Mario Sports Superstars Review

Disclaimer: The Fandads were provided with a downloadable copy of Mario Sports Superstars for this review. All thoughts, opinions and sore thumbs are our own.

Mario Sports Superstars brought me back to the days of the Wii U. It felt similar to what Wii Sports was. Enjoyable, easy to pick up, and a good way to spend some time. Playing on the 3DS is a nice bonus in that you can take it to go. Want to get a quick soccer match in? No problem. Hit the links for a quick nine? Mario Sports Superstars has you covered.

I'll start with Soccer. I was impressed in that the game let's you set up your formation and make other changes to your lineup. I wasn't expecting much depth to any one game since there are five to choose from, but it was a pleasant surprise!

Luigi in Beast Mode

Extra time, power moves, and plenty of fanfare both during and before the game, Soccer fans will definitely get a kick (pun NINTENDED, twice) out of soccer on MSS.

Baseball was also fun, the pitching system took me a second to figure out, but the game does a pretty decent job of walking you through all of the different controls on each game. I also like the variety of characters you can play with and how you can assemble your teams. My go to guys were Luigi and Donkey Kong. Like sugar and spice, balance and power, the yin and the yang. Besides, Mario always gets the spotlight, his time is up, Luigi's time is now!

A threat on offense...

...and defense.

Tennis was next, and was probably my least favorite game of the bunch. The controls seemed overly complicated for a game of this nature. There is a way to simplify the controls but it still seemed like I wasn't really in control for some of the play. It's an odd mix of using the buttons and/or having the option to use the touch screen. It might take some getting used to.

Show off.

Golf was much more enjoyable and it was nice to be able to be up and running after a quick tutorial. Maybe it's me, but sports games are becoming more and more difficult to pick up and play. I played a quick 3 hole round and I ended up progressing nicely from a Bogey, to a Par, and finally a Birdie.

The Real Birdman!

Horse Racing is the last game on this title. It also seems to be the one with the most depth, not only can you race the horses, you can customize them and tend to their needs. You can take them on walks, feed them, and brush them.

Finally, a game where horsing around is encouraged.

I must admit that this game wasn't my favorite, my daughter really got into it. She customized her own horse, took it on walks, raced it and worked on developing a bond with it.

"My horse really loves me!!"

Overall, I enjoyed three out of the five games and I can see myself pulling my 3DS out of retirement to play some soccer and golf on the go. Nintendo is really taking a shot at making mobile gaming great again with the Switch and Mario Sports Superstars is a solid entry into the 3DS library. There are also Mario Sports Superstars amiibo cards available which add fun bonuses to the game.

So, is it worth forty dollars? We were fortunate enough to receive a download code in order to review the game and are not being compensated in any other way for this review. I'd say if you are a 3DS owner and you are looking for a good game to take on the go, it's worth the price. Kids will enjoy it and it's rated E for Everyone. Hardcore gamers and those of us addicted to the Switch at the moment might not find enough here to be tempted away.

Thanks for reading!