Mario Hoops 3-on-3 - First Play

Mario has made appearances in dozens of game titles over the years outside of his original platform genre, and many of those feature Mario and friends engaged in enhanced sport action that can only exist in the Mushroom Kingdom. I enjoy serious simulation sports games from time to time, but I really like the fun and wacky nature of the Mario sports series. I have high expectations of this game, and I do not think that I will be disappointed.

I pop Mario Hoops 3 on 3 into my DS and right away once the menu comes up I am shown a “First Timers” highlighted menu item. As this is my first play, I go along with the suggestion and watch a brief introduction to the rules and basic controls. Immediately I can see that the graphics are very smooth, well animated, and colorful – hallmarks of a quality Nintendo franchise like Mario

As I watch Mario and Wario play basketball on the upper screen I am being told to tap around on the bottom screen to dribble the ball outside of Wario’s reach. Tap tap tap – it feels so intuitive and fun to see Mario act out my tapping by orienting the dribbling of the ball behind, to the left, to the right, in front of himself and even switch over as I tap on different sides of the touch screen. This introduction mode quickly gets me dribbling, passing, shooting, dunking, stealing, and very excited to try my skills out in a real game!

Starting the first tournament I choose from the regular assortment of Mario world characters and decide that Mario, Daisy, and Koopa Jr will form my champion team. In the first game I realize very quickly that the game plays similarly to basketball but with a couple very important differences.

The first major difference I notice is the scoring because while scoring in basketball gives you 2 points with a possible 3 for a “3-point shot” outside the 3-point line, scoring a basket in Mario Hoops counts as 20 points, and a “3-point shot” counts as 30 points. Additionally, you can collect coins from “?” blocks on the floor and if you score a basket while holding coins then they are added to your score. In my first game I manage to get 84 points from a single basket.

The second major difference is that you can pick up and use items and power-ups from the “?” blocks if you are not in possession of the ball. Obviously it helps to have a red shell or star on hand when you are chasing down the ball carrier. Honestly I don’t find much of a challenge and I easily steam roll over my opponents one after the other in this first tournament but it is a gentle introduction to real game play.

I decide to continue on with the next tournament looking for stiffer competition. The second tournament actually presents a bit of a challenge although I never find myself in any danger of losing any of the games. As I move on to the third tournament I find myself forced to do a lot more passing to get rid of the ball before a shell or bomb takes me down, but I consistently stay ahead on the scoreboard.

Each tournament slowly ramps up the difficulty, and offers a different set of playing arenas. Here the graphics and art design really shine. The best part of the arenas is that they aren’t just for show; in fact I have to adapt my playing style for each arena. For example in one arena the baskets are replaced with piranha plants, and trust me – you aren’t about to slam-dunk on those. In the Luigi’s Mansion arena mischievous ghosts occasionally pluck the ball out of the air. An ice level lets you slide tackle your enemies, and a casino level lets you collect credits that you gamble with when you get the ball in the basket. The variety of characters, playing styles, and arenas keep the experience fresh as I play match after match.

Finally I proceed with the fourth and final tournament, the Rainbow Tournament. I notice that I’m starting to struggle to score at all, never mind dawdling collecting coins to bolster the effect of each shot. I’m using every trick I learned from the introduction and somehow I squeak through and win the cup. Then something crazy happens and I’m suddenly thinking how awesome the developers are. Now I don’t want to spoil the surprise, but there is a very cool extra after you finish the Rainbow Tournament in addition to extra characters and difficulty modes.

So after a couple hours of play, using only the basic moves they teach in the first tutorial, I have completed Normal Difficulty and I’m looking forward to learning some more advanced moves and trying out the now unlocked Hard Difficulty mode as well as some intense multiplayer mayhem.