Just got the game and really liking it. I've only played Basketball so far!

CODE LIST:
Komicturtle92 - 2236 5875 0746

I'm getting the game later today so I'll be posting my code soon. I just wanted to say, why is there so much hate for this game in the reviews going up around the net? Granted, I've never played the game but some reviews really really bash the poor thing. I'm rather sure it can't be that bad. Some of the reviews don't even mention the fact that it has full online support or they just say at the very end "oh, by the way, there is also online." I don't get it. It's whatever though, the game will still sell bucket-loads anyway

It's because they don't spend ENOUGH time playing the game.. or something. At first, the easy mode Tournament gets a bit boring, but once Hard mode rolls on in, it's fun and challenging. Surprisingly there is some depth to the game. There are simple quick tutorials that show you the basics and advanced mechanics of the game. And the online mode, so far, is one of the best when it comes to how it's set up. If you played Mario Strikers Charged, the whole 'connection stars' is back and you can back out if the star count is low or whatever. You also gain 'points' for each sport you part take in. I've won one match in BasketBall online and really wiped the other out (109 pts to his 33) on Starcruise field.

Oh, and the alternate routes in Tourney mode is challenging....

The only thing that kinda bugs me is that the characters you unlock in one sport are not unlocked in others, but it's not too too bad.. But still...

Not my post. NOT MY POST, after this.

After reading their review... I must say, I'm quite surprised. They clearly didn't explored the game enough... at least enough to make a great review.

Key notes I founds that they said.
"Computer, either too easy, or too cheap."

While I agree to some degree that the computer is easy, they are in no way cheap. I have yet to see the computer's make any moves that I can consider unfair. At least not as badly as Mario Strikers Charged.

"the pace of the game is so sluggish that it's all too easy for a defender to catch up even after he has been" beaten."

Not at all, the game is quite fast paced. I admit in Tournament mode, by yourself, it may seem like it takes forever. But when you're with other people it gets hectic. And when playing against other human players, it gets even more fast paced, cause they are actually doing something. While the computers do get slightly more difficult as the cups go further, They eventually get you thinking on your feet. Not like in Mushroom cup, I mean like in Star cup, or the challenges in the extra cup, or the hard mode.

"hoarding precious items and unleashing them at the perfect moment can shift the balance of power."

For like one second, but almost all items can be counteracted in some way or another, Same goes for the Special shots. Even if you use an item when throwing, or shooting, it can be blocked, dodged, and returned.

"There are also a variety of courts to unlock that add to the chaos. "

This is true, but I hardly call any of the gimmicks in this game "chaotic" They don't really effect the gameplay, at most they make you rethink your strategy for some people. But it doesn't widely change what happens.

They say that basketball was the strongest, but I found it to be one of the weaker of the 4 sports. It is very much like the DS version, but you can't accumulate so many coins to affect your score. That and coins don't really add that much to your score, except for when its Jr.'s Casino.

I do agree with their hockey segment, but that's because I haven't really went that far with hockey yet. The computer does seem very lazy in hockey, and the goalies kinda of do suck, but they do surprise you in some ways, randomly of course. But I disagree that they think it doesn't involve Heavy Defense. Because your goalie doesn't always do much, you have to manually defend your goal. And sometimes there is no goalie, making defending more of a priority. But you still need to score.

They complained that volleyball was too easy, because of the markers of where the ball will land, But totally disregard that you can turn off the marker. The game also doesn't automatically hit the ball for you, and sometimes, if you have autojump on, the Characters jump way to early, and that messes up everything.

They made dodgeball sound super boring, which I found hard to believe. Dodgeball takes the most skill in my opinion, because you control the actions of almost everything. You can command your computer teammates to throw on command, and you are incharge of catching the balls going towards you. If you like switching alot, that makes it harder, but again, you can change the option of whether you switch automatically or not. Dodgeball IMO requires more strategy, and placement of your actions than the other sports. It also is the fastest sport in the game, at least I thought it was.

This game may be simple, but Underneath the simplicity, there is room for skill, strategy, and tricks. Yes unlocking this may seem like a chore, but this game wasn't for just single player, it is more of a multiplayer game.

I thought this game was well done, and while some of their points seem valid, it didn't seem like they explored much of the game at all. Or if they even tried the multiplayer aspects too, because the review barely mentioned it.

