Mario Strikers Charged Football (or just Mario Strikers Charged in North America) for the Wii is the sequel to the original Super Mario Strikers on the Gamecube. This game is also the first to have Wi-Fi connectivity on the Wii in Europe, but the second in North America (Pokemon Battle Revolution being the first). Many thought that the first game could've been better, and now it is, with plenty of features that the original didn't have.
The main menu consists of 7 options: Domination mode (where you play a custom match), Road to Strikers (here you play against many computer controlled players, getting unlockables on the way), Challenges (Where you play preset games to unlock player cards), a gallery where you view your accomplishments, the options, a tutorial mode, and finally Nintendo Wi-Fi connect mode, in which you play against other people in your area.
The basic controls are simple and easy to grasp: control stick (nunchuk) to move, A to pass, and B to shoot. In the tutorial mode, after learning the basics, you go into more detailed aspects of the game, such as the color of the ball making it easier to make a goal, or using items gained from the other team attacking a player without a ball. Overall, the tutorial teaches you a lot about the game.
The Wi-Fi connect is pretty good for a first timer. You have two choices of gameplay, one against friends that you've exchanged friend codes with, and the other playing with random people in your area. Playing with random people will have most options randomized such as the map, but playing with your friends will allow you to choose all the settings. As for the connection quality, it is better than the DS is.
Before playing against a player, it shows you their connection speed (a rating of four stars), and then you get to accept or deny that player. Rankings are based on points gained from each match played. Every goal counts as one point, and you get one mercy point just for playing. That means if a sore loser disconnects during gameplay, he or she will lose points, where as you will still gain at least 1 point.
The gameplay is nicely made, and is not cheap, as others have said about the original game. Although it gets messy at times, it probably wont make you hate the game, or think that one side is overpowered. So far, this is probably the best game to have while waiting for one of the Big 3 (Super Smash Bros. Brawl, Super Mario Galaxy, and Metroid Prime 3).
