Is Gaming Taking One Giant Step Back With Mario Sports Mix?

It seems as though Square Enix took a lot of past mistakes into consideration during the creation of Mario Sports Mix. If you played the disaster back in 2006 where Mario tried his luck in basketball, you will appreciate that there are a few new sports added to this game to make it at least playable.

Storyline

Is the gamed called Mario Sports Mix or a Mixed Bag of Mario Sports? Either way, don’t look for a storyline or any type of rhyme or reason. Don’t even look for an organized game because you won’t find it! This is like a hodgepodge of dismal entertainment that overstays its welcome after an hour.

Mario Sports Mix is a simple compilation of dodgeball, basketball, volleyball and hockey consisting of three tournaments for every sport. While in games such as Super Mario Strikers there were at least games and a sense of some type of progression through a storyline, this has been stripped away, leaving you with basic stats and no chance to make long-term goals.

Gameplay

Mario Sports Mix does a good job of providing quick tutorials that are basic enough for even young children to understand and the familiar characters’ strengths and weaknesses are certainly appreciated however, there are some obvious problems. The first one is that single-player mode is boring unless you want to play volleyball all of the time because opposition in the other sports is a complete drag. Secondly, the game won’t switch automatically between teammates so you have to do it manually if you’re in multiplayer mode. What decade is this?

The controls are intuitive and basic, definitely geared for an entire family and all ages to enjoy and they certainly work well because your shaking remote pretty much handles everything. The games are all easy to get into, unfortunately, there is just no depth.

You will probably enjoy that there are some classic things like bananas and shells and there are specific rules appointed to a few courses. Each setting basically has a gimmick like interfering fountains in front of a goal, moving rafts on a jungle volleyball court or revolving stadiums which adds a bit of fun or at least provides entertainment but it certainly does not make up for what the game is lacking.

Hockey and basketball will offer the most challenging gameplay, volleyball will give you the opportunity to take that nap you so desperately need and dodgeball will leave you wondering if you are really suppose to actually play it or if it is a prank. That being sad, if you have a family and several people playing these games, Mario Sports Mix has the potential to be a good time but for one or two people, it’s just disappointing.

Graphics

Primitive characters that look dated is all that can be said about the graphics. Grant it, Mario is a classic and one of the things that makes it so special is the simplicity that the game has managed to hold onto for all these years. However, its 2011, simple is one thing, outdated is another!

Conclusion

Bottom line, if you are looking for a game to play in single-player mode or even with one other person, Mario Sports Mix will keep you occupied for an hour. However, if you have your children or a whole family playing, the tutorials and familiar faces will be welcome and could provide an elevated level of entertainment.