Nintendo’s plumber mascot has become as well-known for multiplayer-focused outings likeMario PartyandMario Kartas he’s known for his platforming adventures. One interesting side of theSuper Mariofranchise is its breadth of games based on real-world sports. SomeMariosports games are only tangentially related by including characters from the Mushroom Kingdom, as was the case with 1987’sNES Open Tournament Golf. However,Mario Strikers: Battle Leagueis a great example of the way this brand can enhance traditional sports.
Mario and friends have played all manner of sports over the decades, with the most recurring series being tennis and golf. A handful ofMariobaseball games released in the mid-2000s, and Square Enix’sMario Hoops 3-on-3brought Mushroom Kingdom residents to the basketball court alongsideFinal Fantasycharacters (Mario and Luigi also appear in the GameCube port ofNBA Street V3). Activities like volleyball and equestrianship also appear in “sports mix” games, not to mention the long history ofMario & SonicOlympics titles. However, Next Level Games' soccer-basedMario Strikersadds a particular flare to this subgenre that could be leveraged to create Mario’s take on an American football league.
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The Mario Football Game that Never Was
Technically speaking, theMario Strikersseries is considered a “football” game abroad; its latest entry namedMario Strikers: Battle League Footballin Europe. American football is an entirely different beast than what those in the States refer to as “soccer,” though, and as of this writing there is noMariofootball game - but not for lack of trying. In 2007, Retro Studios president Michael Kelbaugh told Game Developer that Retro canceled four concurrent projects oncework onMetroid Primebegan. One of these projects wasNFL Retro Footballfor GameCube, which former Retro Studios programmer Jason Hughes said was meant to be aMario-themed title with a younger demographic in a 2004 Nsidr interview. Nintendo wanted the team to aim for a mature audience instead.
This isn’t the only uniqueMariosports game canceled before seeing the light of day. While working to releaseMario Strikers Chargedin 2007, Next Level Games hoped it could follow up with a similarly hyper-violent volleyball game calledSuper Mario Spikerswith elements of professional wrestling.Spikerswas never green-lit by Nintendo because of its more violent bent, but withMario Strikers: Battle Leaguebringing its fan-favorite series backto life, there could be a perfect opportunity to combine these canceled pitches for a fittingly intense football simulator.
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How Mario Strikers: Battle League Could Open the Door to American Football
The legacy of Mario sports games is diverse, withCamelot’s RPG-styleMariogolf gameson handheld consoles being a prime example of out-there projects in Nintendo’s catalog. However,Mario Strikersis undoubtedly one of the uniquest series in the franchise for giving its cast more angular, intense designs and a propensity to kick one another into electric fences - a far cry from the usually family-friendly brand image.
American football is a contact-heavy sport that could really sell a similar level of violence if Next Level Games took on the project. Like the soccer-basedStrikersseries, moment-to-moment gameplay could boil down to swapping between different units as team captains like Mario or supportive Toads rush the football closer to their opponents' end zone. AMariofootball game could balance the hyper-tuned contact sport’s tackling with more silly character abilities. For example, Yoshi could flutter jump, or Luigi could use his Poltergust to catch a kickoff before it flies back too many yards.Battle League’s Hyper Strike mechaniccould also transition into players aiming for field goals.
Nintendo could certainly sanitize the sport to release a safe, colorful American football game akin toMario Tennis AcesandMario Golf: Super Rushon Switch. However, theconsistent success of EA’sMadden NFLfranchiseshows there is an audience for mature sports games as Nintendo hoped it could hit withNFL Retro Footballon GameCube (even if this title never had the chance to prove itself). It would be a great time to try givenMario Strikers: Battle Leaguehas reinvigorated interest - though Nintendo should avoid its current pattern of post-launch updates for sports games.
