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Just recently we shared details on the release date for Mario Sports Superstars, which is due on 24th March in North America. In one of those scheduling quirks we see occasionally Nintendo of Europe is releasing it sooner on 10th March, giving Europeans a head start.

Beyond that, the press release outlines some interesting details - for one thing it reiterates that there'll be single player, local multiplayer and online matches available in all five sports (Horse Racing, Football, Baseball, Golf and Tennis).

With the previously announced amiibo cards we know there'll be 90 in total, five for each character - it'll be hard to get the full set, of course, as they'll be sold in blind packs. 16 characters will be unlocked from the start in the game, with two unlockable with progress. Like in North America first-run copies of the game will also come with an amiibo card, but the implementation of 'Star' versions of characters (a staple of Camelot's sports games) may annoy some - you get these by scanning the relevant amiibo; there's even a mode locked behind amiibo scanning.

The Mario Sports Superstars series of 90 amiibo cards (five for each character) builds upon this extensive roster by allowing players to unlock more powerful versions of each character in each sport. By tapping a Mario Sports Superstars series amiibo card, players can unlock the Star version of the corresponding character in the corresponding sport. A Star character has stronger stats than its regular counterpart, giving that character an edge in that particular sport. And by tapping up to three amiibo cards, players can participate in the Road to Superstar mode. Completing this mode will bestow Superstar status on their characters, giving an even greater boost to their stats.

With sets of five cards in a blind pack set to cost $4.99 in the US, it seems that getting those Star characters in particular will be beyond most; hopefully there'll also be a way to earn Star characters in-game that the press release hasn't mentioned.

In any case, are you tempted to pick this up in March?