@Komicturtle92: Good to hear it isn't nearly as bad as some sites would have people believe. I have a feeling I'll really enjoy this one. Btw, how is the online population currently?

Well, I get a game going in about a minute. I've played four games and won 3 of them. One person disconnected because I kept dunking perfectly and catched up to him. I was really annoyed. Guess sore losers are everywhere. We weren't even on the 2nd round and there was about 10 seconds left. As soon as I performed a sweet combo dunk and nailed it- "The Opponent lost communication" came up...

Oh, and to unlock Slime you have to play 21 games... Or 27.. It was one of those two. This goes for Basketball, but I think it applies to every sport. I was excited when that popped up as I thought I had to do MORE to unlock him...

@Kaiser
I dunno, I really like Basketball. I have yet to try Dodgeball out. Oh, and there was a flaw in the IGN review related to Volleyball. I think I saw the "Auto-switch" option for when the ball is near a teammate. I don't have this ON in any of the sports in my game, but it's there... Reviwers should really PLAY with the game instead of just one hour like most reviewers do unless it's a game like GTA or something that they take their time. Really sad to see this game plagued by poor reviews...

This is coming from someone who has spent MORE than an hour playing. It's a really good game. I'm really enjoying it

I got to wait till my birthday for mine, and that's IF I get it.

Dang. Hope by some miracle you do get a chance to get it. Really fun, especially with 'real' people. And something that I really like is that you can have up to 2 other friends play through the tournament with you, something not seen in other Mario sports games.

bump

Winners of that contest better post their FC here!

I can only chime in on the opinion of the online mode. It really is set up in a smooth way. And yes, kind of annoying the unlocks need to be done for all four sports individually but hey, things could be a lot worse.

Reviews are good guidelines, but opinions are like bottoms, everyone has got one. And with the internet letting people analyze games, films, books etc whether they are capable or not, it gets a bit hard knowing what to think of something until you´ve tried it now doesnt it? My own opnion of the game - I like it, plain and somple.

Whew, borderline philosophical there for a moment, better turn the game on and go into vegetable mode for a bit.

@koelboel, I just rented the game and was hoping to play you in a few games later tonight. What kind of unlocking do you need to do for the online? I was hoping I could just play some online to see if it's worth buying or not.

Just the stages and characters. Unlocking is similar to Smash Bros Brawl where you DON'T have to sit through tournament (or play Brawl's Story mode which did make things easier) but rather play multiple games of sports. I unlocked Cactuar by playings 60 games of Basketball (I'm sure it's similar with the other sports). And you can unlock different colors/costumes by playing a certain character a certain amount of times Ex. Playing as toad 15 times unlocks Blue Toad, which you can also do by taking alternate routes in Tournament mode.

The games you play in tournament also count just as Exhibition and online matches. I'm thinking of setting games for 1:30 minutes and set a score limit to unlock everything I can.

Sorry I wasnt able to play yesterday, I'll try to be available today or tomorrow if you still have it. It just dawned on me that I've registered a lot of people without knowing their timezones, but we'll sort it out.

Just bought this today and loving it, don't particularly like the AI on Easy and Normal, they act like total dumbasses lol. And was pwned by own Mii on Hard, talk about revenge for letting him live in the Mii Channel. I'll put my code up as soon as possible. Can't wait to play with some of you guys.

I think it's IMPOSSIBLE to beat the CPU's on EXPERT.

My code is in my sig. I can beat the CPU on Hard rather easily actually (on Dodgeball anyway), not sure about Expert yet, I'll have to give it a go.

The cpu gave me quite an anger-spasm in the finals of the sports mix tourney but yea - this ones meant be played with living people. I'll jot you on the list 720, probably later on today or tomorrow

I'll have to slot this back in my Wii... GoldenEye is drawing me away with its addictiveness... bad GoldenEye bad!

Unlocked 2 stages for Dodgeball too but haven't tried them out yet and I'll have to swing online and punch in your codes.

Sweet.

Something is wrong with my sensor bar though. When I played GE, the cursor was out of sync or something and where I was pointing was not where the reticule was. Used my DSi's Camera and found out that the infrared lights on the right of the sensor bar was blinking every 5 or so seconds (sometimes) longer Well, least it lasted 4-5 years, but still :/

Wow dude, that's not good. But now you have an excuse to buy a wireless one.