Did anyone else pick up Mario Hoops?

Gameoz · Sep 13, 2006

Or am I the only stupid fucker? Man this is an average game. There was so much potential for this game but what happened? It is not horrid but I expect a little more if you are going to use the Mario characters in a game.

I have only played through the first couple of tournaments but I am winning each game by a couple hundred points each time. I am sure it is going to go from easy to impossible in no time.

Also...as of yet, there appears to be no way to play with out the stylus. You move with the Dpad but shoot, steal ect. with the stylus, only using the L button to switch players. How many hands to I have Nintendo?

6/10

jro · Sep 13, 2006

I read a review or two for that one and decided to pass. Looks like Squeenix (who would've thought they'd do a Nintendo-published basketball game?) really screwed the pooch with the stylus-only control and the insane difficulty level of the later opponent teams.

Madly trying to get the controls to do what you want, with the stylus alone, while the CPU plays perfect basketball doesn't sound like much fun, unfortunately.

I thought developers had finally gotten over the whole "must use the stylus no matter how convoluted the application!" thing, but I guess not quite yet.

Paik4Life · Sep 13, 2006

I'm really glad I didn't pick this up. I was really excited about it until I read a mediocre review and heard from a friend firsthand that it's crap. Thanks to you guys I've saved some money! Thanks!

~Paik

Eldios · Sep 13, 2006

jro said:
I read a review or two for that one and decided to pass. Looks like Squeenix (who would've thought they'd do a Nintendo-published basketball game?) really screwed the pooch with the stylus-only control and the insane difficulty level of the later opponent teams.

Madly trying to get the controls to do what you want, with the stylus alone, while the CPU plays perfect basketball doesn't sound like much fun, unfortunately.

I thought developers had finally gotten over the whole "must use the stylus no matter how convoluted the application!" thing, but I guess not quite yet.

The game is not stylus only. They have an option where you can use the Dpad and buttons for most of the moves (at least on the JPN version). This helps out a lot. I bought the Japanese version of this game at release, played it for 4 hours, and have not played it sense. I was extremely disappointed. The control scheme (even with the traditional scheme) is terrible (especially if you are left handed), and the difficulty level towards the harder tournaments is unbalanced. I cannot recommend this game. On a plus side, the graphics are great and the music is top notch. At least the box art for the Japanese version is cool.......

Gameoz · Sep 13, 2006

Eldios said:
The game is not stylus only. They have an option where you can use the Dpad and buttons for most of the moves (at least on the JPN version). This helps out a lot. I bought the Japanese version of this game at release, played it for 4 hours, and have not played it sense. I was extremely disappointed. The control scheme (even with the traditional scheme) is terrible (especially if you are left handed), and the difficulty level towards the harder tournaments is unbalanced. I cannot recommend this game. On a plus side, the graphics are great and the music is top notch. At least the box art for the Japanese version is cool.......

I haven't found a way to shoot ect. using the buttons, are you saying there is a way?

In my post, I stated that you move via the D-pad but most everything else is via the stylus, shooting, passing, stealing the ball ect. Switching players was via the L button.

If there is a way to switch some of those things to the buttons, that would help the game out a little. I didn't see where there was an option to do that though.

LoneSage · Sep 13, 2006

Was it really a surprise that if you put Mario and Co. in a street basketball game that it would end up shitty?

Gameoz · Sep 13, 2006

LoneSage said:
Was it really a surprise that if you put Mario and Co. in a street basketball game that it would end up shitty?

Probably not. However, I really enjoyed the soccer and baseball games (and I hate both of those sports) on the Gamecube, so I thought that a basketball game on the DS might be a good fit.

I also thought that Square might be able to pull something off...but no.

Weevus · Sep 13, 2006

Damn, Mario Hoops and Harvest Moon dissapointed. Not a good day for the DS. Mega Man is starting to look like a pretty good idea.

