Topic: Mario Sports Mix

[Stratos]

Looks like the rumors and suspicions are correct. The game will indeed feature online play.

Here's the big surprise from the official site.  Mario Sports Mix will feature Wi-Fi Connect support.  Two Wiis will be able to connect online for multiplayer matches, with up to two players playing on each Wii. The game will support the usual options: play against random players, and play against friends.

[Mop it up]

I saw that the other day but didn't get around to posting it. It is the most basic online play that I expected.

In the characters section on the game's site, there are seven question mark slots, plus one suspicious blank space that's probably a character too, my guess is a Mii.

The site also lists the character types, which are:

Mario (all around)
Luigi (all around)
Peach (technique)
Daisy (technique)
Bowser (power)
Bowser Jr. (speed)
Wario (power)
Waluigi (technique)
Yoshi (all around)
Toad (speed)
Donkey Kong (power)
Diddy Kong (speed)

[BlackNMild2k1]

game play demo
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4eAvrjAUZ4

[Caterkiller]

This is probably Nintendo's way to cut back on every Mario Sport getting its own individual game. Sounds good to me, I just hope the sports are all as engaging as Mario Golf and Tennis are. Seriously where are our Motion plus Mario Golf and Tennis titles?
 
The game does look fun!

[Mop it up]

This is probably Nintendo's way to cut back on every Mario Sport getting its own individual game.

I think it's more because the four sports on offer aren't popular enough to get their own game; who makes dodgeball games? Also, from a programming perspective, the four sports are somewhat similar. They all probably run on similar game engines with similar animation, so it was relatively easy to include them all in the package.

That said, my main problem with Mario spin-offs is that they are relatively light on content. This looks like it could end up being the most "complete" one yet, but we'll see.

[Spak-Spang]

Oh, I dunno if they are light on content.

I think the Mario Golf and Mario Tennis franchises have been quite good.  The original Mario Golf on the Nintendo 64 and Mario Tennis are easily my favorite Golf and Tennis games to date.  They were almost perfect in every way. 

I would love another refined experience like that...that takes away the wacky and centers around the pure sport with arcade action.  I am not opposed to some cool themed gold courses though.  Maybe 2 Mario themed 18 hole courses with really zany level design would be great. 

[Mop it up]

There are plenty of sports titles out there that more accurately represent that respective sport, but there's only one Mario, which takes the basic concept and runs with it. I don't want that to change. Mario Golf is actually my least favourite of the Mario sports because it is too much like the real thing, there aren't enough extra modes that provide spins on the formula or fantastical environments. Mario Tennis has this problem as well, but tennis is more enjoyable as a video game. Mario Power Tennis had the right idea with the special courts, power shots, and minigames, though it's missing a little something I can't quite nail down... It also has less characters than the Nintendo 64 game which is rather odd.

To me, that's what the perfect Mario game would provide. It would have the basic sport for those who want it with the personality of Mario characters, but it would also have a lot of modes and features that center around the concept of the sport and mix things up.

[Stratos]

The N64 and GBC Mario Tennis games were amazing. Also made my Transfer Pak investments worthwhile. I tended to be super dedicated to adopting tech from Nintendo. I bought an Expansion Pak before DK64 and ended up with two.

[Spak-Spang]

I dunno.  Mario Golf had a zen moment to me...where you got into the zone, and later franchises of the Mario Golf and Mario Tennis added more fantastical elements.  The Portable versions were the best at this. 

[Mop it up]

I mostly stayed away from the GBC/A Mario Golf and Tennis games because the main characters aren't even Mario characters, which just strikes me as rather odd. I got Mario Tennis on the GBC to get the characters and courts in the Nintendo 64 game, and it was interesting how they mixed tennis with RPG elements. But it has nothing to do with Mario or its universe, so it clearly had the Mario name just to give it appeal. I assume the other games are the same, though I haven't really researched them.

[Mop it up]

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/rmkj/index.html#/chara/content18

Called it.

[Sundoulos]

It's kind of lame that all     six     unlockable characters come from Square Enix games, especially considering there are a number of characters from the Mario Universe that could have been included.  Birdo, for instance, appears to be AWOL.

The Bit Block posted a video review of the Japanese version of the game:  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=mxbrxSRwHk0

Overall, the review is pretty encouraging, and it has finally made me interested in getting the game.  The only thing that I'll probably find annoying is having to unlock individual characters and stages for each sport individually.