This week sees the arrival of Mario Strikers: Battle League on the Nintendo Switch. So far, we've seen the initial impressions, a round-up of reviews, and now we've got Digital Foundry's technical analysis. So, how does the game hold up on the Switch?
Jumping straight into it - Battle League runs at a full 1080p in the docked mode - with a "surprisingly sharp and clean" display, while the portable mode is locked at 720p.
In terms of performance, this is broken up across two parts - in-game performance and cutscenes. In-game, the on-field action is delivered at 60fps in both docked and handheld. According to DF, the frame rate remains "remarkably steady" in the more heated moments, and the resolution manages to maintain 1080p.
Cutscenes such as close-up shots, replays and cinematics though are halved to 30fps. The frame pacing is apparently somewhat inconsistent - with more visible jitter in these scenes. The fps in these sequences can also sometimes slip below 30fps. Fortunately, though, it's not a big deal, as it only occurs during non-interactive moments.
Despite this, Digital Foundry still thinks Mario Strikers: Battle League is "extremely polished" and the best-looking entry to date. It "plays like a dream" and stands as another great release for Next Level Games. You can learn more about the game in our Nintendo Life review:
And to read even more opinions, check out our review round-up. Will you be adding this one to your Switch library this week? Tell us down in the comments.
[source youtu.be]
Comments 44
can’t wait till Friday!
I'm gonna have so much fun on friday!
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Next Level really know what they are doing, man.
I miss the unique “stadiums” of the old games though… Maybe I’ll fire up Super Mario Strikers (GC) to get my jam on.
@mereel The limited scope of MSBL like playing Smash Bros but with 10 characters and only Battlefield, smh. Sakurai spoiled us with the value of Smash Ultimate.
@Axecon even NLG spoiled us with their previous entries.... I mean... what the hell is this?
1 stadium with paint jobs ... and 10 characters?
0 modes, 0 special moves, 5 items?
When you compare this with previous entries one must really start questioning how much work went into this game.
10 months or less maybe?
Its almost like its a fun HD port but with less stuff.
Next Level Games never disappoint. I wasn't a fan of Mario Strikers on Wii but I acknowledge its quality.
People are complaining about Stadiums where whenever I played the previous games I only ever picked the same Stadium and characters every single time anyway so yeah whatever. Not gonna let the negativity here dampen my excitement.
A must-play for me. I already pre-ordered my copy.
@mereel Wouldn't you be better off playing the Wii version though? that game featured very unique Stadiums whereas the Gamecube version seemed very ordinary in comparison.
@RubyCarbuncle well, as indicated, I dedicated my entire evening to playing retro Mario Strikers, meaning GC and Wii versions. Some observations:
Yes the GC stadiums are essentially skins. Only the Wii version has the awesome stadiums. Honestly the “customized” single stadium in the Switch version is better than the GC Strikers offerings. Also…
GC strikers had 8 captains. Yes, eight. There is also a robot unlockable character, but it’s lame. The Wii version… 9 captains with 3 unlockable ones.. So a lot of folks may be having rose-tinted glasses on the roster.
Also… I hate the Wii remote controls on Charged. GameCube version had better controls. Let’s be glad we’re back in an era of buttons and sticks with no waggle and compromised controls.
But… the GameCube version, with its 8-month dev cycle feels very barebones. After an hour of play it feels like you’ve seen it all. The Switch version is far deeper with more systems and nuance typically found in sim sports games. I think MSBL will provide far more longevity than either of the previous entries.
@sixrings Yeah ikr?!! how dare they get a unrelated publication to praise the game just to justify them also praising it.
Not surprised, Next Level are truly next level. They have been doing it right for a long time! This game is incredibly fun and silky smooth. I have a feeling this entry is going to sell very very well!!
Can you turn off those cut-scenes when doing a super-shot? The break in action would annoy me far too much
@Bondi_Surfer good question 🤔
@sixrings right because posting how the game objectively looks and runs fine from DF testing is solely because of the review score lol.
Maybe you just overvalue tacked on story modes in sport games?
@YoshiF2 10 months lmao
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@Alacazoom ohh yes… I remember, you were the one flaming @Yosher for liking single player modes.
And lol… the guy who likes playing to random players on the internet tells me to go out and meet someone.
How IRONIC is that 🤣
And mocking a Yoshi avatar in a Nintendo site … your arguments are on fire!!! 🤣
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@Alacazoom Have a report. And a good day.
My biggest issue with the 'performance' is that the cutscenes freeze for half a second once they're over and that takes away a bit of the immersion, but it's nothing too bad.
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To be clear. I really enjoyed the demo for what it was: The fun gameplay.
The thing that concerns me is… how long will that enjoyment last?
Without real content and chaotic/fun features compared to its predecessors, it can grow old quite fast.
