The Mario Sports games on Switch have been disappointing as a whole. Now that Nintendo has somewhat embraced online gaming, they have released incomplete sports games with plans to update them later. Admittedly, this worked out for Mario Tennis Aces, but everything after that game was considered a disappointment.
Now that the Switch 2 is hiking game prices up to $70 and $80, they have no right releasing these incomplete Mario Sports games. While some fans will defend the overall gameplay of these original Switch titles, their lack of content deserves to be criticized without scrutiny.
Like we mentioned before, Mario Tennis Aces was the only game that pulled this tactic off well. After Ultra Smash on the Wii U proved to be a wet fart, this game showed what happens when Nintendo puts actual effort into their sports game. With solid gameplay that almost feels like a fighting game, decent single-player content, and multiple free characters released after launch, this is still a good time anyone can enjoy.
Unfortunately, Nintendo saw the success of this game and got greedy.
Mario Golf: Super Rush was the next entry in this line of Mario Sports games, and it didn’t get as much love from Nintendo or fans. For one thing, the Story Mode was disappointing and felt like an overly long tutorial. The game’s various courses were also criticized for leaning into realism, with an occasional Mario enemy to make players question their immersion.
While the “Super Rush” gameplay, where players have to run to their golf ball, seemed exciting, it lost some luster after some sessions. It doesn’t help that the game was designed to be played online, so the company only released a couple of courses and characters after launch. Needless to say, this was a dud with fans.
Things came to a head with Mario Strikers: Battle League, which has to be the most disappointing Mario Sports game. Fans have wanted a new entry in this sub-series for a while now, so finally getting it on Switch was a saving grace to many. Despite the excellent gameplay, this sports title once again suffered from having no single-player content and a focus on online play.
Fans wouldn’t mind the lack of content if Mario Strikers were cheaper or free-to-play. But it was a full-priced $60, so everyone can see why this game failed to set the world on fire.
It makes sense to focus Mario Sports games on multiplayer, since that’s what made them popular in the first place. However, removing any form of single-player content and hoping players just keep playing online wasn’t the right move. The fact that Nintendo only ever released a couple of updates for these games is pretty shameful in this new live-service multiplayer landscape.
Nintendo’s Switch 2 can change things for the better. Let’s hope it starts with whatever the next Mario Sports game is.