Mario Sports Mix has Nintendo’s main mascot take on new sports like volleyball, dodgeball, and hockey. When I played the game, I went with something more familiar, basketball.
Square Enix and Nintendo previously teamed up to make Mario Hoops 3-on-3 for the Nintendo DS, which had some Final Fantasy cameos at the end.
The E3 demo didn’t have the Moogle or red Ninja, but it had a similar set up. Players picked two characters from a Mario Kart-like lineup. Donkey Kong (power type) and so was Yoshi (speed type). You can move Mario with the analog stick. If you’re defending, A is to steal the ball and lifting the remote up makes Mario jump. While in mid-air, Mario can spin attack an opponent and knock the ball out of their hands.
Basketball in the Mushroom Kingdom doesn’t follow the same rules as the NBA, apparently. Once you have the ball, you can pass with one of the buttons on the nunchuck and shoot with an upward remote flick. Flick down to toss the ball and hope it goes in. If you want to fly through the competition, A+B does a super move. Bowser’s move is a volley of fire basketballs.
Mario Sports Mix also has items to grab. Question mark block tiles pop up on the field. If you run over them you can grab an item. The only one I saw was a koopa shell, which made my opponent drop the ball.
Mario Sports Mix is on scheduled for release sometime in 2011.