The last few years have been great forSuper Mariospinoff games. The Switch has two differentMario Partygames to its name, andMario Golf: Super Rushbrought a longtime favoriteMario Sportstitle back after a hiatus of a few years. Soon, the trend will continue with the help ofMario Strikers: Battle League, a long overdue heir to the belovedMario Strikerstitles from the mid-2000s. In many ways,Mario Strikers: Battle Leagueseems to preserve the mechanics that defined the first two games in the series, but it does make clear efforts to upgradeMario Strikershallmarks.
One of these efforts is the Hyper Strike. LongtimeMario Strikersfans likely Super Strikes and Mega Strikes from previous games, which were empowered shots that captains could perform to try to earn additional points for their team. The Hyper Strike is largely based on these techniques, but comes with a little more flexibility. It remains to be seen ifMario Strikers: Battle League’s Hyper Strike lives up to the franchise’s previous mechanics, but it’s at least good to see that Nintendo and Next Level Games are eager to innovate. AlongsideBattle League’s other new features, Hyper Strikes could be a strong addition.
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How Battle League’s Hyper Strikes Work
While many special shots intheMario Strikersseriesprioritize the captain,Mario Strikers: Battle Leaguecauses a little more chaos with its Hyper Strikes. Once in a while during a Battle League match, a golden orb will appear in the stadium. The first player to collect this orb will charge up their entire team, enabling them to perform a Hyper Strike. Unlike Super Strikes and Mega Strikes, these orbs appear to allow any of the players' team members to perform the special shot, instead of just the captain, meaningMario Strikersfans have a little flexibility when lining up a Hyper Strike.
Once players are in position, they’ll have to charge up their Hyper Strike with a couple well-timed button presses. If players successfully charge the shot and get the ball into the goal, they’ll earn two points instead of one, much like Super Strikes. Notably, each Hyper Strike may impact the stadium differently.TheMario Strikers: Battle Leaguereveal trailershows Luigi summoning a tornado around the ball after performing his Hyper Strike, drawing in enemies and pulling them out of position. Odds are good that eachBattle Leaguecharacter will have their own special power or status effect that triggers when a Hyper Strike is used.
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Mario Strikers' Next Evolution
The apparent freedom of choice involved inMario Strikers: Battle League’s Hyper Strikes is definitely a nice upgrade on previous special shots, although it’s hard to say just yet if it’ll ultimately be more useful than its predecessors. That’ll likely be determined by how important the special effects attached to Hyper Strikes turn out to be. Still, Hyper Strikes are an excitingMario Strikersimprovement when taken with the context of other new features likeBattle League’s improvements to online multiplayer andan expanded roster of playableMariocharacters.Mario Strikersis changing for the better with the help of Hyper Strikes.
Mario Strikers: Battle Leaguedoes appear to belong to a pattern of Nintendo reinventingSuper Mariospinoff franchises lately.Mario Partyhas undergone a couple significant changes in its Switch days, andMario Golf: Super Rushintroduced a lot of new ideas and characters that set it apart from previous games.Mario Strikersis far from the first spinoff to change, and it likely won’t be the last. For now, though, newMario Strikersfeatures like the Hyper Strike remain exciting in themselves and inspire hope for more positiveSuper Marioinnovation in the future.
