Mario Strikers (series)

(Redirected from Mario Football)
Mario Strikers
Logo for the Mario Strikers series
First installment Super Mario Strikers (2005)
Latest installment Mario Strikers: Battle League (2022)
Number of installments 5 (3 main, 2 promotional)
Franchise Super Mario

The Mario Strikers series, also known as the Mario Football series in Europe and Australia and the Mario Soccer series in South Korea, is a series of games in the Super Mario franchise that began in 2005 in which Mario and his friends play Strike, a more extreme variant of association football (commonly known as "football" or "soccer"). The series consists of three games: Super Mario Strikers, Mario Strikers Charged, and Mario Strikers: Battle League.

GamesEdit

Main gamesEdit

Title
Cover, original release, and system Description
Super Mario Strikers
 
  November 18, 2005[?]
Nintendo GameCube
Super Mario Strikers (Mario Smash Football in the PAL version), the first game in the series, was released for the Nintendo GameCube. It features basic rules of football, although having its own playing style as implied in several sport Super Mario games. One specialized rule is Super Strikes. Only the team captain can execute a Special Strike, and if done so perfectly, the shot will always make the goal, and be worth two points. There are a total of nine different playable team captains (including one unlockable, Super Team), four different sidekick players, and two different goalies. It was the last Super Mario game to be released for the GameCube in Japan and North America.

The game was released for Nintendo Switch 2 via Nintendo GameCube - Nintendo Classics in 2025.

Mario Strikers Charged
 
  May 25, 2007[?]
Wii
Mario Strikers Charged (Mario Strikers Charged Football in the PAL version and Mario Power Soccer for South Korea), the second installment in the series, was released on the Wii in 2007. Wi-Fi capability was a new addition to the game, allowing players to compete across the world over the internet. The game features four new team captains: Bowser, Bowser Jr., Diddy Kong, and Petey Piranha, as well as four new types of sidekicks (Boos, Dry Bones, Monty Moles, and Shy Guys). The game includes ten new fields to compete, many of them containing certain gimmicks that would modify the situation of every match. For this second mainstream, the characters would have special kicks to score, like sidekicks' Skillshots or the powerful Mega Strikes of the captains, which Kritter proves his potential to stop the soccer balls, under the control of the player. If successful, then they will receive up to six points for each ball in the goal. Also, new power-ups had been added for each team captain, known as Super Abilities.

The game was released for Wii U on Nintendo eShop in 2016.

Mario Strikers: Battle League
 
June 10, 2022
Nintendo Switch
Mario Strikers: Battle League (Mario Strikers: Battle League Football in the European and Australian version) is the third installment in the series and the first in 15 years, released for the Nintendo Switch. It features new gear and items, and also introduced Rosalina and Pauline as playable characters. Toad, Shy Guy, and Birdo are now selectable as captains for the first time after having been sidekicks for the past two games, while Boom Boom replaces Kritter as a goalie that cannot be controlled by the player. While sidekicks are not present in this game, the player has the option to select multiple Toads, Yoshis, and Shy Guys in a team in Quick Battles and Cup Battles.

Promotional gamesEdit

Title
Icon, original release, and system Description
Heads-Up
 
2006
Adobe Flash
Super Mario Strikers -- Heads Up was an online Adobe Flash advergame published by Nintendo around the release of Super Mario Strikers for the Nintendo GameCube. It was listed in the Nintendo Arcade, a now defunct section with web games on Nintendo's website.[1]
Mario Strikers Charged

2007
Adobe Flash
Mario Strikers Charged was an Adobe Flash game created to promote the Wii game of the same name. It revolved around stopping charged soccer balls that were shot in the player's direction, and was playable from the official Mario Strikers Charged website in the United Kingdom.[2]

Playable charactersEdit

Not counting goalies, a total of 23 playable characters have appeared in the series.

