DS Review: Mario Hoops 3-on-3

Mario and crew lace up their sports shoes once again, this time taking it to the basketball courts in Mario Hoops 3-on-3 for the Nintendo DS. The game teeters on the rim with its mix of pros and cons, but in the long run Mario Hoops shoots and scores

The Mushroom Kingdom cast originally balled with the NBA pros in NBA Street Vol. 3 (and I guess technically also with mini-games in the Mario Party series) but now the ball is in Mario's court and the game of basketball is given the full Nintendo treatment.

The game is actually developed by Square-Enix, and adds even more flavor to the superb presentation of the game with classic Final Fantasy characters and settings.

If the title of the game wasn't a clear indication, players will man teams of three and hit the court in exhibition, multiplayer or tournament modes. Hoops also offers up several practice lessons to help players learn the game as well as a training mode and mini-games.

Players will notice as soon they start the game that Mario Hoops is one of the most vibrant and visually polished games yet to be released on the system. Very few games on the system have yet to the match graphical shine, superb sound and overall style that 3-on-3 brings to the table. The menus are easy to navigate and are full of great visuals... and of course there's that uber-catchy theme song.

Even in the midst of game play, the graphics are second-to-none for the Nintendo DS hardware. The characters have full detail and still look good when in animation and all of the explosions and items look just as nice. While the environments aren't distracting during play, taking a look at the surroundings still reveals great detail and notables such as the 8-bit advertisement boards, ghosts and Podobos (yes, those fireballs have a name).

While the music during play isn't as dominant as it is in the menus, it serves as an appropriate backdrop to the theme of the current court you're on. Add in all the crazy voice-overs and sound effects you'd expect from a Mario sports title and presentation-wise, Hoops is right on par with the style from even the Gamecube's sports titles.

Unfortunately for Hoops, though, while it looks and sounds like a dream, its most glaring issues are in the areas where it counts most - control and game play.

The main hook of the game is the one-of-a-kind control scheme which allows players to tear up the court with stylish dribbling and on-the-fly passing and shooting all by using the touch screen. Taps and strokes of the lower screen will perform not only passes, shots and steals but also pin-point dribbling, item use, sidesteps and flashy special shots.

While the schematics sound good in theory, ultimately, the commands just end up feeling gimmicky and sloppy in execution as there were many times where my stroke or tap of stylus yielded results much different than my intention. Even a couple of the simple tasks presented in the practice lessons became an exercise in patience - especially in tasks that required jumping and multiple stylus strokes.

This key element is further watered down since a "help button" option allows players to use the DS's face buttons to emulate touch screen strokes. While this saved the control and made Hoops much more playable and enjoyable for me, it defeats the purpose of which the game was designed around since I played the whole time without using the touch screen.

While Mario Hoops is basketball on the surface, the coin system used in tallying a team's score really detracts from the finesse of basketball and puts the focus of the game more on coin chasing than anything else.

Players will find a number of Hatena Blocks (you know, the Mario blocks with the question marks on them) on the court and by dribbling on top of them, coins will be added to a team's total coin count (to a max of 100). When a team scores a basket, not only is it awarded 20 or 30 points (based off of regulation basketball's 2- and 3-point scoring) but also one point for every coin in the team's tally.

When players can score 130 points in one shot, games amount more to running around tallying coins and fetching items (when a player without a ball steps on a Hatena Block, they are provided with a Mario Kart weapon) instead of concentrating on the deeper facets of basketball.

When environmental hazards such as Podobo explosions, cannonballs, ice and more are mixed in, players are constantly being slammed and the game can occasionally turn into a trial of making it past half court. While all the inclusions provide the essential Mario style, basketball takes a backseat to coin collecting and item flinging.

Thankfully in exhibition modes, the Hatena Blocks can be turned off, making the game a more traditional 2- and 3-point basketball game without turtle shells and banana peels flying all over the place. While the items do add a nice competitive element to the game, dribbling over a block a handful of times and making a quick dunk yields more results than using skill to set up a pick and netting a three.

Sticking with the game through all the modes will reward players with a number of new features including new characters, new ball designs and mini-games. Square not only developed the game but also placed a piece of the company in Hoops with unlockable characters - White Mage, Black Mage, Ninja, Moogle and Cactar. While there is a ton to unlock, the process starts slow in the tournament modes.

The first three cups will give players no problem whatsoever, with easy computer AI. The problem is that same AI is laughable - easy to the point where playing through the cup seems more like a chore than anything else. Blowing the computer away in 1,000+ to nothing shutouts is only fun after the first time and it takes some time before the matches seem worthwhile with challenging AI.

However, it seems computer-controlled teammates never increase their AI. Your teammates mostly choose to run around on your flank and provide little assistance in your efforts unless you pass them the ball and control them yourself. While they do a decent job of keeping open for passes and stick decent man-to-man defense on opponents, they do not chase loose balls, converge under the basket for rebounds or even run to the paint so you can hit the post.

While there are some nagging issues with Hoops, it still maintains the fun of the Mario sports series, although to a slightly lesser degree. While the lack of Wi-Fi play is a disappointment, the multi-card and download play has a lot of playability, especially in the addicting Coin Hunter mode - basically a Mario Kart battle mode minus the karts.

Mario Hoops 3-on-3 adds the Mushroom Kingdom charm (although it adds almost a little too much) to the classic game of basketball in a title that stands as one of the most technically impressive and appealing titles on the Nintendo DS. While the remixed basketball game play might turn a few people away, those who give it a shot will find a fun twist on the sport with a huge number of accomplishments to tackle.

GemuBaka Final Review Score: 3 of 5