Strikers Stadium

STRIKERS STADIUM

Now that Mario Strikers: Battle League has released, I am going to do something that will only ever be done on Stage Rosters, and only rarely, when it feels right, and that is to replace a stage. Up until now, The Underground represented the Mario Strikers series just fine, but Battle League presented us with a much more unique stage setup that fits the series more. In said game, every battle took place in a giant dome in space, with two halves of a field coming together in the middle, giving every game a unique setup with different hazards and aspects on either side.

This new stage will be set inside that globe, starting in the most basic setup of the stage. As the fight goes on, the stage may split, leaving a gap in the middle players can fall through, sometimes half of it will disappear entirely, cutting the fighting area in half, and sometimes new field layouts will appear with their own distinct hazards. For instance, the Bowser's Castle-based field will come with lava.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLe8HkOHl1A

The Underground

Much like its baseball counterpart, the Mario Strikers series, Mario’s foray into football, only lasted two games. Despite its short lifespan, it brought with it its own unique design concept, setting the Mario series almost in a gritty dystopian world with rough, grungy arenas and high-tech, slightly dangerous technology.

Naturally a stage representing the series would mimic that Mad Max aesthetic. The Underground was probably the most iconic stage, being set in an underground sewer arena, almost like they are hiding their games from an oppressive overlord government. It will be large and flat, naturally, with electric fields lining both sides that will zap you if you don’t hop over them. Spectators will fill the stands around the stage.

Potential theme: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pacLYj6l0so

Super Team

While kart-racing, tennis, and golf had all served the Mario series well, Nintendo still wished to try out other sports with Mario’s name on them. First they tried baseball, with Mario Superstar Baseball, and then immediately followed up with football in Super Mario Strikers. To give the players a threat to fight against in the game’s story, a race of alien robots were invented to act as their opponents.

These are the Super Team. They would sadly not appear again, only with one cameo in the game’s sequel, but they are key options to represent Mario’s short foray into football as a whole.

As fighters, they will be heavy but fast, with electricity constantly being discharged from them that will cause area of effect damage to their opponents. Their movesets will pull from both Super Mario Strikers and Mario Strikers Charged, both the basic mechanics of the game and the fantastical elements added to heighten the experience.

Likelihood rating: Probably not

Character Sheet: Super Team

SUPER TEAM

Today, we only have one character to cover and that is the robotic villains of Super Mario Strikers: the Super Team! As far as gimmick reps for the Mario football series, go, they're easily our best bet. They can do everything the regular players can do in game, kicking around the ball and trying to get it into the other team's net while a goalie tries to block it. They can also make use of the more fantastical elements from the game, such as the electric walls that shock players, the metal ball that changes color depending on how many times it's been passed, and the super shots and mega strikes. All in all, I think we can make a good moveset out of this.

Here's the moveset I came up with:

Standard B: Pass

The character will normally have a ball out that they're kicking around between their feet. However, using standard B will cause them to kick the ball across the stage in one direction. A different member of the team will appear at the ball's projected destination while the original kicker disappears. The ball can be intercepted but it will cause damage upon being hit. If intercepted, the receiver will disappear instead and the kicker will remain where it was and will have to retrieve the ball. With every full pass, the ball will change color, amplifying the amount of damage it can do.

Side B: Electric Barrier

This one acts as a damaging shield. The team member will put out their hand and the electric wall will appear, electrocuting and sending flying any character that collides with it.

Up B: Flying Kick

The team member will kick the ball straight up into the air and leap up after it, flipping to kick it down toward the ground while also gaining some air at the same time.

Down B: Robo-Kritter

This is a shield and a counter. If a projectile is headed your way, you can press this command to make the Robo-Kritter goalie appear directly in front of you, which will deflect the projectile and send it flying back at the sender.

Final Smash: Mega Strike

In a small cutscene, the four members of the team will gather, kick the ball up into the air, then all four will jump up after it. The three backup members will pound on the ball before the captain comes up with a thunder fist and slams it, sending it flying toward the net, where the move's victim will be trapped. A Kritter in goalie gear will dive to stop it but miss, and the ball will smash the victim through the net.

