Summary
- Peach struggles with slow passing but excels in shooting abilities.
- Wario's size and strength make him a defensive powerhouse on the pitch.
- Waluigi is a reliable shooter with a mean slide tackle for quick counterattacks.
In Super Mario Strikers, players are able to create their own makeshift team to take onto the soccer pitch, which is made up of a few sidekicks who are led by a captain. Though the game isn't very clear about what makes these captains so different from one another, they all still vary quite drastically in their overall stats and abilities, meaning some are going to be much more useful for scoring goals than others.
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While it's definitely worth selecting a captain who is fun to play with, those who want to win as many tournaments as possible definitely ought to take the time to experiment to see which they like the feel of the most. After all, Super Mario Strikers is packed full of iconic individuals from the series that players can choose from, but when it comes to overall reliability and efficiency on the pitch, here is how the captains stack up.
7 Peach
Peach's Sluggish Passing Is Made Up For By Her Shooting Abilities
- Strength: Good Shooting
While Peach is far from a bad captain, she can end up feeling a little slow and sluggish compared to her competition. While she's able to get some good distance on her shots anytime she goes for goal, the main drawback to her kit is her passing, since she doesn't exactly move the ball with much speed when trying to pass it off to one of her teammates.
In a game like Super Mario Strikers where the opposing team can easily intercept the ball if they're fast enough, this can often result in Peach hogging the ball in order to avoid losing it too early on in the match. Still, so long as she's able to coordinate around her team, she'll be able to pull off plenty of flashy shots without putting herself at too much risk.
6 Wario
Use Wario's Size And Strength To Play A Defensive Game
- Strength: Sturdy Defense
Though Wario may not look like the ideal soccer player at first glance, his size and strength do still make him a pretty formidable foe on the pitch. Though he feels a little slower than the other characters, this simply means he can hover around his own call goal and barge around anyone who tries to get too close, making him a defensive powerhouse.
The best way to go about using Wario is to pass the ball to his sidekicks from the rear so that they can then get close enough to score a goal. Toad and Koopa are good sidekicks to have around, considering they can easily sprint up the pitch for Wario while he fends off the enemy team.
5 Waluigi
A Reliable Shooter With A Mean Slide Tackle
- Strength: Reliable Slide Tackle
Waluigi might not share the same physical prowess as his brother, but his height does still grant him a pretty reliable slide tackle, which can easily rob the ball from an opposing player. Not only that, Waluigi is also capable of hitting deadly straight shots once he's in close proximity to the opposing goal, making him an efficient frontman who can quickly turn the tide of a match.
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Because of how quickly he's able to intercept the ball while it's rolling along the pitch, Waluigi is all about initiating counter-attacks by dribbling the ball past the back line with his impressive speed. He definitely feels a little harder to play than most characters, but when used in the right hands, Waluigi can be a real nightmare for the enemy to deal with.
4 Daisy
Daisy Is An All-Rounder With Impressive Shooting Skills
- Strength: Great Shooting
So long as Daisy has enough time to set up her shot when in front of the goal, there is very little chance that she's going to miss, even if the goalkeeper is on full guard. Daisy is able to flick, turn, and curve the ball with ease, making her the go-to captain for anyone who wants to barrage the opposing team with a constant swarm of shots to wear them down.
When it comes to defense, though, it's advised to try and rely on her slide tackle as much as possible, since her barge isn't all that effective. That being said, as long as she has some beefy sidekicks to watch over her, Daisy can rack up the numbers on the score sheet in barely any time at all, thanks to her shooting ability.
3 Donkey Kong
Knock Down Anyone Who Gets Too Close To Goal
- Strength: Aggressive Powerhouse
Donkey Kong plays a pretty similar game plan to Wario, in the sense that both are designed to hold back the enemy team while letting their sidekicks get closer to the goal. Due to being by far the biggest and bulkiest character in the game, it's very easy for Donkey Kong to intercept and block incoming shots, allowing him to essentially act as a second goalkeeper for his team.
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His barge attack is extremely deadly, especially against smaller characters like Toad and Luigi, whom he can throw around like rag dolls if he gets close enough. His weight does end up slowing him down a little, but it's not enough to make him unplayable, as he is still more than capable of getting up the pitch quickly enough to sneak in a goal or two.
2 Luigi
Luigi Uses His Stature For Both Offense And Defense
- Strength: Great Shooting
Once again, Luigi ends up playing second fiddle to Mario, but that shouldn't suggest that he's not still an excellent captain to choose when loading into a match. Luigi can be described as an all-rounder who specializes in a few specific areas, specifically when it comes to his speed and mobility. Luigi can cruise around the stadium like there's no tomorrow, but thanks to his tall stature, he can also fire himself up into the air to block shots extremely quickly.
When he's able to get himself close to the goal, he can throw out some pretty dangerous shots, which will often curve around to try and deceive the goalkeeper. His passing ability does leave a little bit to be desired, but it's an otherwise small stain on a captain who knows exactly how to get the job done when taking to the pitch.
1 Mario
The Star Of The Show Excels In Pretty Much Every Area
- Strength: Reliable All-Round
It should come as no surprise that the protagonist of the franchise himself, Mario, takes the number one spot here. After all, most newcomers who boot up Super Mario Strikers for the first time will probably be choosing this plucky plumber as their first captain, so it only makes sense that Nintendo would choose to make him not only easy to use but a real force to be reckoned with as a captain.
From his passing to his blocking, all the way to his shooting ability, Mario manages to be a jack of all trades who possesses barely any faults to speak of. The only real drawback to Mario is that he doesn't excel in any specific area, so he doesn't quite share the brutal force of DK, or the defensive properties of Wario, but the fact he has barely any downsides to speak of makes him a unique captain who stands at the top of the pecking order.
- Released
- December 5, 2005
- ESRB
- E10+ For Everyone 10+ due to Crude Humor, Mild Cartoon Violence
- Developer(s)
- Next Level Games
- Publisher(s)
- Nintendo
- Engine
- Unity
