has two teams pummeling each other with surprisingly hard balls in a gruesome battle to the death, and hockey has two team playing, well, sort of basically soccer but on ice and with sticks. If you know the games, you know the games.

Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. all return from the previous game, alongside the Moogle, Cactuar, Ninja, White Mage, and Black Mage of the first game. New characters include Toad, Slime from the Dragon Quest series, and Miis. Each brings with them a special shot just like before. Mario uses a fireball, Luigi uses the Poltergust, Peach uses hearts, Daisy uses flowers, Yoshi uses rainbows, Donkey Kong pounds the ground, Diddy uses a banana boomerang, Wario uses a bomb, Waluigi uses electricity, Bowser breathes fire, and Bowser Jr. uses his paint brush. Toad makes mushrooms pop up on the field, and the Miis use a generic energy ball functionally similar to Mario's fireball. On the Square end, the Moogle teleports the ball, the Cactuar fires needles, the Ninja uses Kage Bunshin no Jutsu, the White Mage uses a beam of light, the Black Mage uses lightning to shrink opponents, and the Slime creates copies of itself to stun opponents.

The stages in the game are pretty similar to the original game, but they are altered slightly for each individual sport. These include: Mario Stadium, Koopa Troopa Beach, Peach's Castle, DK Dock (similar to the raft from the last game), Toad Park (set in an Amusement Park), Luigi's Mansion, Western Junction (based on the Old West), Daisy Garden, Wario Factory, Bowser Jr. Boulevard (very similar to Times Square or the Vegas Strip kind of thing), Bowser's Castle, Waluigi Pinball, Ghoulish Galleon (a haunted pirate ship), and the flying Star Ship from the first game.

One major notable feature here is the presence of a story mode, where after you have beaten all the tournaments, a boss called the Behemoth King appears and challenges you. It is mostly a big snarling monstrosity that attacks with its tail and claws, sometimes charging at you and body-slamming you. Sometimes it uses lightning, fireballs, and meteors to attack you. You and your team have to use all the sports together to defeat it.

Finally, we have a few items to go over. We have the banana, the Bob-Omb, the coin, the Green Shell, Red Shell, and Star, all acting as you expect them to do, and the Mini Mushroom, which will shrink you down.

Here's what we've got so far:

Characters:

Mario: fireball, Super Mario

Luigi: green fireball, tornado, Super Luigi, vacuum

Peach: heart ball, Freeze Frame

Daisy: flower ball, Crystal Smash

Yoshi: egg ball, rainbow ball, Egg Roll, flutter jump

Birdo: weird ball, suction, Extreme Egg, egg shot

Donkey Kong: banana ball, barrel, Thunder Wham, dunk, ground pound

Diddy Kong: boomerang ball, banana, Red Card, rocketbarrels

Wario: phony ball, Gas Mask, butt bash, bomb

Waluigi: liar ball, Wall-Luigi, cyclone spin, electricity machine

Bowser: killer ball, fire breath, Fire Storm

Bowser Jr.: killer jr. ball, paintbrush, Sonic Roar

Pianta

Noki

Monty Mole: Dirt Drill

Toad: Fire Meteor, mushrooms

Toadette

Toadsworth

Baby Mario

Baby Luigi

Shy Guy: Bullet Bill Blast

Dixie Kong: barrel cannon

Goomba

Paragoomba

Koopa: Shell Smash

Paratroopa: fly

Boo: Possess, teleport

King Boo

Petey Piranha: Mud Slinger, act as hoop

Magikoopa

Hammer Bro: Hammer Throw

Dry Bones: Shocker

Lakitu: hold hoop

Piranha Plant

Klaptrap

Chain Chomp

Thwomp

Baby Peach

Baby Daisy

Baby Donkey Kong

Funky Kong

Tiny Kong

King K. Rool

Wiggler

Blooper

Kritter: goalie

Super Team: football, goalie (Robo-Kritter), electric walls, items, Super Shots, Mega Strikes, Special Abilities, metal ball

Fly Guy: electric spear

Moogle: dance, teleport

Cactuar: needles

Ninja: leaf veil, shadow clones

White Mage: holy magic, light beam

Black Mage: meteor, lightning

Mii: energy ball

Slime: duplicates

Boss:

Behemoth

Stages:

Mario Stadium

Peach Garden

Yoshi Park

Donkey Kong Jungle

Wario Palace

Bowser Castle

Toy Field

Baseball Kingdom

Peach Ice Garden

Wario City

Luigi's Mansion

Daisy Cruiser

Bowser Jr.'s Playroom

The Palace

Pipeline Central

The Underground

Konga Coliseum

Crater Field

The Battle Dome

Bowser Stadium

The Vice

Thunder Island

The Sand Tomb

The Classroom

The Lava Pit

The Wastelands

Crystal Canyon

The Dump

Stormship Stadium

Galactic Stadium

Mario Stadium

Koopa Beach

Peach Field

Sunset Beach

DK Cruiser

Luigi's Mansion

Daisy Garden

Malboro Garden

Wario Factory

Jr. Street

Bowser's Castle

Glare Desert

Sherbet Land

Bloocheep Sea

Pirate Ship

Rainbow Ship

DK Dock

Toad Park

Western Junction

Bowser Jr. Boulevard

Waluigi Pinball

Ghoulish Galleon

Behemoth's Domain

Items:

Bat

Glove

Green Shell

Fireball

Mini-Boo

Bob-Omb

POW Ball

Banana Peel

Lightning Bolt

Red Shell

Blue Shell

Spiky Shell

Chain Chomp

False Panel

Freezie

Mimic

Mini Mushroom

Thanks for reading! Now, let's cover Mario Sports Superstars, which, despite the name, is very much not a sequel to this game!