Mario Hoops 3-on-3

Mario Hoops 3-on-3 (also known as Mario Basketball 3-on-3 in Japan and as Mario Slam Basketball in Europe) is a Mario sports game developed by Square Enix for the Nintendo DS. This time around, Mario and his friends are playing basketball.

In the beginning, it was meant to be an original intellectual property, but Square Enix felt that it would work well if it were a part of the Mario franchise, and so Square Enix contacted Nintendo, who then allowed them to use the Mario label. This game is the first in which Mario and Final Fantasy characters appear together as playable characters.

Gameplay
The main mode is Tourney mode, where a team of 3 is chosen and they compete against other teams for the cup, in generally 3 matches. Exhibition mode is like quick-play, as well as customizable.

Almost all of the gameplay in the game is controlled by the Touch Screen. The only exceptions are moving a character, which is controlled by the D-pad, and a special form of passing, which uses the L button. This can be switched around with the buttons controlling movement and the R button for passing for left-handed players.

There are many moves for offense and defense. The player's team of three is identified with a red circle below them, a blue circle for the opponent team's players. The player's team's basket is always facing ahead of them, and the opponent's team in the back, even when switching court. Therefore, generally, stroking up on the touch screen is used for offense and stroking down is used for defense. For more on moves, see the Practice section.

Scoring
Scoring is a bit different in Mario Hoops than in a real world basketball game. Each shot made is worth 20 points. Shots made outside of what is normally the 3-point line are worth 30 points (therefore, the basic shot is multiplied by 10 in Mario Hoops). Special shots, regardless of position are worth 40 points. To compound the points, coins also come into play. Players can collect coins by dribbling over the ? panels scattered about the court. Regular coins add 1 point each to the score, and red coins add 10 points to the score. Every time a team makes a basket, their coins are reset to zero. Getting hit, either from items or other players, will result in some of the player's coins scattering on the field, which can be picked up by anyone, including the character who lost them. The limit to the number of coins one team can have is 100 (therefore the maximum normal score for one shot is 140), and the more coins one has, the more are lost on a hit.

Challenges
Challenges contains both practice modes and then a true extra challenge-like mode after completing the main practice mode.

Practice
Practice game skills to use during games. Choose a skill you want to practice from the menu. As Mario, players will practice basic techniques upon starting the game, then advanced techniques after winning the first tourney (Offense 2 and Defense 2). If a defensive man is needed for practice, it is always Wario.

The following is a table of each lesson, which explains the control mechanism for each move, as well as each exercise to practice the lesson. If the requirement is just a number, the player must do the move that number of times. If it's a time limit, the player has that much time, depending on the lesson.

Mario Characters

 * Mario – All-around.
 * Luigi – All-around.
 * Peach – Technical
 * Daisy – Technical
 * Yoshi – All-around
 * Wario – Powerful
 * Waluigi – Technical
 * Donkey Kong – Powerful
 * Diddy Kong – Speedy
 * Bowser Jr. – Speedy


 * Dixie Kong – Speedy
 * Bowser – Powerful
 * Birdo – All-around
 * Paratroopa – Tricky
 * Fly Guy – Tricky
 * Boo – Tricky

Final Fantasy Characters

 * Ninja – All-around
 * Black Mage – Tricky
 * White Mage – Technical
 * Moogle – Tricky
 * Cactuar – Speedy

Non-Playable Characters

 * Petey Piranha
 * Malboro
 * Gooper Blooper

Courts

 * Mushroom tournament
 * Mario Stadium
 * Koopa Beach
 * Peach Field
 * Sunset Beach-Unlockable


 * Flower tournament
 * DK Cruiser
 * Luigi Mansion
 * Daisy Garden
 * Malboro Garden-Unlockable


 * Star tournament
 * Wario Factory
 * Jr. Street
 * Bowser Castle
 * Glare Desert-Unlockable


 * Rainbow Tournament
 * Sherbet Land
 * Bloocheep Sea
 * Pirate Ship
 * Rainbow Ship