Mario Sports Mix
For: Wii
From: Square-Enix/Nintendo
Rating: Everyone (mild cartoon violence)
That distinction goes to the Mario Sports games and, while it stagnates in some areas, Mario Sports Mix very capably reminds us why.
Unlike most Mario sports games, Mix takes on four sports - hockey, basketball, volleyball, dodgeball - instead of one.
But while stretching it thin does come at a price, it doesn't result in Mix diluting its sports and reducing them to glorified mini-games the way Wii Sports does.
They're casual representations, and hockey and basketball support three-on-three and two-on-two play instead of five-on-five.
But the games control traditionally (with a remote-and-nunchuck configuration or just the remote held sideways) rather than as motion control demonstrations, so there's no need to strip away entire facets of the sport the way Wii Sports had to do.
The emphasis on traditional controls is a welcome show of restraint for a series that could have gone completely the other way.
Mix keeps the basics of each sport super-simple while creating a second layer of slightly advanced techniques for skilled players who try to use them.
None involves any kind of gesture recognition, which allows Mix to maintain the high tempo synonymous with these games.
The Mario sports games have always compensated for their simplicity with an insatiable taste for speed and controlled chaos, and Mix keeps up beautifully.
Mix upholds additional series conventions by going appropriately nuts with the Mario iconography.
The game's cast of playable characters remains disappointingly thin but each sport has a selection of themed stadiums and courts that bring with them their own rules, conditions and obstructions.
Mario Kart-style special items allow for the temporary disruption of opposing game plans, and each character has super-moves that are awfully tough to stop (but not unstoppable if you're quick enough).
Mix's tepid single-player depth is disappointing: The usual Mushroom/Flower/Star Cup tournaments are accounted for, but also as usual, the difficulty is too tame to challenge even moderately talented players.
Solo players can play online, and the game's interface and stat tracking (as well as its performance) are satisfactory.
But the lack of voice chat support puts a damper on that experience. (Has Nintendo forgotten about its own voice chat peripheral?)
But as has always been the case with these games, Mix is at its best when you're playing with others in the same room.
The combination of speed, chaos and simple but polished controls makes this a terrific party game that strikes an enviable balance between accessibility and excitement, and the four sports here are natural fits for the formula.
Mix, to its credit, supports local multiplayer just about everywhere, including tournament play (three players), online co-op (two) and traditional competitive play (four).
