New Mario Strikers on Nintendo Switch: Ice Hockey?

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by: Hairball

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It's been a long time since we've seen a Mario Strikers game released on a Nintendo console. Super Mario Strikers, an arcade-style soccer game was originally released in 2005 for the GameCube. A successor, Mario Strikers Charged was released on the Wii in 2007. And that has been it for now.

Mario playing hockey, the next Strikers game be based on hockey!
Mario playing hockey in Mario Sports Mix, the next Strikers game should be based on hockey!

This series has not seen a follow up on either the Wii U or Nintendo Switch. It's time for this dormant series to resurface. The Nintendo Switch would be a perfect console for an arcade-style sports game like Mario Strikers. It's a game that's easy to pick up, intuitive and fun to play.

Despite the Mario Strikers series being nominally a soccer game, I've always found it plays like an ice hockey game.

How is Mario Strikers really like a hockey game in disguise? There are several reasons why - the playing surface has walls around it just like the boards of an ice hockey rink. There is bodychecking, which is something that simply does not exist in soccer, however there are no penalties in any situation.. And for tie games, they go to overtime and it's played as sudden death, which is what hockey does. Soccer has not had sudden death overtime in well over a decade.

For awhile, I've felt that the next Mario Strikers for Nintendo Switch should be an ice hockey game. If it looks like a duck, quacks like a duck, then it's probably a duck. And this soccer game is really a hockey game in disguise! Pretty much, they need to strap some skates on the characters, change the ball to a puck and presto, you got a Mario Strikers hockey game.

Ice hockey event in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games
Ice hockey event in Mario & Sonic at the Sochi 2014 Olympic Games

Mario Strikers was developed by Next Level Games, a Canadian company based in Vancouver, British Columbia. Although soccer is popular in BC, there is no doubt that hockey is still the #1 sport in Canada, and it's certainly no coincidence that Mario Strikers definitely has some hockey elements in the games.

They've hinted at Mario Strikers in the recently released Luigi's Mansion 3 on the Switch. Although it was from a different developer, there was also a soccer mini-game in Super Mario Party that had some Mario Strikers vibes.

So far, we still have not heard of any rumors or news of a Mario Strikers game in development for Nintendo Switch, however this series definitely deserves a new update.

We have seen Mario and the crew play hockey in Mario Sports Mix for the 3DS and the Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Winter Games games. However, it's time for the greatest game on ice to get a full billing in a future Mario Strikers hockey game for the Nintendo Switch!


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