Mario Sports Mix
A Mario sports compilation with Square Enix guest characters.
Mario Sports Mix is a 2010 sports video game developed by Square Enix and published by Nintendo for the Wii. It features volleyball, ice hockey, dodgeball, and basketball, with characters from the Mario series alongside guest appearances from Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest. The game sold 1.98 million copies, making it one of the Wii's best-selling titles.
Quick Facts
- Developer
- Square Enix
- Publisher
- Nintendo
- Director
- Shin Azuma
- Producer
- Toyokazu Nonaka; Hiroyuki Miura
- Artist
- Gen Kobayashi
- Composer
- Masayoshi Soken; Kumi Tanioka
- Series
- Mario Sports
- Platforms
- Wii
Facts from the source article.
Gameplay
The game follows the arcade-style approach of earlier Mario sports titles, featuring powerful special moves and a coin redemption system where collected coins add points to the next goal. Local multiplayer supports two-on-two or three-on-three cooperative play and two-on-two competitive matches. Region-locked online multiplayer allows two players per console to compete against friends or random opponents. The roster includes Mario characters, Final Fantasy guests (Ninja, White Mage, Black Mage, Cactuar, Moogle), a Dragon Quest Slime, and Mii characters.
Plot
In the story mode, Toad discovers four crystals containing a basketball, volleyball, dodgeball, and a coin (used as a hockey puck) after an object crashes behind Princess Peach's castle. The Toads decide to introduce these sports to the Mushroom Kingdom, and Toad organizes tournaments for each sport. Completing all four tournaments unlocks a boss fight against Behemoth from Final Fantasy, and beating it unlocks Sports Mix mode, which combines all four sports and ends with a fight against Behemoth King.
Development
Mario Sports Mix is the third Mario game developed by Square Enix, following Super Mario RPG and Mario Hoops 3-on-3. It was first shown at E3 2010, where Reggie Fils-Aimé stated that none of the four sports had appeared in a previous Mario sports title, though basketball, volleyball, and hockey had appeared in minigames or other Mario titles. Dodgeball is the first sport to be featured prominently in a Mario sports game, and the other three appear in a home console title for the first time.
Reception
Famitsu gave the game a score of 30/40, with reviewers praising its simple controls and special moves but noting that only four sports might lead to boredom. Metacritic reports an aggregate score of 64/100, and GameRankings lists 66%. IGN's Jack DeVries rated it 6.5, calling it a fun party game but a weak offering, while praising the graphics and music. Eurogamer gave it 7/10, and Common Sense Media awarded 5 stars, calling it good fun for all ages. GameSpot rated it 4/10, criticizing the sports as tedious and shallow, with cheap computer opponents and too much chaos. Official Nintendo Magazine noted volleyball as the weakest sport and found the Square Enix unlockable characters underwhelming compared to Mario characters. As of April 2011, the game had sold 1.54 million copies worldwide.
Frequently Asked Questions
Who directed Mario Sports Mix?
Mario Sports Mix was directed by Shin Azuma.
Who composed the music for Mario Sports Mix?
The music for Mario Sports Mix was composed by Masayoshi Soken and Kumi Tanioka.
More in Square Enix Games of the 2010s
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