Mario Sports Superstars

Mario Sports Superstars is an upcoming Mario sports title for the Nintendo 3DS. It features a variety of sports in which Mario and many other characters from the Mario universe can compete, including soccer, baseball, tennis, and golf, and a new sport, horse racing. Up to six players can participate in this game. The game will be compatible with amiibo, and a new Mario Sports Superstars line of amiibo cards are confirmed to be released for the game. First time purchasers of Mario Sports Superstars will receive a free amiibo card from the said line of amiibo cards. It is set for release in Europe on March 10, 2017, Australia on March 11, 2017, North America on March 24, 2017, and Japan on March 30, 2017.

Gameplay
In a similar manner to another sports compilation, Mario Sports Mix, each sport plays out as their own separate mode. The tennis and golf sports will play similarly to the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series, specifically each series' latest iteration, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash and Mario Golf: World Tour respectively.

Each mode will have their own tournament mode, a three tier system that has eight participating players in total, catered to single players. Three cups will be available, with the first cup being the Mushroom Cup while the rest are unknown. Completing the tournament mode for Champion Cup will unlock Star versions of playable characters, who will have increased stats. Players can enjoy the game with multiple players, either with local play, playing with friends online, or playing against randoms online. Some sports allow up to two players, four players, or six players total.

Alongside the main sports modes, additional tabs on the main menu screen include "amiibo Card", "Collection", a settings icon, and a manual icon. amiibo Card refers to the amiibo support, where players can scan in compatible amiibo cards to unlock new features.

A Training mode is confirmed for this game.

Soccer
Players participate in 11-vs-11 matches, which consists the traditional number of team members, unlike another Mario-themed soccer series, the Mario Strikers series. Teams are composed of a designated team captain who represents the team with their shield emblem, an assistant captain, who is another team captain character as an ally, a goalie (either Boom Boom or Pom Pom), and the rest are supporting generic characters such as Koopa Troopas or Shy Guys, which are filled out with only one type of character, akin to Super Mario Strikers. Prior to beginning a match, players can adjust placement of their entire team in various formations.

The aim of soccer is to kick the ball into the opponent's goal, overcoming the opposing team members and their goalie, who attempts to block balls. Players are recommended to pass the ball to other team members to overcome the opposition, as well as setting up kicks to score the goal past the goalie. Players can also steal the ball from opponents who possess the ball. Additionally unlike the Mario Strikers series, there are throw-ins if the ball rolls out of bounds. Team members are indicated by specific HUD circular markers underneath them, as well as their color on the bottom screen map. On the bottom screen map, both captains are displayed in their current position while the generic characters are represented by dots. Powerful Special Shots can be performed by captain-type characters, where each character has a unique special effect for that shot. Whenever a goal is scored, a replay of the shot is shown, where players can view the replay, skip the replay, or change the camera angle of the replay.

Baseball
Baseball involves two teams of nine characters against each other, similar to the Mario Baseball series, as well as having various elements and gameplay mechanics taken from that series. Players need to select a team captain, as well as selecting an assistant captain, similar to how soccer plays out. The seven slots can then be individually filled with the player's choice, from a pool of generic characters such as Koopas, Toads, etc, unlike the soccer, where the player's team is homogeneous with a single species.

