Mario Strikers Charged Mini-Review

Hey members/strikers or whatever!
Welcome to my little review of Mario strikers charged! Since I got it a day before release, i thought I would tease everyone about it...

On section 1, I will tell you what the game is about and all the options etc
First up...

1.

Starting up the game
OK, I inserted the disc, took a few seconds to load and!...
A 'System Update' Message came up, don't know why but I get an update, it took like 30 seconds to download and it reset my wii.
When it booted up again, I clicked start and some funky-hip-groove-to-the-eye music starts up so I got up and danced (I didn't dance really), This cool movie starts up (im sure you have all seen it on youtube) but it's really cool and the music is good as well, Then the camera zooms into the metal ball thing and Im greeted with...

The Main Menu Screen
There are 7 options to select when the title movie finishes, they are:

1. Domination Mode
2. Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
3. Road To The Striker Cup
4. Striker Challenges
5. Strikers ABC
6. Hall of fame
7. Options

Domination Mode
Domination mode is where game rules and the number of participants can be freely selected. So you can select your captain, sidekicks and stadium and play!
You can change the skill level of the computer to suit your needs, Series length and the game type.
There are lot's of characters to choose from.

Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection
Wow, Nintendo has done a great job of this!
There are so many options to choose from and if you have a good connection (Your connection is rated in stars) then there is no lag at all!
I am really impressed by the quality and speed of the online section, You can play against your friends in your friend roster, Play a random person, you and a friend can play against someone online and much more!

Road to the striker cup
This is the main mode of the game I think, basically you set up your team and work your way up to get the Striker Cup! If you have a mate with you, you can play co-op which will be quite fun.
This mode is basically a big tournament where teams who finish in a high enough position can proceed to the next phase of the tournament, And I can tell you that it starts to get very hard!
There are two difficulty modes, Normal and Extreme.
I haven't played this much but This mode looks very good, you can probably unlock some new stadiums etc.

Striker Challenges
The striker challenges is a different set of challenges for each character, when you complete a challenge, you are rewarded with a player card.
Nothing much to say except it's good for when your mates aren't around.

1. The vice
2. Thunder Island
3. Sand Tomb

These are only 3 of many stadiums, I will leave you to find out for yourself

Items

1. Green Shell
2. Red Shell
3. Blue Shell
4. Spiked Shell
5. Banana Peel
6. Bob-omb
7. Chain-Chomp
8. Mushroom
9. Power star

3.

Online - (just added )
This section is dedicated to Mario Strikers Charged Online mode, which is absolute fantastic!
As soon as you click 'Nintendo Wi-Fi', it goes straight to a screen where it logs you in, updates rankings and gaming stats.
When you are logged in, you can choose any mii you want to use as your avatar.
Once you select a Mii, all your game stats will be saved to that Mii you chose so if you delete your mii from the mii channel, you will lose your data. So choose your mii wisely!
But no worries there, you can choose as many mii's as you want but remember that each mii has a different profile, so that means different stats etc. I can't explain it but you will find out tomorrow if you are getting it.

Rankings
The random match rankings reset every week, meaning that you will always have a chance to aim for the top of the WFC (wi-fi connection) rankings, so it doesn't matter if you do crap in your first week.

Here is a list of what you can do when you are connected.

1. Play ranked matches against random players
2. Play friendly with someone you have added via the games friend code
3. Check who is 'striker of the day'
4. You can have a friend over to play on your team against a random player (2 people on 1 team vs 1 person on the other).

Wireless Connection
When you are connected , It will tell you how many stars you have (in terms of quality of connection), so:

1. 1 star = A low connection , you'll definitely feel the effects during play.
2. 2 stars = A fairly low connection, but the game can still be enjoyed.
3. 3 stars = No problems with play.
4. 4 stars = Perfect conditions for play.

On section 4, I will tell you what the game is like in my opinion

4.

My Opinion on the game as a whole
At first I thought I wasn't going to like this game as im not much into sporty games, but after a-while I got used to the controls better and it started to become addictive.

My opinion on the online Mode
The online section is really good, It is based on a positive ranking system so if you lose, you will still get points for the amount of goals, mega-strikes and tackles etc.
Last time I checked, their were around 1700 + people playing in Europe (i could see this as I checked the ranking boards), so that means all them people got this game a day before release and must of pre-ordered it (like me).
There are a wide selection of options such as friendly, playing against a random person, playing against a friend etc.

My opinion on the graphics
The graphics are very good and the crowd are all animated and look really nice, but I don't know if it is just my wii but on the replay's etc, nothing seemed to be running smooth like when I am playing the game (this was also the case when I was watching mini-clips of the characters etc)

My opinion on the gameplay
As I said previously, there are lot's of modes. The controls are fairly easy to get to grips with and the opponent teams are quite hard so you will be spending hours getting through the strikers cup.
There are so many captains and side-kicks to pick and all the special moves to learn and master.
My personal favorite side-kick is shyguy.

End Notes
I can see myself playing this all summer with my friends on and offline, as it is really addictive. Probably the best game so far that I have bought, I am really looking forward to playing members from wiichat.
Despite some glitches I have seen (between screens etc), this game is a winner!

My verdict = 9.3/10

I hope you enjoyed my little review on Mario Strikers Charged.