Mario Sports Mix

      Mario Sports Mix came out last week and it has been one of my most anticipated games to come out so far since E3 2010.  I have been really fond of the sports games that Nintendo have made with their poster boy Mario.  For the next installment in the series, if you would consider it a series, you can pick to play basketball, hockey, volleyball, and dodgeball. As far as gamestyle it is set up so that you can play tournament mode, which takes you through three different tournaments and also lets you go on alternate paths once you have beaten the cups.  This of course leads to unlocking more levels and more characters. I originally got the game because I was super excited to play a dodgeball game but the more I’ve played them the more my opinion changed on them. While dodgeball is really fun it is a bit confusing to get used to how it’s played. The one that I really started to like was basketball it’s a little more fast-paced than the other three but once you get down the passing and shooting it becomes fun.  As far as volleyball and hockey go, they are both pretty fun but I feel easily forgotten about compared to the other two. The gameplay could be a little better four all four of the games. I consider Mario Super Strikers to be one of my favorite games and all the motions are very fluid and enjoyable but for Sports Mix the characters seem to be a little tough to manage and don’t respond correctly all the time.  The charge system they has been used in many of the previous sports games is added but only to a certain extend. It is still a bit hard to use. Also when you unlock a character or level you only unlock it for that particular sport so it makes it very tedious to go and beat ever tournament on every mode just to unlock the same thing over and over again. They have a few mini games to play and also allow you to play with your Mii, but I feel like 4 mini games isn’t really enough and should have been better thought out. It adds online play which is always fun but it’s cursed of having Nintendo’s bad wifi capabilities and impossible friend codes. As much as I have complained, I do really enjoy the game and it’s a good game to have if you like playing with your friends in a casual setting. Perhaps this is a game you should wait until the price drops on to pick up but I would still suggest getting.