10 Video Games That Wasted Your Money

Of all the traditional sports that Mario has tackled over the years (no pun intended), the Strikers series ‘adaptation of soccer may be the most adored.

In fact, next to the Mario Kart spin-offs, 2005’s Super Mario Strikers and 2007’s Mario Strikers Charged are probably the top two times Mario and company faced off in athletic competitions.

As such, the announcement of Mario Strikers: Battle League was arguably the highlight of the February 2022 Nintendo Direct. However, fans should’ve learned from the Italian plumber’s prior Switch sports outings – 2018’s Mario Tennis Aces and 2021’s Mario Golf: Super Rush – and expected far less bang for their buck.

Actually, Battle League might be the worst offender of all, as it arrived with a shockingly – and infuriatingly – small roster and lack of features.

Specifically, the vanilla version only had 10 playable characters; five stadiums (which, to be fair, you could mix and match); and six cups. You couldn’t even do a proper 4v4 online match!

Given how much content was included in the older Strikers games, Battle League’s scant offerings couldn’t help but feel like another rip-off from an increasingly greedy company. Some post-launch additions eased the pain, but the game remains extortionate.