Players play in two positions of baseball; the team on offense takes turns within their members to bat the ball while the team on the defense pitches and covers the outfield. Players on the pitching mound can pitch using various methods, such as fast balls, change-ups, and screw balls to throw batting players off. Players who bat earn strikes if the pitched ball goes over the home plate and they either do not hit the ball or miss the ball. A ball is called when the pitched ball does not cross over the plate; however, if the batting attempts to swing at such balls, a strike is called. Three strikes mean the player is out. If the batting player hits the ball and it lands on the foul zone, the player must rebat the ball at a cost of the strike, though it does not earn an out if they hit in a foul zone over three strikes. If there are five ball penalties, the batting player gets to walk the base. If the pitched ball hits the batting player, the batting player also gets a free walk to the base. Pitchers have a stamina meter; more hits from the opposing team depletes stamina quicker. Once stamina is depleted, pitches are weakened, which encourages the team to switch pitchers for better performance. Pitching has slightly different controls than the ones in the Mario Baseball series. Meters and HUD are used to time pitches and their type rather than pure button-inputs. Additionally team members hold a bat that has their team captain's logo and design on them, unlike the Mario Baseball series, where they all had their own individual bats. If the batting player hits the ball successfully without causing the ball to go in the foul zone (the areas to the left and right of the diamond, marked by lines), they can run towards the three bases in a specific order, until the fielders throw the ball into the fielders manning the bases. If the fielders catch a fly ball, the runner is out, and if there are multiple runners, they need to progress back towards their previous base. Fly balls can additionally be caught even in foul zones, and if they are caught before they bounce, the batter is out. Any runner who is tagged by a fielder before they reach a base is also considered out. Players earn points for their team if they circumnavigate the baseball diamond by touching all bases and reaching the home plate while avoiding receiving an out. If a batter receives a home-run, which means to send the ball out of bounds within the fair zone, they, alongside any additional base runners earn free points. Captains can use Star Skill-like abilities, such as Bowser using a fiery swing to knock the ball further away to possibly score home-runs. If runners are on bases, they have the option to steal a base while a pitcher is pitching. However, if the outfielder tags them before they can steal a base, they are considered out. Batting players have the option to bunt the ball as well. Bunting is a very slow and weak technique that can guarantee a hit, but, if done incorrectly, they either receive a foul if the ball rolls out of bounds or outfielders can pick up the ball and tag the bunter out.

Baseball games are split into innings, which players can set up to 9 innings. Once three outs are received for the batting team, both teams swap positions, where the defensive team now bats while the batting team goes to the outfield. Whichever team has the most points by the end of the last inning wins the game.

Tennis
Tennis plays very similarly to the Mario Tennis series, with elements and mechanics of the game taken from the two most recent installments, Mario Tennis Open and Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash. Players can participate in either singles, one-on-one tennis or doubles, 2-vs-2 tennis. Chance Shots, Jump Shots, and the Ultra Smash make a return. This mode retains the touch screen functionality from Mario Tennis Open, where players can view controls for specific shots, as well as the bottom screen indicating what button combination to use to perform specific Chance Shots or to counter specific Chance Shots. Players can opt to play in Simple mode, where Chance Shots are turned off. Tennis gameplay is as follows: players first serve a ball before it goes into play, where the speed of the serve depends on the height where it is hit from; players serve the ball the fastest when the ball is hit at its apex. Characters have different timing for serving their fastest shots, and the character's ability to serve is dependent on their power and spin; characters who have greater power can serve balls at quicker speeds, while characters who have a better ability to curve make it more difficult to return the ball. While receiving the ball, players need to wait until the ball bounces once; if they hit the serve before the ball bounces, a foul is called and the serving player receives a point. If the ball hits the square directly across the player, a fault is called and the player needs to serve the ball again. If players get another fault, they receive a double fault and the receiving player earns a point. If the ball hits the net while it is served, the server needs to retry the serve, but without any penalty. After the serve, players need to rebound the ball until their opponent cannot return the ball or if they hit the ball out. Players can choose from four basic types of shots: simple, topspin, slice, and flat, depending on the button they hit to rebound the ball. Simple shots are activated with players press. Intended for beginning players, simple shots are weak shots, but can be any type of the three latter shots. They can also activate any Chance Shot, but these Chance Shots are weaker than when manually inputted. Topsins are indicated by a red outline and are activated when the player hits ; they are high shots that bounce high, and they are more powerful than slices, but weaker than flat shots. Slices are indicated by a blue outline are activated when the player hits ; they are low and weak shots that curve the ball moreso than other shots. Flats leave a purple outline and are the fastest shots but are the most difficult to control. They are activated when the player hits.