Gameoz · Sep 13, 2006

Weevus said:
Damn, Mario Hoops and Harvest Moon dissapointed. Not a good day for the DS. Mega Man is starting to look like a pretty good idea.

Just picked up Mega Man and it is great IMO.

Nesagwa · Sep 13, 2006

Gameoz said:
Probably not. However, I really enjoyed the soccer and baseball games (and I hate both of those sports) on the Gamecube, so I thought that a basketball game on the DS might be a good fit.

I also thought that Square might be able to pull something off...but no.

Didnt Namco help out in those though?

I think they have a little more, I dunno, Talent for making games that arent you know, RPGs.

Eldios · Sep 13, 2006

Gameoz said:
I haven't found a way to shoot ect. using the buttons, are you saying there is a way?

In my post, I stated that you move via the D-pad but most everything else is via the stylus, shooting, passing, stealing the ball ect. Switching players was via the L button.

If there is a way to switch some of those things to the buttons, that would help the game out a little. I didn't see where there was an option to do that though.

Every move in the game cam be played by using the traditional controls with the exception of the special moves. In the Japanese version, you have to press start while playing a game and go to the "Hojyo" screen. I do not have the US version so I do not know how they translated it, but probably something like "assistance" or "help." You can then map the moves onto the D pad and the face buttons. Trust me, by doing this the game is a hell of lot easier to play (albeit still not very good)...

Gameoz · Sep 13, 2006

Eldios said:
Every move in the game cam be played by using the traditional controls with the exception of the special moves. In the Japanese version, you have to press start while playing a game and go to the "Hojyo" screen. I do not have the US version so I do not know how they translated it, but probably something like "assistance" or "help." You can then map the moves onto the D pad and the face buttons. Trust me, by doing this the game is a hell of lot easier to play (albeit still not very good)...

Okay...I will try that out later. That would be a huge plus IMO if I can use the buttons.

I was also disappointed with the single card DL play. Although four people can play, it is only on the mini games. I hate the way they list this stuff on the back, it is next to impossible to tell what will be available single card DL play. Some games, it is everything, and some games it isn't even worth listing as a feature.

wizkid007 · Sep 13, 2006

Square produced it. Nintendo published

Mattroid · Sep 13, 2006

Hmm, I was going to pick this one up, but I guess maybe I won't. If anyone tries online and it's good, let us know. Of course, if it's a control issue, then that shouldn't make it any better

Oh well, that'll save me $30. Just need to go get Mega Man now.

Gameoz · Sep 13, 2006

Mattroid said:
Hmm, I was going to pick this one up, but I guess maybe I won't. If anyone tries online and it's good, let us know. Of course, if it's a control issue, then that shouldn't make it any better

Oh well, that'll save me $30. Just need to go get Mega Man now.

There is no on-line (Wi-Fi) there is only local multi-player play. At one point this game was suppose to have Wi-Fi (on line play) but that was taken out.

Mattroid · Sep 13, 2006

That's retarded. Most of the box shots I see online still have the wifi logo on them.

Probably won't get it at all now. Thanks for the heads up. Sorry you had to be the test subject

Gameoz · Sep 13, 2006

Just to add to an earlier post of mine, as stated by someone else, you can change from the stylus (shooting, jumping, ect) to the buttons which is a little better IMO. If they would have designed the game to use the buttons from the start, it would have been a much much better game. However, it is clear that they intend for players to use the stylus and thus the half assed controls.

I have probably put about three hours into this game and I would probably bump up my score from a 6 to a 6.5 since the buttons can be used. The game looks great but a sports game really needs to have other things going for it. The game is really about coin collecting (which adds to how much your basket counts for) and that is really not a great way to go for a basketball game.

Most of the reviews out there are in the 6 range and they are pretty dead on. At 34.99 this is a pass, at 19.99....well maybe.

Did anyone else pick up Mario Hoops?

Gameoz

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jro

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Paik4Life

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Eldios

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LoneSage

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Weevus

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wizkid007

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