Super Mario Strikers, like Mario Baseball, is another Mario-themed, wacky sports game, filled with the colorful cast of your favorite Mario characters and a healthy dose of intense power ups and supershots. If you like soccer (or football, for our European readers), or if you like Mario, or heck, if you like fun games, it looks like Super Mario Strikers might be right up your alley.

　　The game itself doesn't need much explanation, because everyone knows what soccer is and what your objectives are, which is to get the ball down the field and into your opponent's goal. Like in Mario Baseball, you'll be asked to select a captain for your team before you start playing. This captain will muster your forces and will have a special shot to use to attempt to blast the ball past the goalie. In our game, we chose Donkey Kong to go against Mario.

　　We're happy to say that our first thought about the game, after we got used to the controls, was that Super Mario Strikes might wind up being a new party favorite. It's easy to play and immediately satisfying, and it seems like gathering four players around a GameCube will be a favorite activity when the game hits, if it isn't already. The controls are fairly easy to nail down: the analog stick controls your movement, the A button is for passing or selecting another character (while on defense), and the B button is for shooting. Other buttons allow you to deke, perform a diving attack on an opposing player with the ball, or perform chip shots or lob passes. The controls are easy to pick up, and after 5 to 10 minutes of play, you should be running with the big dogs.

　　That's not to say that there's not a skill element involved, as there does seem to be some challenge, especially when it comes to defending against a human player. The thing here is that all characters can charge up their shots for extra power if left untouched for a few seconds. This is done by holding B for a couple of seconds, then attempting to tap the button as a meter swings through a couple of power zones on an arc, similar to some golf games. If you hit these power zones, then your shot will become supercharged. Team captains will have special animations for these shots and will even add a bit of fire to the ball as it travels toward the opposing goal. Donkey Kong, for example, charged up a mighty fist and used it to ram the ball toward the goal, which, of course, would result in a penalty kick in real soccer, but hey--you want to tell Donkey Kong what he can and can't do...especially while he's in the process of setting a soccer ball on fire? Didn't think so.

　　Anyway, these supercharged shots are pretty difficult to defend against and will daze the goalie even if they do defend the shot. So this means that you'll want to immediately try to tackle a shooter if you spot him charging up. Shots can also be let go immediately, so deciding whether or not to try to let loose with a quick shot or power up will require some strategic acumen. We also happened to see some special graphics for a one-timer shot, which resulted in the game slowing down while Mario attempted to redirect the ball into our goal.

　　We're really positive about Super Mario Strikers, and we're looking forward to seeing more of the game. Stay tuned to GameSpot for more on this, as well as the rest of Nintendo's E3 2005 lineup.