Players can input more advanced shots by hitting two buttons in conjunction rather than one; these shots cannot be used in serves. Lobs can be performed if the player hits then. Lobs are very high shots, indicated by their yellow outline, that can fly over a net player, but can open up opportunities for a Smash Chance Shot for the opposing player. If players press then, they can perform a Drop Shot. Indicated by a white outline, Drop Shots are very slow and low shots that end up near the net; this tactic is used to force players up to the net. If a ball is out of the player's reach, the player can attempt a lunge to hit the ball. However, this usually results in an Ultra Smash opportunity for the opponent. Chance Shots, first introduced in Mario Tennis Open, are more powerful versions of the aforementioned types of shots and are activated when the opposing player makes a bad return. When this occurs, an icon representing the Chance Shot appears on the player's side of the court, where the player needs to move over it and perform the type of shot represented by the icon and color. The color of the Chance Shot corresponds to the type of shot that will be activated: for example, red Chance Shots represent a topspin Chance Shot, so pressing or  over this Chance Shot causes a fiery topspin that knocks players back. Players can counter Chance Shots with an appropriate counter; for example, if the opponent uses a topspin Chance Shot, players need to correctly deflect it with a slice; otherwise, the player may do a bad return and set up opposing players for an Ultra Smash.

Players can press the shot button twice to perform a Jump Shot, first introduced in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash. These cause the character to leap to return higher shots. They are stronger than grounded shots, but they have a loss of control. If the opposing player messes up, either by lunging at the ball or using the wrong button input of countering a Chance Shot, a special type of shot gets triggered, causing the ball to fly high and the Chance Shot area to exhibit special effect. If players use the input for the Jump Shot at the moment this Chance Shot appears, they can leap to execute an Ultra Smash, the most powerful shot in the game.

Points are earned when the opposing player fails to return the ball within two bounces or if the opposing player get hits by the ball (called a Body Shot). If the player who hits the ball hits it outside of the defined boundaries, an out is called and the opposing player earns a point. A replay is then played to show the last few moves before the point is scored. Players can view the replay, skip the replay, or change camera angles of the replay for other perspectives. A special animation plays whenever the Ultra Smash is executed to earn a point. Points are earned in increments of 15, 30, and 40. When a point is earned when a player or team is at 40, they win a game or a break point. If both players or teams have 40 points, then a Deuce is called and whichever player manages to have an advantage of two points wins the game/set point. If both players or teams win the same amount of games into a set point, a Tiebreaker is called. During a Tiebreaker, whichever player scores 7 points wins the set/match point. A game set is won when players earn the required amount of game points. Players eventually win the match when they earn the amount of set points required.

Golf
Very similar to the Mario Golf series, players can golf on one of the many courses. Much of the graphics, HUD, elements, and mechanics are taken from the latest iteration of the Mario Golf series, Mario Golf: World Tour, including the bottom screen that includes information such as ball contact, ball spin, and the power meter. Players can either play two modes: Stroke Play, which players can golf for 9 holes or Ring Challenge, where players need to send the ball through large rings dotted across the course.

In golf, players need to sink the ball into a hole within a set number of shots, which is dependent on the course. Players are recommended to score at least a Par, which means the player has taken the number of strokes required for the ball to go into the hole. If players achieve less strokes than required, they earn better scores, such as a Birdie. However, if players take more strokes than required to sink the ball into the hole, it worsens their overall score, and thus are called Bogeys.

Golf uses a power meter to determine power and control of the ball. Players need to time the rising of the bar, which determines the power of the shot, as well as the descending, which determines the accuracy of the shot. If players hit outside the marked boundaries of the power meter the time it descends for accuracy purposes, players whiff the shot, often costing a stroke. Players can get perfect accuracy if the bar hits the sweet spot of the meter; if the bar is stopped outside the sweet spot, the ball veers in the direction the bar is stopped at. In other words, if the bar is stopped to the area left of the sweet spot, the ball curves towards that direction, causing some inaccuracy within the shot. Additionally, players can adjust the trajectory of the ball (which is indicated by arrows rising and falling on the main screen) by changing the area of ball contact, indicated by the bottom screen. Hitting the ball in the upper regions decreases height, while hitting the ball left or right causes the ball to curve left or right depending on the direction hit, often used to bypass obstacles such as trees.

In addition, players need to take in account of the environment, which causes the ball to behave in different ways. Wind can change the ball's trajectory, and the speed of the wind as well as the direction it blows in depends on how affected the ball gets. Balls that have higher trajectories are more affected by the wind. The ball's lie is also affected by the ground it is on. If the ball is on the Fairway, there are no added penalties to the ball. However, if the ball lies on the Rough or Bunkers, the power and accuracy of the ball gets affected depending on how severe the terrain is. Topology of the course can also affect the ball's trajectory, where, often, more powerful, higher shots are needed to send the ball to higher elevations.

