Mario Sports Superstars Reviews
Only one game in five is any good in this five-games-in-one compilation, whose brazen recycling of old content is equal parts embarrassing and cynical.
Despite the package including five sports, their shallow nature means the novelty wears off fast
Mario Sports Superstars is like a coworker everybody hates because they do just enough work to not get fired. It’s not a good game, not by a long shot, but it does just enough right that I can’t in good conscience call it outright bad. What I can call it is a lazy experience, one developed solely for the purpose of selling what are basically Mario-branded Topps cards. Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to pour myself another drink.
Mario Sports Superstars should feel like a generous package, but each of the different sports feel lightweight or stripped back, and ultimately a touch forgettable, despite the inherent charm of Mario and his friends.
Fun and well done, Mario Sports Supertars is cheerful and funny sports game, although weakened by an excessive copy & paste.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Mario Sports Superstars need more variety. It becomes monotonous after a few hours of play.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
After this it might be high time for Mario to put his sportsing behind him and stick to regaling kids with stories of his adventures, rather than his sporting achievements.
Mario and friends have tried out a number of different sports over the years and the latest struggles to live up to that long legacy. The core gameplay of each of the sports is solid, but it feels like the most basic form of each was plucked from a superior title.
The Italian plumber's new sports adventure is perfectly functional, but also free of imaginative spark (and reasons to keep playing)
Mario Sports Superstars provides players with five different sports to play through, offering consumers great value, but ultimately this jack of many trades is a master of none.
We left disappointed from our time with Mario Sports Superstars. The intention was good, but unfortunately the scope was too narrow to really grab our attention. Nintendo seems to have rested on its laurels and its expertise to deliver reheated stuff, with no risks taken whatsoever exception made for just one sport which was more a miss than a hit. In reality, the title quickly becomes a drag wether you play alone or online. It's a shame because it shows beautiful assets with a colorful universe and diverse gameplays, but it seems that Nintendo athletes are somehow tired of running in every single competition.
Review in French | Read full review
The main concept of Mario Sports Superstars is not a bad one: five intriguing sports (some of them already played in their stand-alone versions), for a title specifically designed for multiplayer. Unfortunately, there's not too much content to go on, and the multiplayer itself could have been handled much, much better.
Review in Italian | Read full review
Unfortunately, with no download play option, you’ll only be able to play locally with friends who also own the game.
Mario’s foray in to the sporting world has had its ups and down; soaring highs and disheartening lows. This? This is just middling, a mediocre package unlikely win the multifaceted Mario new fans.
Mario Sports Superstars straddles that unfortunate line of mediocrity that makes it difficult to actually score. It's certainly not a bad game, as it has plenty of variety and content to offer with a robust multiplayer mode for anyone that wants all their Mario sports in one convenient package, but we'd struggle to call it a good game either. It merely exists; sitting uncomfortably in a space that Mario and Sonic at the Olympic Games has been eyeing up for years now.By offering five games in one it fails to offer a definitive version of anything, and even a pretty decent take on horse racing isn't worth the price of admission unless you're planning on really diving into the other sports as well. As a multiplayer title it could be fun to climb the ranks online, but as a single player experience it's totally functional yet painfully lifeless. It's laid out the groundwork, but Sports Superstars just needs to take a few more risks.
As a collection it’s hard to fault the amount of content you get in Mario Sports Superstars. However, all five sports are lacking in key areas. Accept these for what they are and you'll find it easy to pump numerous hours into this package, but go in with hopes of this 3DS title rekindling the glory days of Mario sports titles and, sadly, you’ll be disappointed.
Mario Sports Superstars has some interesting games and works well when you play with friends or compete online, but unfortunately none of the five sports are enough deep to consider them as the best Mario sports games.
Review in Spanish | Read full review
Mario Sports Superstars means well but ultimately fails in delivering a title that is on par with previous sports games of the Mario universe. While the rich visual environment will keep the eyes fairly satisfied, most of the sports included feel empty and fall behind the threshold of fun, thus not justifying a long term investment in the overall game.
Review in Portuguese | Read full review
Mario Sports Superstars takes the mechanics from some of Nintendo's popular sports series and puts them in one package. While games like tennis and golf do a good job in emulating the gameplay of Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, the bare bones features make the total experience feel stripped down — essentially turning it into a jack of all trades and master of none. If you like simple minigame collections, however, this is one of the better ones out there.
Based on Mario's best sports experiences, this selection would fully deserve the title of multi activity champion, if it hadn't been too influenced by the (super)star system.
Review in French | Read full review