Nintendo has dropped the next big addition to Nintendo Classics for GameCube, and they really took the chance to shoot their shot.
Super Mario Strikers, originally released in 2005 on the GameCube, is being re-released for the first time ever on July 3, 2025. It’s a noteworthy game on its own terms, and also hints at what Switch 2 owners can expect for the future.
As you may have guessed, this is the first game in their Mario association football sports series. Like their other Mario sports games, it combines the rules of arcade style football games with the conventions of Mario games.
Developer Next Level Games shared the unlikely inspiration for this title, which was their hockey arcade game for Midway, NHL Hitz Pro. Instead of attempting to make a sports simulation that would focus on stats for real players, Next Level created a pick up and play experience, that enables a power fantasy. For NHL Hitz Pro, you can also bully the other players around with your hitting.
Translating that to Mario means giving Mario, Luigi, Peach, and other surprisingly strong personalities, as the captains of their respective football teams. The gameplay is similarly rough, as players can shove each other around to take possession of the ball.
This was also the start of the iconic Super Strikes, which would go on to become even more epic and unhinged with each game. More than other Mario sports games, the Mario Strikers series made Mario and friends look the fiercest, and just filled with 2000s attitude.
It’ll certainly be interesting to see how newer players take to this game, maybe alongside their parents who grew up on it back in the day. And we’re sorry if bringing this up made you personally feel old, but we believe this is hinting at something else about Nintendo Classics’ future.
While the GameCube library on Nintendo Switch Online started with a lot of third party games, Nintendo made most of the games that made the console popular. And what Nintendo did, leaning on what worked on the Nintendo 64, is to make the GameCube a huge party consoles, with a lot of arcade-style multiplayer games.
Aside from this, the GameCube also has Mario sports games Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Mario Power Tennis, and Mario Superstar Baseball. And then, it has four Mario Party games, and Mario Kart: Double Dash. We feel the need to bring up Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix, in the unlikely possibility that Nintendo and Konami figure out a way to bring it as well.
There are also a ton of great third party multiplayer arcade GameCube games as well, so Nintendo is not lacking for choice in this regard. What will be interesting to see if this revives interest in that whole style of game design which does not have to be stuck in that zeitgeist from two decades ago.
You can watch the official trailer below.
