Smashing Fun with Mario Sports Superstars

It’s summer! And with summer comes family road trips! And this summer our family will be doing its longest road trip yet – from CA to IN – more than 30 hours of driving.

With three boys, I need to make sure that I pack plenty of things to keep them busy and entertained. One item that will definitely be included is our Nintendo 3DS. 

Mario Sports Superstars

We’ve recently received the opportunity to try out Mario Sports Superstars for the Nintendo 3DS. We are a fan of all things Mario and Mario Sports Superstars delivers like all the rest. 

Mario with first introduced in the arcade game “Donkey Kong” in 1981 and was called “Jumpman”. In 1982 he was given the name “Mario” in Donkey Kong Jr. Since then, Mario has appeared in more than 200 video games and is considered the best-selling video game franchise of all time. 

I remember growing up playing Super Mario Bros. on my Nintendo Entertainment System; it was one of my favorites. Later on, as an adult, Mario Kart became a family favorite on the Wii. We have enjoyed playing many other Mario-based games too. 

Mario Sports Superstars is rated “E” for Everyone by the ESRB board. It is a fun game that our entire family enjoys playing.

Features

• Five sports – Soccer, Tennis, Golf, Baseball and Horse Racing
• Take on friends and rivals in local or online multiplayer, or tackle single-player tournaments
• How to Play mode as well as Pro Tips
• Full lineup of Mario characters to choose from (my favorite is Princess Peach)
• Rated “E” for Everyone by ESRB

I spent time playing through all of the sports. Two of my boys did as well. My boys enjoyed baseball and soccer the most. My favorite sport ended up being Horse Racing. (Imagine Mario Kart but with horses.) The other sports reminded me a lot of Wii Sports in how you play them. BUT, these aren’t normal sports – they’re Mario Sports. Expect unexpected thrills and power up to stomp out the competition. 

The other sports reminded me a lot of Wii Sports in how you play them. BUT, these aren’t normal sports – they’re Mario Sports. Expect unexpected thrills and power up to stomp out the competition. 

What I really appreciate about the game is that they have a “How to Play” mode for all the sports. It teaches all the different moves that you can do. For example, in soccer, it shows you how to kick, dribble, pass, steal the ball and much more. It has you try each “trick” until you get a handle on how to do it and then moves on to the next thing. 

For example, in soccer, it shows you how to kick, dribble, pass, steal the ball and much more. It has you try each “trick” until you get a handle on how to do it and then moves on to the next thing. 

Once you have figured out the basics to a sport you can take the game further by trying out the Pro Tips. At this point, I am still figuring out the basics of the game so I did not venture much into the Pro Tips. But, I like that the game will continue to challenge and make things more difficult and interesting.

You can even take Horse Racing a step further by building a stable, spending time with your horse, and training him to win the race. This portion of the game seems to be a better fit for my younger son (7). He wasn’t super interested in the games (they were a little tough yet).

But, he enjoyed playing in the stable – petting the horse, picking out the horse’s saddle and other accessories and taking him for a walk. Along the walk, you find boxes containing different items – feed, coins or accessories to customize your horse. 

We tested out the downloadable version. There is also a physical version that you can purchase. For a limited time, if you purchase the physical version it will include an amino card. That seems to be the big difference between the downloadable version and the physical version. 

There are Single Player and Multiplayer modes. We stuck with the Single Player mode because we did not have a second device to try it out on. If you have friends that also have the game and are online, you could play against them. There is also an option to play against players worldwide. 

Pros:

• Five games in one!
• Tutorial that teaches you how to play each sport
• Different options for all ages
• It’s Mario and all his friends = lots of fun with the added flair of the power ups and extra thrills that regular sports games don’t have

Cons:

• When using the tutorial, if you can’t figure out a certain move, they won’t allow you to move on and try something else. I spent a lot of time trying to figure out a certain soccer move and got a little frustrated
• If you want to play in Multiplayer mode, you need to find someone else that also has the game – whether you are playing locally or online. Or, you will be playing a stranger

The physical version of Mario Sports Superstars is available on Amazon for $39.99 and includes 1 card from the Mario Sports Superstars amiibo card series. The downloadable version will also run you $39.99.

A Mom’s Perspective

As a mom, a priority for me is that my kids are playing wholesome games. I don’t particularly care for violent games. Mario Sports Superstars is a perfect for our family. I like that everyone has a different favorite sport. I expect that they will all enjoy playing the game throughout our road trip.

I’m also appreciative of the fact that there is something simpler that my youngest son is able to enjoy even though the sports games are still a little tough. 

Being a Mario fan, this game delivers like all the rest of the Mario games.  I like that they took a basic concept and added some fun extra flair by including the Mario line up. 

All the extra power ups just add to the fun of the game. Power kicks in soccer, power swings for the home run and a burst of energy to pass your opponents in horse racing make the game more interesting.  If you’re a Mario fan like me, your family will enjoy Mario Sports Superstars.

*  I was given a digital download of Mario Sports Superstars to review. All opinions are my own.