Mario Sports Mix: the four-in-one sports game on Wii

GameMario Sports MixSquare Enix

A Mario game developed by Square Enix — with guests from Final Fantasy. Released in Japan on 25 November 2010 and in Europe on 28 January 2011, Mario Sports Mix brings together basketball, volleyball, hockey and dodgeball. This page walks through its six guests from Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, their deliberately extreme stats and their special moves.

Mario Sports Mix (same title in the original English release) is a crossover sports game released on Wii, developed by Square Enix and published by Nintendo. It packs four disciplines onto a single disc and reached Europe on 28 January 2011.

Its real quirk: slipping in, among the heroes of the Mushroom Kingdom, a few surprise guests from Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, two of Square Enix's own sagas.

Contents

• A four-sport cocktail on Wii
• Square Enix at the controls
• Basketball, volleyball, hockey and dodgeball
• Guests from Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest
• Extreme stats and special moves
• Multiplayer, music and legacy
• Quick facts
• FAQ

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A four-sport cocktail on Wii

Released first in Japan on 25 November 2010, Mario Sports Mix landed in Europe on 28 January 2011, then in North America on 7 February 2011. As its name suggests, the game mixes several sports together on a single Wii disc.

Where most Mario sports spin-offs stick to a single discipline — tennis, football, golf —, this one serves up four at once: enough to chain a basketball match, a volleyball game and then a dodgeball showdown without ever swapping discs.

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Square Enix at the controls

A rarity for a Mario game, the title was not developed by Nintendo but by Square Enix, the studio behind Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, with Nintendo staying on as publisher. It was not a first: the same studio had already signed Mario Hoops 3-on-3 on DS in 2006, known in Europe as Mario Slam Basketball.

Mario Sports Mix presents itself as the spiritual sequel to that basketball game, borrowing its special-move system and its arcade spirit. It even brings back the same guests from the Square Enix universe, this time spread across four sports instead of one.

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Basketball, volleyball, hockey and dodgeball

The four disciplines deliberately cover very different sensations:

• There's basketball, banking on dunks and three-point shots;
• There's volleyball, a matter of spikes and positioning;
• There's ice hockey, fast and frantic;
• There's dodgeball, where you dodge and knock out the opposition with well-aimed throws.

Every sport is played with the Wii Remote and Nunchuk, with motion controls used to spike, shoot or trigger special moves. The courts borrow from the Mario universe, complete with traps and floor items inherited from Mario Hoops that spice up the matches.

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Guests from Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest

The game's signature lies in its cast. Alongside Mario, Luigi, Peach or Bowser, you can unlock six Square Enix guests, five of whom already appeared in Mario Slam Basketball:

• The Black Mage, the White Mage, Moogle (the pompom-topped mascot), Cactuar (the walking cactus) and a Ninja, all of them from Final Fantasy;
• The Slime , the gelatinous mascot of Dragon Quest.

Their presence is a direct nod to the fact that Square Enix is developing the game: a rare bridge between two giants of Japanese video gaming.

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Extreme stats and special moves

These guests are not balanced characters: they come with deliberately extreme stats, one outstanding attribute paying for two weak points. Cactuar tears around at breakneck speed but lacks power and finesse; Slime steamrolls the opposition with sheer power while staying slow and clumsy; Moogle and the two mages bet everything on technique.

Each one makes up for its shortcomings with a distinctive special move: the Ninja splits in two to fool the defence, the Black Mage casts a bolt that shrinks the opponent, the White Mage blinds with a burst of light, Moogle makes the ball vanish before it pops up somewhere else, Cactuar fires needles that hamper movement, and Slime scatters copies of itself that freeze anyone who touches them. These gadgets make every guest viable despite its weaknesses.

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Multiplayer, music and legacy

Like most of the series' sports spin-offs, the game is aimed first and foremost at local multiplayer for up to four players, cooperatively or head to head, with 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 matches. Back then it also offered an online mode via the Nintendo Wi-Fi Connection, since shut down.

The soundtrack was entrusted to Masayoshi Soken — already at work on Mario Hoops 3-on-3, and the future composer of Final Fantasy XIV — and to Kumi Tanioka, known for Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles. Despite a lukewarm critical reception, the game found its audience: it had sold around 1.5 million copies worldwide a few months after release.

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Mario Sports Mix at a glance

Developer	Square Enix (with Nintendo SPD)
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform	Wii
Japan release	25 November 2010
Europe release	28 January 2011
Genre	Sports / crossover
Sports	Basketball, volleyball, hockey, dodgeball
Composers	Kumi Tanioka and Masayoshi Soken

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FAQ

• Who developed Mario Sports Mix?
  The game was developed by Square Enix, the studio behind Final Fantasy and Dragon Quest, and published by Nintendo on Wii.
• What are the four sports in Mario Sports Mix?
  You play basketball, volleyball, ice hockey and dodgeball.
• Which guest characters can be unlocked?
  Five from Final Fantasy (the Black Mage, the White Mage, Moogle, Cactuar and a Ninja) plus Slime, the Dragon Quest mascot.
• Does Mario Sports Mix have a predecessor?
  Yes, it follows on from Mario Hoops 3-on-3, released in Europe under the title Mario Slam Basketball and also developed by Square Enix.
• How many players at once?
  Up to four players locally, cooperating or competing, with 2-on-2 or 3-on-3 matches.

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