I've stopped purchasing Mario sports titles, because since the mid 2000s, everything they've put out has either been low effort, or one of the sports that don't interest me that much. I've never been a huge fan of real world soccer, but Mario Strikers has always been different. What I got was a game I've had fun with, and a revisiting of the type of gameplay that I've missed for over a decade now, but I came out of the experience wanting more.

I don't want this to come across as a knock, but it's definitely my least favorite game in the series to date. I can't exactly put my finger on why, but perhaps it has to do with my expectations. One thing that has bothered me since day 1 is the control scheme, which acts in complete opposition of the originals. Even after finishing the hard mode cups, I still occasionally slip up and pass instead of shoot, and I miss using the shoulder buttons for lobs. What makes this issue particularly frustrating is that there is no option to change your controls. If you're going to switch the controls around for a sequel, fine - but please give me the option to adjust it to what I'd prefer to use.

My next big issue is pretty subjective - but the content leaves a lot to be desired. I'm not the type of person to really complain about a character roster, and we'll get back to that, but the stadium options have left me pretty disappointed. One thing that I've always liked about Mario spinoffs is that they've never an exact replica of what they're mimicking. The stages in the original and Charged all felt quite unique, and we're not getting that at all here.

Admittedly, I was never super big on stage gimmicks, outside of Crystal Canyon in Charged, but I wish that they did more than a bunch of slightly altered backgrounds. When you played in the Konga Coliseum in the original, you noticed it. Same goes as other favorites such as Crater Field, Bowser Stadium, or The Classroom - none of these were particularly gimmicky, but they were unique. Charged added a great soundtrack on top of its stages, and I was hoping to see that added on to.

The new remixes are okay. I don't hate them, but at the end of the day, they're remixes of songs we already know, and I wouldn't even call them upgrades. They're essentially edgy Strikers versions that feel like they remind you of that fact every 20 seconds. The original songs in Charged were really appreciated for me. I understand a lot of others probably like them, but they're just not for me.

I also don't really understand the idea of the opening to each game whatsoever - stadiums essentially appear out of thin air, and are floating in space. I guess it is an attempt to feel epic, and that it doesn't really matter at the end of the day, but I just feel like creative energy could've been used in other places.

Moving on to actual issues, I want to talk about gameplay next. There's a lot of things I don't particularly like. The decision to merge hits and slide tackles is one I don't really like, because there are plenty of opportunities where I feel like I could go for a steal without hitting the opposition, but it forces me to. Slide tackles were the more satisfying approach to going for a change of possession in the older games, and the few times you get one in this game just doesn't do it for me over having a dedicated button.

The decision to get rid of Megastrikes was a welcome one. Going back to the original formula in the Gamecube entry feels like a much better compromise that doesn't force awkward motion controls on you.

The decision to get rid of allies results in some mixed feelings for me. More team customization is welcome, and ally abilities were getting a little out of hand in Charged, but I do kind of miss them and the idea of the main captains having their own teams and not facing themselves every other match.

Of course, the big change in this system is now every member of a team can go for a Hyperstrike, given they pick up the orb that appears, much like Smash Balls in Smash Bros. I don't know if I prefer this over the original game, because it felt like you could defend against Superstrikes by just putting more defensive emphasis on captains, outside of the broken Super Team. In this game, you can't do it at any time, but gaining access almost can feel like luck at times. Sometimes I feel like when I'm down possessions I feel like I'm planning around obtaining an orb and saving my items for that, and I'm not sure that's good for the game if it is a common issue.

There are a few other things that don't feel great about the game either. Things feel a little bit off - character selection is painfully slow, the timer seems to be desynced (noticeable especially on buzzer beater goals), and what actually constitutes a goal seems to be questionable. There have been a few instances where the ball seems to have crossed the line entirely, but a point is not rewarded.

Probably my biggest gripe with gameplay is that overtime is capped at 2 minutes. Soccer is a low scoring game especially at high levels, so it's infuriating to me that they messed with overtime. Many of my best memories with the originals are the overtime games that went on for way too long. Those were always the most intense matches. In this game, there's literally no benefit to tying - in cup mode, you just replay the match again. It would literally be better if overtime decided it! Most likely this change was adjusting to the era of online play, but why not have an option? It is so easy to include that kind of feature.

The last gameplay topics I want to discuss are the hit system and goalies. I was skeptical about the item system at first, with team specific boxes, until I realized that they appear as penalties for hitting defenseless players. With that being said, I still don't really like this change. It incentivizes hitting opponents and giving them an item much more when there is no immediate punishment. Maybe they wanted it to be this way, but I don't like the idea of hits being this incentivized.

Goalies definitely feel tamer in this game. Don't get me wrong, I understand Boom Boom fits a Mario game more but I do miss Kritter - he was a bit of a badass. I miss the OP goalies that would just completely deck anyone who dared to mess with him. Boom Boom seemingly acts on his own at times also, which I'm not a big fan of. This complaint is pretty minor though.

I think a lot of people feel this game is lacking in the content department, but realistically content has never gone crazy in a Strikers game. I think a lot of this adds up to the Cup Modes being relatively unenjoyable. Every cup is at maximum 5 games now, which is on the short end. There's nothing wrong with double elimination, it is actually a very fair format. But it does make the game feel smaller than the tougher cups of old. I think the AI also turns a lot of people off of these modes to begin with too. It does not feel fair to face, and has many perfect reactions to moves you make. It can get a little frustrating at times.

Online content is not bad. I enjoy being able to play online co-op with friends, or 4 player games, but also, it very easily could've been better, so it's hard to give points here. I've not played the group competitions yet, but from what I've observed, it seems like a grindfest more than anything else, so I'm not really too interested.

As far as DLC goes, it is what it is. I prefer my games finished, that's all I'm going to say on the matter. By giving characters out as free updates, it just annoys me that they didn't put them in sooner, because I doubt Daisy and Shy Guy were that much work to put in the base game.

Finally, the gear system is ok I guess. Customization is cool, but if you want to actually buy everything... well have fun grinding. After beating tournaments for the first time, you can no longer get coins by the thousand, so it appears to be a grueling process. Count me out.

Overall, I'm glad to get a new entry on the Switch. Don't get me wrong, as I've been pretty negative. I'm still going to play online with friends from time to time over the next few years. I was just expecting a little better.