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Should you enter the court or slam your way out? We have the answer.
September 18, 2006 | 7:02 AM PSTby: Stephen Smith
The Mario-themed sports titles have been a mainstay with Nintendo consoles for ages now. We have seen Mario Golf and Mario Tennis, with more recent additions such as soccer and baseball. Guess what? Now we can add basketball to that roster as Square-Enix brings us Mario Hoops 3-on-3 to the Nintendo DS. Will Mario’s foray into b-ball be as noteworthy as previous sports efforts, or will players ultimately cry foul?
Facts and Features
Enter The Court…
The Mario sports titles have usually been hit-or-miss games. Either we really enjoy them, or they make us feel like they are a complete waste of time. One of the aspects we most admire, however, is the arcade style of gameplay -- where realism is not even considered, and outrageous cartoon inspired situations are not just encouraged, they are required. A good example of this would be in Mario Golf where one course was situated on a waterfall, with little outgrowths of land sprinkled up the cascade.
Mario Hoops 3-on-3 easily accomplishes the over the top action of previous Mario themed sports titles, and even manages to break some new ground along the way. First thing you will notice about Mario Hoops 3-on-3 is that it really pushes the Nintendo DS hardware. The top screen shows a forced 3D perspective where players always face their own basket, while the bottom screen shows a top down perspective of the game.
So how does Mario basketball compare to our American basketball? Well, let’s start with what they have in common, shall we? You play 3-on-3 basketball where players dribble the ball to their respective baskets. You can shoot and slam-dunk for points, with the winner being the one with the highest score.
The differences, however, are many, but to start out, the points you receive differ greatly. A shot at the American 3-point line will earn you 30 points. Any shot taken inside this line will give you 20 points, and a special shot will earn you 40 points, but more on that later. Remember the question mark blocks from the Mario games? They are here but are located randomly on the basketball floor. If you are on the offense, dribbling the ball on these blocks will earn you coins. These coins add one point to your score for every coin collected when you make a successful basket. If you are on the defense, you get items from just walking over them such as lightning bolts, and banana peels to use against your opponents. I guess it also goes without saying there are no fouls in the game, but I just wanted to throw that in.
Hoopin’ and Controllin’
Where Mario Hoops 3-on-3 really shines is with its control scheme. Basically, you control your character movement directly with the plus pad. But where it really gets interesting is how the touch screen is incorporated into the design. The touch screen is how you shoot, pass, and manipulate the ball throughout the game. For example, to dribble in any directions you simply tap on the left, top, right, or bottom portion of the touch screen. This makes it easy to evade a possible stealing of the ball by your opponent. Another similar aspect is how you must manually tap on the touch screen to redeem coins from the question mark blocks that we mentioned earlier. Passing the ball is accomplished by drawing a diagonal line to the team-mate you want to pass the ball to. To shoot or dunk the ball, you simply draw a line from the bottom of the screen to the top. How you shoot the ball is completely dependent on where your character is located. Filling out the rest of the control for playing offence is the special shots. Every character can perform a special shot by tapping a certain pattern on the screen twice in succession. But be careful when using these special shots, they are easily detectable, and therefore easily stopped by your opponent.
Speaking of your opponent, control is a bit different while playing defense. To steal the ball, you draw a line in the opposite direction of your opponent. When you walk over a question mark block, items will automatically appear. To use these items, simply draw a line in the direction of your target. All of this is accomplished perfectly, and it is the one of the best aspects of Mario Hoops 3-on-3.
Dunk it!
The design aspect of Mario Hoops 3-on-3 doesn’t aim to such a lofty goal as the control does. Good points include a sizable roster of characters from both the Mario and Final Fantasy games. Don’t be surprised when you see such notable characters as Princess Peach, Donkey Kong, and even a White Mage. In addition the game will automatically save your progress, and there are several downloadable multiplayer mini games.
