Product Description

Mario is joined by other famous Nintendo characters who take on the role of captain. Players then select a host of popular teammates to make up the rest of the team. Players form an original team by combining one of 12 captains with three of eight sidekicks before competing in one of the games many modes. Anything goes in Mario Strikers Charged as players are allowed to utilize a variety of special abilities to clinch important goals. Features: Each captain has their own set of skills, super abilities as well as the ability to perform special shots called Mega Strikes, where the iron ball splits up to five balls and flies at the goal. The defending player must use the Wii Remote to target and aim at and shoot these balls out of the air before they concede a goal. In this game players can also charge energy to the metal ball, making it more likely to find its target when fired at goal. Each of the stadiums in Mario Strikers Charged have various characteristics and contraptions, which influence game play. Players must learn to use this to their advantage to truly dominate the pitch. Multiplayer: Mario Strikers Charged will not only feature an action packed multiplayer mode but will also support the Nintendo WiFi connection service, allowing players to take part in tournaments with people from all around the world. Use the skill the Wii Remote and Nunchuk Controller provide to win the ball, score unstoppable goals and take control of the goal keeper to perform spectacular saves

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #213 in Computer & Video Games
• Brand: Nintendo
• Released on: 2007-05-25
• ESRB Rating: Everyone 10+
• Platform: Nintendo Wii
• Dimensions: 3.00 pounds

Amazon.co.uk Preview
If you don't recognise the name, this is the sequel to Mario Smash Football on the GameCube (the name will likely change for the UK release). The original was one of the hidden gems on Nintendo's previous console, but this new game is not planning to be quite so coy. For a start it will be one of, if not the, first Wii games to be fully playable online, as Mario and his usual company of heroes and villains take to the pitch for some truly bizarre 5-a-side action. Although the basic rules of football are observed this is no serious simulation, with special moves galore and lots of Mario Kart style power-ups to pick up along the way.

The game uses the analogue stick on the nunchuck to move, with the Wii remote itself being used to tackle by gesturing in the appropriate direction. There's no such thing as a foul in this game so not only do you take possession via a range of painful looking barges but you can also try and push an opposing player off the side of the pitch and into an electrified fence. Other elements not usually featured in the beautiful game include the "mega strike", which is a special move unique to each captain and which creates an automatic shot on goal which the other player has to save with the Wii remote. With football games becoming ever more serious and complicated this should please both sports fans and those simply looking for the next big multiplayer hit.
HARRISON DENT

Manufacturer's Description
Mario Strikers: Charged Football is different from the average football game and is even more exciting and engaging than ever before, with a strong emphasis on each team’s captain. These star players each have unique abilities and enhanced skills, which allow them to really influence the outcome of a game. The team captains all feature a Super Ability which can be used to devastate their opponents, ranging from Mario growing to giant proportions and trampling other players, to Peach taking a photo and freezing the entire opposing team on the spot. Tactical use of these super abilities can break down even the most stubborn defence. To top this off, in Mario Strikers: Charged Football players can choose 3 side-kicks (from a total of 8) who each have their own unique features which allows for tactical team customisation.

The Wiimote brings a dynamic new element to Mario Strikers: Charged Football, encouraging the player to make instinctive physical movements to achieve the desired effect within the game. Basic movement and strikes are executed using the analogue stick and buttons on the Wiimote and Nunchuk, but when the pressure is on, players can use their instinctive movements to affect the gameplay. Flicking the Wiimote will cause the character to check their opponent, hopefully stealing the ball in the process. Players can also use the Wiimote to perform cat-like saves, defending their goal from Megastrikes by grabbing the balls out of the air.

In Mario Strikers: Charged Football the sense of fair play is thrown out the window along with the rulebook. Fouled players get special treats with which to avenge themselves, ranging from Red Spiky Shells, which knock everything out of their path, to the Chain Chomp that chases players from the opposing team around the pitch.

One of the many modes this game features is the multiplayer mode which can see up to four players in any one game (players must split between two teams). Players can also utilise Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection Service to take on players from across the globe. Multiplayer modes include Ranked mode where players can compete to climb up leaderboards and Unranked mode where they can quickly select and play friends.

The game’s main mode, Road to the Striker Cup, pits players against increasingly difficult opposition as they compete to win three different cups. For quicker pick-up and play action the game’s Domination Mode allows players to set-up a game to suit them, defining the rules as well as selecting stadium and cheats. With an in-depth main mode and a plethora of extra features you won’t take your eye off the ball in Mario Strikers: Charged Football. There is a wide and varied choice of 17 stadiums in which to defend your crown. Many of them have varying features and characteristics to put you off your game and challenge you to even greater heights.

