Mario Hoops 3 on 3 (Mario Slam Basketball) Review
Mario is back, now taking his play to the Courts. B-ball courts instead of Tennis courts this time. This game developed by Square Enix takes advantage of all of the DS' unique features. It has a lot of things going for it and a few minor faults.
First the good: The control scheme works flawlessly. You use the touch-screen to control movement of the ball on offense and use the d-pad to move your character. The combination is comfortable and works very well. The sound and graphics department are top notch, a Square Enix specialty, it has remixed Mario and Final Fantasy tunes. There are also a TON of characters and different balls and courts. You get A LOT of replay value. If you have a friend with the game, the multiplayer will last a while. It is one of the greatest multiplayer games for the DS.
Now the bad: The AI can be frustratingly hard at times in the last cup of the game. Other than the minor flaw in difficulty, its an amazingly developed game. The extra modes such as Dribble race seem like a last minute diversion added in, and isn't fully developed to its fullest.
If you're a fan of the sports genre or just love Mario, definitely pick this up. Even if you don't like stylus controlled games, you can control everything with buttons by changing it in the settings. It has an amazing tutorial to help you learn the game mechanics and is just a great game overall. If you are frustrated easily then i advise you to grow patience and not to throw your DS while playing the last match for the 100th time.
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Final Score:Gameplay - 8
The controls are perfect but some of the AI can be dodgy at times. It can get very frustrating for casual gamers.
Graphics- 10
The best looking game on the Nintendo DS, bar none. It looks like a Gamecube title. The backgrounds and locales all look amazing.
Sound- 9
You'll hear some great remixes of Mario and Final Fantasy tunes, one point was taken off for the annoying theme song that plays when you start it up.
Replay Value- 8
You'll find yourself constantly picking up this game to play a few exhibition rounds. Wireless with friends will last a long time. Although, you might get frustrated with the game and not play it for weeks.
Overall- 35/40
This review was by tehultimateweapon of the DS Ultimate forums, also known as Tyler Treese and TT at Mariopartyforum. He is part webmaster of Super Mario All-Stars and a moderator at Mario Party Forum.