Mario Strikers Online Demo Thoughts

Over the weekend, I tried out the Mario Strikers online demo a couple of times. Here are my thoughts on the game’s online play so far.

This past weekend, Nintendo tested out the online for Mario Strikers in a free demo. There were certain times of the day that you could play the game. I played it a little bit on Friday night and once again on Sunday afternoon.

In the demo, you could play online with friends or with anyone. I played with anyone both times. I didn’t know who I was playing with and since there was no voice chat nor any other way to communicate, it felt more like playing with a bot. I saw the person’s name but I felt no connection to the person I was playing with.

To the demo’s credit though, the online experience ran smoothly. I didn’t see any lag and wasn’t disconnected from any of my matches. Each player choose two characters. Whoever ended up being captain, choose the team’s colors and the map we played on.

So how was the gameplay?  The matches were chaotic and fast. You can tackle players and best of all, Mario items would appear and mess with the other team. The Mario items were what really made the matches fun. That said, the matches didn’t last too long. I had one match that went over time because of a draw at the end of the timer, but otherwise they went by quickly. I thought the game was neat but I’m hoping the final game has even more to it.

Overall, I thought the Mario Strikers online demo was okay. It seemed pretty barebones, but the full game is supposed to have clubs and hopefully it will have plenty of other modes to check out. At least the online worked really well! Nintendo is getting so much better at handling their online. Though I really wish they’d let us talk to other players through the Nintendo Switch. Anyway, Mario Strikers does show potential. The full game releases this Friday!

Did you try out the Mario Strikers online demo? What did you think of it?