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Mario Basket 3on3 Details - DS

21st October 2005, 11:23pm
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 The announcement of Mario Basket 3on3 at Nintendo's recent DS conference was surprising, even for a company that loves sticking Mario in everything. Add to this the fact that it would be a collaborative effort with, of all developers, Square Enix, and we were all in a bit of shock, to say the least. Famitsu's latest has arrived laden with some new info on the game.

Obviously, the game's a basketball game where you are grouped in teams of three. The top screen shows 3D on-court action, while the bottom screen displays a top down view with icons where your players are.

The control scheme Square Enix has come up with is one of the more interesting aspects of the game. You move around with the D-pad, but the stylus is used to dribble, pass and shoot. To pass, you swipe left or right on the touch screen; to shoot, you swipe upwards; to dribble you tap (which increase your speed).

The game actually began development without Mario characters, though when Square Enix saw that it had a Mario sports style, they approached Nintendo. In the game, you can use items to block opponents, and some courts have boxes that release coins - collecting money is an goal of the game. And of course, each character (screens have shown Mario, Luigi, Wario, Bowser, Peach and Koopa) has a special move that requires a unique touch input.

Famitsu says that Mario Basket 3on3 offers both DS Download and wireless play, but we'll know for sure by its release in 2006.
by Nick Schaedel » Author's Blog