Character Super Mario Strikers Mario Strikers Charged Mario Strikers: Battle League
Birdo  1  1  3
Boo    1  
Bowser      
Bowser Jr.      3
Daisy      3
Diddy Kong      3
Donkey Kong      
Dry Bones    1  
Hammer Bro  1  1  
Koopa Troopa  1  1  
Luigi      
Mario      
Monty Mole    1  
Pauline      3
Peach      
Petey Piranha      
Rosalina      
Shy Guy    1  2 3
Super Team      
Toad  1  1  2
Waluigi      
Wario      
Yoshi      2

1 - This character is a sidekick character.
2 - In Quick Play and Cup Battles, this character can be selected more than once for a team.
3 - To use this character, a software update is required.

GoaliesEdit

Character Super Mario Strikers Mario Strikers Charged Mario Strikers: Battle League
Kritter      
Kritter (Super Team)      
Boom Boom      

Striker typesEdit

All-RounderEdit

Characters in this classification have a roughly equal balance of attributes. In Mario Strikers Charged, this category was named "Balanced". In Mario Strikers: Battle League, these characters can be more easily configured to fit different archetypes depending on the Gear used.

Game Balanced/All-Rounder Characters
Mario Strikers Charged Mario · Luigi · Yoshi · Koopa Troopa · Shy Guy
Mario Strikers: Battle League Bowser Jr. · Shy Guy

SpeedEdit

Characters in this classification have higher speed and passing, but lower strength and shooting. Prior to Mario Strikers: Battle League, this category was named "Playmaker".

Game Playmaker/Speed Characters
Mario Strikers Charged Peach · Diddy Kong · Toad · Boo
Mario Strikers: Battle League Peach · Toad · Diddy Kong

PhysicalEdit

Characters in this classification generally have high physical power at the expense of passing and other attributes. While most of the characters in this archetype have low speed and high shooting, Pauline in Mario Strikers: Battle League has high speed but poor shooting instead. In Mario Strikers Charged, this category was named "Power".

Game Aggressive/Power/Physical Characters
Mario Strikers Charged Donkey Kong · Bowser · Petey Piranha · Birdo · Monty Mole
Mario Strikers: Battle League Wario · Bowser · Pauline

OffensiveEdit

Characters in this classification typically possess high offensive attributes, such as shooting or passing. This comes at the expense of other attributes, particularly poor strength and speed.

Game Offensive Characters
Mario Strikers Charged Wario · Bowser Jr. · Hammer Bro
Mario Strikers: Battle League Yoshi · Rosalina · Birdo

DefensiveEdit

A category introduced in Mario Strikers Charged. Characters in this classification generally have high speed and strength alongside strong technical abilities, but have low shooting and passing attributes. Donkey Kong in Mario Strikers: Battle League is the exception, having high passing, good shooting, and poor technique and speed instead.

Game Defensive Characters
Mario Strikers Charged Daisy · Waluigi · Dry Bones
Mario Strikers: Battle League Waluigi · Donkey Kong

TechniqueEdit

A category introduced in Mario Strikers: Battle League. Characters in this classification have high technique attributes at the expense of most other attributes. The balance of attributes depends on the character, with Mario having higher shooting, Luigi having higher passing, and Daisy having good strength and passing despite her lower speed.

Game Technique Characters
Mario Strikers: Battle League Mario · Luigi · Daisy

FieldsEdit

Field Super Mario Strikers Mario Strikers Charged Mario Strikers: Battle League
Bowser Stadium      
Crater Field      
Crystal Canyon      
Desert Ruin      
Galactic Stadium      
Jungle Retreat      
Konga Coliseum      
Lava Castle      
Mushroom Hill      
Pipeline Central      
Planetoid      
Royal Castle      
Spooky Mansion      
Stormship Stadium      
The Battle Dome      
The Classroom      
The Dump      
The Lava Pit      
The Palace      
The Sand Tomb      
The Underground      
The Vice      
The Wastelands      
Thunder Island      
Urban Rooftop      

GalleryEdit

NotesEdit

ReferencesEdit

  1. ^ Nintendo Arcade. nintendo.com. Archived September 11, 2007 via Wayback Machine. Retrieved December 19, 2017.
  2. ^ May 23, 2007. Mario Strikers Charged Football internet game. Retrieved from The Mushroom Kingdom.net.