Mario Hoops 3-on-3

Template:Infobox 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.

Modes

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 Hoops Rules A demo is shown of a game between Mario, Luigi and Peach vs. Wario, Waluigi and Paratroopa, showing what is possible once practice is complete.
Offense
#	Lesson	Move	Exercise	Requirement
01	Dribble!	Tapping the touch screen causes whoever has to ball to dribble in the direction the touch screen was tapped. Dribbling on ? Panels produces coins.	Collect coins quickly!	0:30
02	Guard the ball!	Dribbling away from an opponent player is important to avoid a simple steal.	Guard the ball for 20 seconds!	0:20
03	Shoot the ball!	Players stroke the stylus up to shoot the ball towards the hoop.	Aim for the basket!	3
04	Do a charge shot!	By holding the stylus down on a touch screen for a few seconds, the ball will "charge up". Upon shooting, there is greater accuracy.	Do a charge shot!	3
05	Pass!	Stroking sideways left or right passes to the teammate in that direction.	Pass the ball around!	5
06	Run and dribble!	By dribbling in the same direction as the character is moving, the player will pick up speed. This is essential for many moving ? Panels.	Chase the ? Panel!	1:00
07	Quick-dash!	By dribbling in one direction and then turning in the same direction, the player will make a quick turn, perhaps avoiding trouble.	Quick-dash!	8
08	Dunk the ball!	By stroking up while running near the basket, the player will dunk the ball.	Dunk 3 times!	3
Offense 2
#	Lesson	Move	Exercise	Requirement
09	Do a fake!	When charging, it is possible to move the stylus around to move the ball around. Thus, simple steals can be avoided and the ball can still be shot.	Fake, then do a charge shot!	3
10	Rebound-dunk!	If the ball doesn't quite go in from a normal shot and is bouncing on the rim, the player can approach it like a dunk to regain control and score.	Rebound-dunk!	3
11	Charge-dunk!	When dunking, the player can swipe up again, then start rubbing the screen to gain coins. Swiping down ends the dunk.	Charge-dunk!	3
12	Do a trick!	When moving, swiping down and then again left or right causes the character to quickly move sideways, possibly getting by defenders.	Use trick moves!	3
13	Direct-pass!	While holding down L and then stroking in any direction, it is possible to pass in any direction, instead of the character automatically moving to a position.	Make a direct-pass!	4
Defense
#	Lesson	Move	Exercise	Requirement
01	Steal the ball!	Stroking down causes a simple steal attempt. It must be placed where the ball is, not just at the opponent. The ball to come loose, allowing the other team to take control.	Steal the ball!	3
02	Jump!	Stroking up means to jump on defense. It can be used to deflect and block both simple and charged shots, with good timing.	Jump and block!	3
03	Jump-steal!	Stroking up while jumping causes the player to do a steal motion in the air. Likewise, it can lodge loose a ball about to be dunked, if the timing's right.	Jump-steal to guard the hoop!	3
04	Items	When ? Panels are run over on defense, an item is produced and, in the example here, a Green Shell is thrown in the direction the stylus is stroked.	Hit Wario with a shell!	3
05	Swap characters!	Pressing L changes control to the player closest to the ball. Stroking sideways left or right while pressing L changes to that character regardless of proximity to the ball.	Switch players!	4
Defense 2
#	Lesson	Move	Exercise	Requirement
06	Block 'em!	Rubbing the stylus causes the character to create a small blue force field in front of him or her, and move around with it. Opponents can't get by this field.	Block Wario!	0:20
07	Charge-steal!	Eventually the force field will turn red. Stroking down then will cause a stronger steal that can knock down any player.	Charge-steal!	3
08	Drop-steal!	Jumping and then stroking down causes the character to do a ground-pound related move. The opponent can drop the ball within a wider range than a simple steal.	Make 'em drop it!	3
09	Sidestep!	Stroking left or right causes the character to quickly move sideways. He or she can sneak up on an opponent and catch them off-guard by doing a simple steal.	Sidestep and steal!	3
10	Rebound!	Catching the ball by jumping as the ball bounces around the opponents' rim is known as rebounding. It requires some timing to when the ball is at a low point.	Nab a rebound!	3
Free Practice With Mario, Luigi and Peach, any move can be practiced here. To play defense, the player can pass-direct down, but there are no real opponents to practice most defensive maneuvers.

Characters

File:HoopsCharacters.png

Some of the character icons.

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