Different types of spins return from Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, where players can activate them as soon after they stopped the power meter a second time. Players can perform a topspin if is hit twice, while performing a backspin if  is hit twice. Players can use more powerful spins if alternate buttons are pressed; players can perform a super topspin if is hit first and then, while a super backspin is performed if  is pressed first and then.

Horse Racing
Characters race each other saddleback on horses as they leap over hazards and dodge obstacles, a sport entirely new to the Mario series. Up to six players can participate in a race. Two camera angles for players can be used: a third person camera or a first person camera. Horses have stamina, where players can replenish their stamina through collecting carrots. Each character has different ratings of stamina; characters who have higher stamina means that the horse tires out less. Collecting stars throughout the track fills the bar for the Star Dash technique, where, if fully filled out, players can use it to get a speed boost. Double jumps can be performed to reach higher items that cannot be reached with single jumps. Horses travel faster when they are in a pack, in a phenomenon known as the Herd Effect, so stray players such as those far in the lead travel slower than when together.

Players can build stables for their horses as well as training them. Players can groom, pet, and feed horses, which betters their mood and thus performance on the track. Mood is indicated by ♪ prior to the beginning of the rate. The higher the rating, the better the horse's mood is. Players can decorate their horse with various accessories as well.

amiibo card
Mario Sports Superstars introduces its own line of amiibo cards, where each character receives 5 cards based on the sports of the game. There will be 90 cards in total. The amiibo cards are blindly packaged separately in sets of five for $4.99 each, similar to the Animal Crossing line of amiibo cards. While Star characters can normally be unlocked when Champion's Cup in tournament mode is won, Star characters can be unlocked immediately through tapping the corresponding character on the card. amiibo cards can be used for players to power up to unlock superstar versions of the character on the card. Three stats specific for the sport are displayed on the card, as well as a specific special ability on the right of the stats that currently has an unknown function. The red bars indicate the stats characters start with, while the blue and yellow bars have a function not yet announced. Any stats with blue arrows facing to the left means that the stats are decreased when a certain stat is increased; this stat hindrance mirrors starred characters in the Mario Golf series, where their drive increases at the cost of impact. In tennis, amiibo cards can be used to give the player a partner of that character on the card.

Additionally, amiibo cards can be used to unlock new gear for characters to use.

Road to Superstar
This minigame is unlocked when players tap three amiibo cards, and is available to any character who is starred. The minigame seems to be inspired from Breakout, where players use their selected amiibo cards to deflect various balls themed after sports to various features, such as Brick Blocks, Shy Guys, Goombas, Bone Goombas, and Bob-ombs. Boom Boom appears to be a boss of the stage. Completing this mode bestows a "Superstar" status to their character, greatly increasing all of the stats, moreso than a Star character.

Captains
There are 18 captains confirmed to be playable for this game. 16 of them are currently confirmed, while 2 of them will be unlockable and have yet to be revealed. Team captains are represented by their unique shield emblem whenever a game starts. In team-oriented games, such as soccer and baseball, players can additionally choose an assistant captain from the pool of team captains. Assistant captains are also able to pull off the same special shots that team captains can.


 * Mario
 * Luigi
 * Yoshi
 * Birdo
 * Peach
 * Daisy
 * Waluigi
 * Boo
 * Baby Mario
 * Baby Luigi
 * Diddy Kong
 * Bowser Jr.
 * Donkey Kong
 * Wario
 * Bowser
 * Rosalina
 * Metal Mario (unlockable)
 * Pink Gold Peach (unlockable)

Captain stats
Each of the captains' types are represented by specific colors, such as the colored markings on the character selection screen and a colored circle behind the character's heads in other areas where character HUD is displayed. As each sport plays differently, these characters have different stats depending on the sport, but have similar general strengths throughout the sports. For example, Bowser is a Power-type character in soccer, and although baseball has different stats than soccer, power is still his strongest stat in that sport.

