Nintendo’s New Super Mario Strikers Kicks Serious Grass

Perhaps more people in the United States would be soccer fans if the field were surrounded by an electrified fence, players were armed with giant attack shells and goals were scored with explosive force. Rest assured, you won’t find any boring scoreless ties in the new Super Mario Strikers, which launches Dec. 5 in the United States, Canada and Latin America, exclusively for Nintendo GameCube.

This isn’t your usual Mario game. Up to four players can battle in aggressive five-on-five soccer matches that would elicit red cards from the most lenient of referees. Tackling and power shots are all part of the fun. If players gets in your way, just slam them into the electric fence that marks the out-of-bounds area. But such attacks come at a price: If you strike a player who does not have the ball, you reward the opposing team with a special Power-Up item that could be used against you.

"People have described this frenetic game as soccer meets Super Smash Bros.," says George Harrison, Nintendo of America’s senior vice president of marketing and corporate communications. "Soccer remains one of the most popular sports in the world, and Super Mario Strikers gives players the tools they always wished they could unleash on their opponents."

Super Mario Strikers features classic Nintendo characters, but with some serious attitude. Players can battle against friends or work their way up through the rankings to unlock bonus features like new stadiums and hidden cheats. The game, Rated E for Everyone, will be available Dec. 5.