Pros: Character specific skills, All new online system,
Cons: Extremely Difficult at times
The bottom line: If you're a fan of the Mario sports games, there is no reason why you shouldn't pick this up. If your not a fan, this could easily make you interested.
Mario Strikers Charged is an all new addition to the popular Mario sports franchise. In Mario Strikers Charged for Nintendo Wii, you will find many things you are not able to do in most soccer games. This is not like your average EA FIFA game, this is an action packed adventure in itself. You will be smashing into people with hammers, freezing your enemies with blue ice shells, digging into the turf with your favorite characters, and most importantly scoring and blocking exciting mega strike goals.

When you first slide this game into your Nintendo Wii, and start it up, you will notice some similar things from the direct predecessor, Mario Strikers for the Nintendo GameCube. One new thing is an all new online mode, this is possibly the most talked about new feature coming out of Mario Strikers Charged. You will still have your tutorial, and your vs. mode, but you will also notice Nintendo added an all new "Challenge" mode to the game. In this mode players will get to try to beat 12 very tricky challenges and mastering them all wont be easy. Mario Strikers Charged is noticeably more difficult then the first, and this could cause some problems for casual gamers. With the smooth control system and the tutorial in the main menu, you will be striking your way to victory within the first hour of the game. Personally I was very surprised that Nintendo made some of the things in the game to unlock next to impossible. This can be very irritating at times.

One big thing I noticed right away is the game’s soundtrack. With most of the past Mario sports titles such as Mario golf, they have a very soft-easy tune to the soundtracks. Nintendo decided to do something more with Charged, adding in a hard rock - heavy metal soundtrack. This greatly dictates the tone in the game, as it is very fast paced and has a lot of built up excitement. All of the voice-overs are done very well using the one and only voice of Mario, Charles Martinet. The sound effects in the game are as well put together as any would see in a professional soccer title like FIFA. From the chime on the goal post to the whip in the hits, Mario Strikers has second-to-none sound design.

My favorite new feature Nintendo added to single player was the power skills that is specific to each character. Personally my favorite is when you get about 12 yards away from the goal with the hammer brothers, and throw hammers at the goalie then quickly shoots the ball in for the much needed point.


Now there is one question floating around that I have heard multiple times; Is Nintendo finally bringing good online gaming to the Wii? the answer lies within Mario Strikers Charged. Gamers around the world can go online and battle their friends using friend codes as usual, or the can use a search system similar to that of Mario Kart or Tetris DS. Unlike the DS games or Pokemon Battle Revolution, the search is very quick, and most people will pick up another player within 3-5 seconds. Nintendo also added a great new online leader-board right into the game. Now you will be able to see how you stack up against your friends and other gamers. Now with this being said Nintendo is slowly moving closer to getting that great online community everyone has grown accustom to with Playstation Online and XBOX Live.


Now we have saw him time and time again, as Mario hits the golf course, the tennis court, the baseball diamond, and of course the battle field in the infamous Super Smash Brothers series. Mario Strikers Charged for Nintendo's Wii stands tall with all the other Mario sports games, and for fans of the series is a definite must buy. If you are new to the Mario sports games series, this is going to be a great game to try out, because its colors truly do shine through the others as being my personal favorite Mario sports game to date. I actually don't know if you would be able to consider Mario Strikers Charged to be a sports game, because it is so fun, and so action packed, it feels a lot more like Super Smash Bros. felt when it first came to the Nintendo 64. Mario strikers deserves a high score for being the first good online game for the Wii, and for kicking the snot out of EA's FIFA series. I give Mario Strikers Charged for the Nintendo Wii a 9/10. - Kris Hute