Similar to previous Mario sports titles, the events themselves have been simplified to the core mechanics, with some new additions layered on-top, such as power-ups, special moves, and the general zaniness that the Mario universe brings.

 

In the case of basketball, fellow GameXplainer Schuyler Lystad and myself took on two soon-to-be hapless victims in a 2 on 2 game. The controls were seemingly simple, with waggle being used to perform shots and blocks. Uniquely, Question Mark boxes would appear on the ground, which when dribbled across would yield either coins or power-ups. Coins add additional points to your score for each successful basket, whereas items can be used Mario Kart-style to either help yourself or hamper your opponets. During our play-time, we saw red shells, banana peels, mini mushrooms and more. Unfortunately, their addition almost makes the otherwise simple gameplay almost too hectic--which is a complaint I had with Mario Power Tennis as well--but then again, Smash Bros. is pretty crazy too until you come to grips with everything.

In addition to the Question Mark boxes, multiplyer zones would also appear sporadically. If you make a basket from that spot, your points will multiply by the amount shown--usually double or triple, but sometimes up to ten-fold! This had the benefit of creating hot-spots on the map, causing everyone to bunch around specific area, but it also made the game feel much more random. Ultimately, we won the game by scoring from a 10x multiplyer zone, which didn’t seem entirely fair.

After decimating our opponents in basketball (admittedly without much intentional skill on our behalfs), we gave volleyball a whirl. Much to my dismay, it was even harder to get into. In this one, the screen is divided in half vertically, which actually made it difficult to track the ball at times. Serving and volleys are again handled with flicks of the controller, and timing them becomes crucial, affecting the strength of your volley.

 

In both games, you would gradually build up a power meter that allows you to unleash a special shot/volley that’s very difficult for your opponents to block. But perhaps the best part is the animations involved, such as when Wario dunks his own behind into the basket right with the ball. It’s pretty funny and totally Mario-esque.

Surprisingly, neither sport was very intuitive--especially when compared to say, Wii Sports--but once we got a hang of the controls, we found ourselves having a pretty good time. It remains to be seen, however, whether the inclusion of four distinct sports--as opposed to the usual one--will come at the expense of depth for each one. Based on what we saw, the games lacked some of the nuances of previous Mario sports, but it’s hard to say for sure without going a bit more in-depth. Look for this one this fall.