It’s been fifteen years since the last Mario Strikers game, but fans of the battle soccer series don’t have to wait much longer for a new game. During today’s Nintendo Direct presentation, the company revealed Mario Strikers: Battle League, which will hit the Nintendo Switch on June 10.
Check out the trailer. It’s pretty flashy.
If you’re at all familiar with the Mario Strikers series, or violence-fueled soccer in general, then you know what to expect. Battle League is a 5v5 sports game featuring various Mario characters, including Donkey Kong and Princess Peach. The goal is to, well, score more goals than the opposing team, but using methods that might not be entirely accepted in more traditional renditions of The Beautiful Game.
In Mario Strikers Battle League, you have special moves (such as the Hyper Strike) you can perform for extra points, and Mario familiars like a banana peel you can throw to disrupt players. It makes for a much more hectic version of soccer, one that’s all about taking advantage of the moment...and playing a little underhandedly if needed. You can also customize your Mushroom Kingdom person with gear that prioritizes certain stats, such as passing or strength.
The Hyper Strike move looks to be completely bonkers, used by gathering an orb that falls on the pitch, and then charging it “while your opponents are distracted.” Successfully used, which appears to involve a small tornado, it means a goal scored will count as two. Which is yet to appear in the official FIFA rules.
Impressively, Battle League will feature eight-player local co-op play through a single Nintendo Switch system, four players per team. Depending on how the game plays with that many folks on one console, this could be an incredible party game. Yet another way to have a great time with friends, or, you know, completely ruin your friendships.
If local multiplayer is too much for you, you will be able to hop online to play against other folks. Doing this will also give you access to the Online Clubs, groups of up to 20 different people working together, with worldwide leaderboards to compete within.
The last Mario Strikers game was 2007's Mario Strikers Charged, which was on the Wii. It’s cool seeing Nintendo’s completely daft soccer game make a comeback this June.