Customer Reviews

VERY good, but...
Mario Strikers Charged is an AWESOME game! A huge advantage is that you can play online, and it was the first online game you could play on the wii.



WHAT IT IS ALL ABOUT :
The very basics of football: you need to score more goals than you conceed, but with our nintendo characters as players and a no-foul policy. Also, there are crazy stadiums (some resembling obstacle courses!) and a ball that charges itself to give more power to shots and passes... (!)
This means each team has an artillery of weapons and moves in its different (or same) characters, who have individual skills and strenghts. The team is composed of:
a goalkeeper, same for every team, incredibly agile and quite unrealistic, making it impossible to score unless the ball is charged up or you use a super move/shot.
a captain, to choose from Nintendo's known characters: Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Mario, Wario, Luigi, Peach, and more. Each one has unique special moves and is definitely the person who makes the difference for his/her team.
3 "sidekicks", the three players who will compose the team with the keeper and captain. You can choose 3 same ones (e.g. 3 koopas) or tailor the team to your strategy ;)



SOLO EXPERIENCE:
You play tournament after tournament where you start off in a league and have to qualify to play the cup. Very good in that you can obtain golden boot (most goals) and defensive wall (goals conceded), and you unlock captains each time you conquer a tournament. The tournaments become increasingly harder the more you advance, and the next tournament will always be harder than the last.

MULTIPLAYER EXPERIENCE:
Genius idea, you can play against anyone, literally, and accumulate points depending on your result. Addictive!



PROS:
A bombardment of action, literally. You can do so much in this game sometimes you forget you are playing football and feel you're in a battlefield or in a wrestling ring!

Different approach to football games, very well made game and very enjoyable!


CONS:
(SOLO GAME) - unfair. Once you choose your team to start the tournament, you cannot change it in the following games. This is stressful because your opponents differ widely and so do the stadiums (some stadiums are quicker than others e.g. muddy) but you're stuck with the same team until you lose or you win it. But the most annoying feature of the solo game is not this, it is the fact that if you lose in the knock-out round, you're out, there is no continue or try-again, that is literally it, you HAVE to start again. (!!!!!!) This is the most stressing game i have ever played, because when you have played 12 games to reach a final and face an incredibly difficult scenario, if you lose you have to play another 12 to give it another go. This is ridiculous and this is why I have not given this game a 5 stars that it would deserve. I have to emphasise on the difficulty of the game being quite unfair the more you advance. The computer literally does not make a mistake, and knows where to score...

CONS:
(MULTIPLAYER) - a huge negative factor for the on-line experience is the childish people out there who clearly consider a video game to be the most important thing in their lives. I guarantee you will not find someone who owns this game that has not found themselves "disconnected" when they are winning or about to win a game and claim the victory and points. This is because the person you are playing against has unplugged their WII and caused the connection to crash, not counting the result so they don't get a loss, meaning you don't get the win either. Extremely unfair and stressful too.

for the UK readers - Online mode is for one player only,unlike the advertisement with the Arsenal player (ian wright?) suggests when he plays with someone else. This is false marketing!!!!!! One of my friends bought it EXCLUSIVELY because he thought he could play 2 players vs 2 players online...




Overall, i recommend this game because it is a classic and a must have. Be prepared for a bit of stress though.

Strikes the button
Top class game. Mario Strikers is a 5-a-side football based (loosely!) game. It's sort of a tie between the Premiership and Aussie Rules and NFL all roled into one manic, wipeout-speed, violent football game.
To be honest, like any "football" game, it is better multiplayer, esp 4 players (fully supported), and my favourite at the minute is 2 player cup mode. Two players can go through all three cups as one team, like a cooperative story mode.
All modes of the game are thoroughly enjoyable, and don't disappoint for pure manic adrenaline filled fun. Shaking the wii-remote to tackle is a stroke of genius and really does make you feel involved in the game and the characters. And speaking of the characters, they all have different "powerups" that do different things in-game. Normally i hate games that try and make characters "different" and then when you play with someone who knows it really well it just ends up as a white-wash. But, i like these. They work well and there isn't a "winning combination", it's all very well balanced thankfully!
The only major negative i find is the difficulty level above 3 (out of 5) are incredibly difficult single player however this could just be my ineptitude... Bring it down a notch and its perfect!
So overall, brilliant game, multiplayer mayhem, single-player still very playable, get it!

Mario Strikers Charge
i thought that it was really easy to control your players but very difficult to score