'''The stats range from 1 to 10 are represented with colored rectangles: the red colored rectangles indicate the stats of the normal characters, the light blue rectangles indicate the stats of the star characters and the yellow rectangles indicate the stats of the superstar characters. If the stats of the star and superstar characters are lower than the same stats of the normal characters, the red rectangles without light blue triangles indicate the stats of the star and superstar characters.'''

Supporting characters
In team sports, baseball and soccer, players can select various generic characters to fill out team slots. These generic characters have their own stats and attributes which can be used to tactfully cover up team weaknesses and enhance strengths. What sets them apart from team captains is their inability to perform special shots. In baseball, players can select from a variety of supporting characters; however, in soccer, when players select a type of generic character, all generic characters in the sport are the same species. Additionally, Boom Boom and Pom Pom fit in this category, despite having a different status than the other generic characters.

While Boom Boom and Pom Pom have hexagonal outline in soccer, representing their status as a goalie, the rest are represented by regular dots.


 * Toads
 * Red Toad
 * Green Toad
 * Purple Toad
 * Blue Toad (Balance)
 * Penguin Blue Toad
 * Flying Squirrel Blue Toad
 * Yellow Toad
 * Penguin Yellow Toad (Speed)
 * Flying Squirrel Yellow Toad (Speed)
 * Goombas
 * Shy Guys
 * Red Shy Guy
 * Yellow Shy Guy (Speed)
 * Green Shy Guy
 * Blue Shy Guy
 * Various Bros
 * Hammer Bro
 * Fire Bro
 * Boomerang Bro
 * Koopa Troopas
 * Green Koopa Troopa
 * Red Koopa Troopa
 * Blue Koopa Troopa
 * Yellow Koopa Troopa
 * Magikoopas
 * Blue Magikoopa (Technique)
 * Red Magikoopa
 * Green Magikoopa
 * Yellow Magikoopa
 * Spikes
 * Stone Spike (Power)
 * Boom Boom (Power)
 * Pom Pom (Power)
 * Paratroopa
 * Green Paratroopa (Technique)

Other

 * Bone Goomba
 * Bob-omb
 * Lakitu

Soccer fields

 * A stadium

Baseball stadiums
There are 4 baseball stadiums confirmed.


 * A traditional stadium

Tennis courts

 * Hard Court
 * Clay Court
 * Grass Court

Golf courses

 * Emerald Woods
 * Crystal Beach
 * Gold Links

Horse racing tracks
There are 12 race tracks based on four areas.


 * A forested mountain
 * A foliage road

Staff
Mario Sports Superstars is co-developed by Bandai Namco Studios and Camelot Software Planning and is published by Nintendo. Bandai Namco is the primary developer for most of the game, while the tennis and golf portions are credited to Camelot, who are responsible for the Mario Tennis and Mario Golf series.

References to other games

 * Wario World: Wario's artwork is reused for his soccer amiibo card.
 * Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour: Luigi's artwork is reused for his golf amiibo card.
 * Mario Power Tennis: Wario's artwork is reused for his tennis amiibo card.
 * Mario Baseball series: Various character animations for baseball have been remade from these games. Various artwork have been reused for baseball amiibo cards.
 * Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix: Bowser's artwork is reused for his soccer amiibo card.
 * Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games: Daisy's artwork is reused for her soccer amiibo card.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: Toads in the Penguin Suit power-up are selectable characters.
 * Mario Sports Mix: Peach's artwork is reused for her soccer amiibo card.
 * Donkey Kong Country Returns: Donkey Kong's artwork is reused for his soccer amiibo card.
 * Mario Tennis Open: Graphics, animations, and sound effects have been reused from this game. Peach's artwork is reused for her tennis amiibo card.
 * New Super Mario Bros. U: Toads in the Flying Squirrel power-up are selectable characters.
 * Super Mario 3D World: Luigi's artwork is reused for his soccer amiibo card.
 * Mario Golf: World Tour: Graphics and animations have been reused from this game. Yoshi's artwork is reused for his golf amiibo card.
 * Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash: Jump shots and the Ultra Smash, features first introduced in this game, return in the tennis mode. Some of the UI is taken from this game.