The lists of shortcomings in the design are a little more substantial. For starters, the available modes of play are unfortunately small in number. You have a practice mode, a tourney or tournament mode, exhibition match, and finally, the multiplayer.
Facts and Features
- Play 3-on-3 basketball with characters from the Mario and Final Fantasy franchises.
- Experience all new game play with touch screen controlled passing, dribbling, and best of all, slam-dunking basketball action.
- Challenge friends wirelessly or try competing in a number of downloadable mini-games.
Enter The Court…
The Mario sports titles have usually been hit-or-miss games. Either we really enjoy them, or they make us feel like they are a complete waste of time. One of the aspects we most admire, however, is the arcade style of gameplay -- where realism is not even considered, and outrageous cartoon inspired situations are not just encouraged, they are required. A good example of this would be in Mario Golf where one course was situated on a waterfall, with little outgrowths of land sprinkled up the cascade.
Mario Hoops 3-on-3 easily accomplishes the over the top action of previous Mario themed sports titles, and even manages to break some new ground along the way. First thing you will notice about Mario Hoops 3-on-3 is that it really pushes the Nintendo DS hardware. The top screen shows a forced 3D perspective where players always face their own basket, while the bottom screen shows a top down perspective of the game.
So how does Mario basketball compare to our American basketball? Well, let’s start with what they have in common, shall we? You play 3-on-3 basketball where players dribble the ball to their respective baskets. You can shoot and slam-dunk for points, with the winner being the one with the highest score.
The differences, however, are many, but to start out, the points you receive differ greatly. A shot at the American 3-point line will earn you 30 points. Any shot taken inside this line will give you 20 points, and a special shot will earn you 40 points, but more on that later. Remember the question mark blocks from the Mario games? They are here but are located randomly on the basketball floor. If you are on the offense, dribbling the ball on these blocks will earn you coins. These coins add one point to your score for every coin collected when you make a successful basket. If you are on the defense, you get items from just walking over them such as lightning bolts, and banana peels to use against your opponents. I guess it also goes without saying there are no fouls in the game, but I just wanted to throw that in.
Hoopin’ and Controllin’
Where Mario Hoops 3-on-3 really shines is with its control scheme. Basically, you control your character movement directly with the plus pad. But where it really gets interesting is how the touch screen is incorporated into the design. The touch screen is how you shoot, pass, and manipulate the ball throughout the game. For example, to dribble in any directions you simply tap on the left, top, right, or bottom portion of the touch screen. This makes it easy to evade a possible stealing of the ball by your opponent. Another similar aspect is how you must manually tap on the touch screen to redeem coins from the question mark blocks that we mentioned earlier. Passing the ball is accomplished by drawing a diagonal line to the team-mate you want to pass the ball to. To shoot or dunk the ball, you simply draw a line from the bottom of the screen to the top. How you shoot the ball is completely dependent on where your character is located. Filling out the rest of the control for playing offence is the special shots. Every character can perform a special shot by tapping a certain pattern on the screen twice in succession. But be careful when using these special shots, they are easily detectable, and therefore easily stopped by your opponent.
Speaking of your opponent, control is a bit different while playing defense. To steal the ball, you draw a line in the opposite direction of your opponent. When you walk over a question mark block, items will automatically appear. To use these items, simply draw a line in the direction of your target. All of this is accomplished perfectly, and it is the one of the best aspects of Mario Hoops 3-on-3.
Dunk it!
The design aspect of Mario Hoops 3-on-3 doesn’t aim to such a lofty goal as the control does. Good points include a sizable roster of characters from both the Mario and Final Fantasy games. Don’t be surprised when you see such notable characters as Princess Peach, Donkey Kong, and even a White Mage. In addition the game will automatically save your progress, and there are several downloadable multiplayer mini games.
The lists of shortcomings in the design are a little more substantial. For starters, the available modes of play are unfortunately small in number. You have a practice mode, a tourney or tournament mode, exhibition match, and finally, the multiplayer.
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