@truther lol, have you seen how many Yoshi accounts there are in this site? And why, in all hell, would I tag myself if it was one account.
But here, since the ban hammer is being dropped, have a report too.
It’s weird that a few minutes after Alacazoom was banned… you show up huh? Another account without an avatar…… knowing exactly what we were talking about …. interesting … Alacazoom… is that you?
Have fun getting another ban
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@Truther good, I don’t have anything to fear. I discuss… I don’t troll.
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@Debunker Truther and then “Debunker” … man, at least get creative with your usernames. Here goes another report just for harassing. This is your third attempt.
Stop spamming the comment section.
Cant believe this guy’s argument was “get a life” … and it’s his third account in an hour.
@Debunker Learn a lesson in respect for others, please.
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@YoshiF2 I don't think it has just one stadium? From what I've seen there are 5 so far, with each team using their own half stadium.
@OorWullie well, what I mean is that all 5 stadiums are the same except for the themes. There isn’t a real variation to each one like in the Wii version, where, aside from the normal stadium, you had ones with hazards like mud that slowed you down, raining lava, tornadoes etc. Those stadiums added another layer of chaos to the game. And if you just wanted to keep it basic, you just needed to choose the normal stadium. Or, I think I remember you could even turn off the hazards whenever you chose any stadium.
So, I believe many miss those options and stadiums to keep the game fresh from time to time. There’s no real reason to get rid of them in the Switch game tbh.
@Axecon
Why compare Mario Strikers to SMASH of all games?
It would honestly make far more sense if you compared it to Mario Tennis Aces, which released 4 years ago with, if I remember correctly, a bit more content than Battle League. (It was 2.1GB around launch, meanwhile MSBL is 1.8GB)
@sullivans2004 People say Tennis Aces had "barebones content" and... maybe it's just because I found the gameplay so tight but I just don't get it. And it recieved updates for quite a long time actually.
I get it with Mario Golf, that game actually released barebones and had like 4 months of updates. And those updates were so "substancial" and so "well advertised" that I only knew about the first one and I visit videogame news sites daily.
Btw I don't think it's fair saying that a game has more content because it needs more GB on the Switch, it's not that directly linked.
Honestly, recently I feel people are throwing the "it has no content" at everything. And I personally think Wario Ware, Brain Training and Mario Tennis don't fit that critism, specially seeing previous games in respective series.
Like, I think Mario Tennis Aces is the best Mario Tennis game out there. I would say that's weird seeing how Mario Golf on Switch ended up but the 3DS had the best Mario Golf and the 2nd worse Mario Tennis so I guess Mario sports games are just really inconsistent.
About Mario Strikers, my feeling is that nostalgia is clouding people's heads a bit. Previous games had no story modes and the GameCube one had a really small roster and the stages weren't all that great. The Wii had better stages and more gimmicks on them but I don't think the amount of quantity on the base game is that different. Also is weird seeing people complaining that Nintendo focused "too much" on the online component? Wasn't the online one of the big things in Charged?
@jowe_gw aight I ain’t reading all that like damn man u wrote an entire essay as a response….😂💀
Why is Digital Foundry significant enough to have its own video covering this game highlighted on nintendolife?
@YoshiF2 Yeah, it definitely seems to be lacking in the variety department. Perhaps a new mode or two will arrive in future updates.
@OorWullie I hope so. When that happens and it feels like a complete experience, then I will buy. In the meantime its a shame that Nintendo is opting to release their sports games this way.... a barebones experience and then adding the meat months later.
@YoshiF2 I played a lot of Tennis Aces, loved it. I barely touched the single player content that was there though. I'm mostly interested in the online part being solid, which it was for a while in Aces. It seems Nintendo have gone much further with the online part of Strikers to the point, it's the main part of the game. So I'm happy with that. However, I'm a little worried about the item drops, I wasn't a fan of them in the demo. I hope they can be turned off. Tennis Aces was at its best with all the special stuff turned off. I imagine Strikers will be too.
@OorWullie I think you can turn them off. There was something from the NL review being about the captain of a group being able to choose the rules.
I mean, I'm not against the focus being the online multiplayer. It's fun with friends... but what I didn't like was that they removed all the chaotic content of the matches. Why remove them if you could always have the option to just turn them off and play basic matches if desired?
For example, the superpowers are really easy to block by spamming A with the goalie. So its always a missed goal whenever you don't perfectly align the meter bars.
Another thing missing from the Wii game that added a strategic element to the matches were the special abilities. Blocking walls to enclose your opponents, turning Mario into a giant, stunning players with a DK Punch, farting with Wario, etc. And even if people didn't like those... they could always be turned off.
The chaos during the matches is what differentiates this game from something like Fifa.
@sullivans2004 Ok... TLDR:
What I could see in beta version was something extremely adjusted and fun. If Switch is in your mid life yet, the next games will be more brilliant than this, and this is amazing.
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