Entrance: They will jump from an airship over the field.

Taunts: Up, the team member will kick the ball like a hackysack. Side, the team member will touch an electric wall, zapping itself. Down, the team member will kick grass and mud off of its robotic cleats.

Thanks for reading! Let's update the roster, shall we?

Smash Character Review: Mario Sports

SMASH CHARACTER REVIEW

Today, let's go over all characters featured in the Mario baseball games, football games, and the "sports" titles. As most of these are heavily focused on team sports, we saw several playable characters, including several who had never been playable before, simply out of the need to fill up each side's rosters.

Most of the games here tended to include Team Captains, made up of the most famous faces of the Mario series. Although there was some variation, these more often than not featured the faces of Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, Princess Daisy, Yoshi, Birdo, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, and Bowser Jr. You may notice they tended to come in pairs. Each frequently had super moves based on the sport being played that revolved around who they were (meaning its not a lot we haven't seen before. Mario almost always used fireballs, Luigi often did too or his vacuum from Luigi's Mansion, Peach and Daisy's were often accentuated with hearts or flowers respectively, Yoshi either used eggs or it was accentuated with a rainbow, Birdo's often had something to do with being "weird," the Kongs often used bananas or barrels, or Donkey simply used his strength while Diddy used his jetpack. Wario and Waluigi tended to vary a bit, with Wario's tended to involve him being sneaky, farting, using his strength, or throwing bombs, while Waluigi also tended to be sneaky, but also featured him multiplying himself, spinning fast enough to cause a cyclone, and using a machine to electrocute other characters. Definitely some stuff in there we can add to Waluigi's moveset. If there's anything in there that you think might work better being switched out for one of these, that's perfectly fine. Lastly we have Bowser and Bowser Jr., who frequently used fire breath, bullet bills, or Bowser Jr.'s paintbrush from Super Mario Sunshine.

Filling out the team, the games frequently relied on many of the most common species from all over the Mushroom Kingdom. Toads appear everywhere here, mostly on Peach and Daisy's team or generally as possible teammates. This includes both Toadette and Toadsworth, the latter in his only playable appearance ever (except in this hypothetical game this blog is crafting, obviously). Other frequent flyers appear here as well, such as Koopas, Paratroopas, Shy Guys, Fly Guys, Boos, Hammer Bros, Dry Bones, and Wigglers, alongside lesser seen faces like Piantas and Nokis from Sunshine, Monty Moles, Goombas and Paragoombas, Magikoopas, Bloopers, and Spikes.

Outside of enemy characters and captains, we also saw a number of other major characters making appearances across the games (especially in the baseball games), including the baby versions of Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, and Donkey Kong, DK series alums Dixie Kong, Funky Kong, Tiny Kong, King K. Rool, and Kritters (including an unusually prominent role as the goalies in the football games), and major bosses King Boo and Petey Piranha (who acts as a hoop in the basketball games (love it!)). Rosalina sadly only appears in Mario Sports Superstars, largely because most of these came out around the mid-2000s before Rosalina had been firmly established as a staple of the Mario series. Boom Boom and Pom Pom also appear in Superstars, as do Metal Mario and Pink Gold Peach.

The first two Mario Sports games were crossovers with Square Enix, and as such featured Moogle, Cactuar, Ninja, Black Mage, and White Mage as special guests from the Final Fantasy franchise, and Slime from the Dragon Quest franchise. While many of these likely will see slots eventually in this blog, I will not be covering them in full until I actually get to those respective franchises.

That just leaves us with a few series staples acting as background or obstacles. Lakitu more often than not plays the perennial role of referee, a role they seem made for. Piranha Plants, Chain Chomps, and Thwomps play the roles you generally expect them to as field hazards, as do Klaptraps from the Donkey Kong series. Finally, we have Miis, who were included as playable in Mario Sports Mix.

Thanks for reading! Now, let's add in our one new playable character, Super Mario Strikers' Super Team!