Mario Strikers: Battle League Review

Gameplay Downsides & Some Insane "In Progress" Negatives

Battle League is a supremely chaotic affair.

Pitches are smaller than that of the previous games, and with item sizes being increased, it feels like you've not got much room to maneuver through. One-touch passes and lobs can easily be intercepted because there simply isn't that much space to feed through to other players, and it's harder to react to incoming tackles with so much going on.

Adding to the chaos is a pretty unintuitive UI, with players having numbers over their heads to show their position which sounds fine on paper until you realize each number is the same as the team color meaning that it's not immediately recognizable to find where you are in an eight-player matchup. A much simpler solution would be color-coded numbers which would definitely cut down on the confusion.

This might sound like a small nitpick but trust me, on a full match with the ball flying all over the place, Nintendo net code that seems to be perfect one minute and a laggy mess the next, plus a hot-swap button that seems intent on placing you as far away from the active player as possible (yes that is as infuriating as it sounds), knowing where you are is paramount to a good time.

However, it looks like good times are on the horizon, at least from Nintendo's perspective, because it's clear that they are going to monetize the hell out of this game. With a focus on gear, the gimmicky "pick a pitch" mode (that does nothing for gameplay), the fact that retrying matches on the cup mode requires in-game currency, and of course the sheer lack of other modes, it's blatantly transparent that Nintendo is going to patch this into a full game through expansions and DLC, which is a huge shame in all honesty.

When Mario Strikers is running on full steam, this is the most fun I've had on a Switch console in ages, and the over-the-top action provides a great deal of engagement. Yet it's impossible to ignore the lack of modes, the questionable customization options, and the confusing UI, which all hamper an otherwise polished experience.

My gut tells me this will be a brilliant game within a few months after launch, but as it stands this is less an own goal and more a slice into the car park that's hit a Nintendo fan right in the face.

Rating: ★★★½