This seems like just a soccer game with lots of extra flair, but Strikers Charged is one of the best Wi games to date.
At its core, Mario Strikers Charged is a footie/soccer game. At the beginning of each match, you choose a team captain (with choices such as Mario, Wario, DK, Bowser, etc.) and then you pick characters for the rest of your team (e.g. Birdo, Dry Bones, Toad, etc.). Each character has a different skill level is Passing, Defense, Shooting, and Movement and it's up to you to choose a well-balanced and effective team. On the field, you have to successfully pass the ball towards the opposing goalie and shoot, hopefully scoring. Simple enough, right?
Well, Strikers gets slightly more complicated. Once you start a match, you will immediately notice that this game is pretty crazy, not just in terms of gameplay, but also because of the loony animations you're going to see while playing (e.g. Wario trying to kill himself with a bomb b/c the other team scored). In addition to these crazy animations, there are a few extra gameplay elements that set this game apart from other soccer/football games. First of all, there are special power-ups you can get while on the field that will allow you to shoot turtle shells at opponents or turn your captain into a giant for a short period of time. These power-ups are especially useful when you are in a tough spot, perhaps losing. But the power-ups are not the only add-ons to the soccer formula. Each captain is capable of performing a Mega Strike, which is basically a very effective way of shooting in which the team captain flies into the air and shoots down anywhere from 3 to 6 balls, which the opposing goalie (controlled by the other player) must deflect. Although it's very difficult to pull these moves off, they're very rewarding and definitely add to the experience.
However, good gameplay elements aren't the only positive aspects of this game. Technically, Strikers Charged is very impressive, considering that it's on the Wii. The graphics are very good when compared to other Wii games and the opening movie may actually make your jaw drop, simply because something so pretty hasn't been seen on the Wii before. In the audio department, Strikers succeeds as well, although not with as many flying colors. A lot of the dialog spoken during each match is pretty amusing and certainly adds to the enjoyment. Unfortunately, a lot of the music is indeed very cheesy and actually takes away from the amusement. But keep in mind that this is a minor flaw.
Online, Strikers Charged falters a bit, not because the multiplayer isn't fun, quite the contrary. Strikers Charged has very fun multiplayer, but, unfortunately, the online modes are very iffy in that they will rarely work (at least in my experience). This is a shame since playing online could be so much fun.
Despite these flaws, Mario Strikers Charged is still a very fun game to play at home with a friend or online, if you're lucky enough to get it to work. This is definitely a worthy Mario title and satisfactory enough to tide Wii gamers over until more outstanding games are released.