Mario Sports Mix mixes it up February 7

Nintendo's multitalented mascot Mario has a long history of athletic participation. The portly plumber has repeatedly put his own spin on golf, tennis, soccer, and baseball and even has a history of other sports cameos, from refereeing matches in Mike Tyson's Punch-Out to hitting the slopes in the GameCube edition of SSX on Tour.

The venerable video game icon will add a few more feathers in his ball cap early next year, as Nintendo today announced a February 7 release date for Mario Sports Mix, a four-sport Wii compilation including arcade-style takes on hockey, basketball, volleyball, and dodgeball, complete with power-ups and special moves. Gamers will be able to play each of the sports with Mario and his Mushroom Kingdom costars or with their own Mii characters.

Not all the events in Mario Sports Mix are unfamiliar to the iconic Nintendo mascot. In 2006, he starred in Mario Hoops 3 on 3 for the Nintendo DS and brought his posse along the year prior for a cameo in the GameCube version of Electronic Arts' NBA Street V3.

For more on Mario Sports Mix, check out GameSpot's previous coverage.