The announcement ofMario Strikers: Battle Leaguecame as a surprise to many fans.Mario Strikers: Battle Leagueis the first subfranchise entryin 15 years, and prior to this announcement, theStrikersgames seemed like they were going nowhere. Of course, Nintendo has been exploring some spin-off games forMario, Pokemon, and so on for the Switch, but this one didn’t feel like it was at the top of the list.
How well it is received remains to be seen, but the reaction thus far seems a little mixed. With the shock ofMario Strikers: Battle League’s announcementwearing off, some have highlighted issues with gameplay shown so far and so on. Of course, there’s still more to show and there’s still a lot of potential, but one thing that seems odd isMario Strikers: Battle League’s roster size. Its limitations obviously leads to omissions, but then, it’s notably strange that Daisy is one of the missing characters.
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Mario Strikers: Battle League Launch Roster
Mario Strikers: Battle Leagueis a combative 5v5 soccer game complete with items, special shots, unique gear, hyper shots, and more. Online multiplayer and up-to-8 player multiplayer modes are supported on a single Switch console. These numbers stand out because, in one 5v5 game, every character on the roster could be on the field. For some, this is worrying because it means games could get old fast if it’s just the same characters, abilities, and so on over and over, and it just highlights the oddity of its roster size. Many were expecting the game to at least match, if not be more than,Mario Strikers Charged’s roster.
After all,Mario Strikers Chargedfeatured a total of 20 characters, including sidekick characters (and Daisy as one of the 12 captains), but this was released back in 2007. Many likely hoped that a newMario Strikers gamewould take aSuper Smash Bros. Ultimateapproach, including every characterit can. Instead, they are limited to the following, with no Daisy in sight:
Mario Strikers: Battle League – Where is Daisy?
With such a limited roster size, which may be confusing in and of itself, it’s understandable that there would omissions forsomeMariocharacters. Daisy stands out like a sore thumb though. She’s long been a mainstay of the franchise, as the tomboy princess of Sarasaland. Everything about Daisy revolves around flowers, and it would make sense if her character did too inMario Strikers: Battle League.
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Perhaps, more importantly, is her role in the games: she’s been in most, if not all, of theMariospinoff/party games. Again, she’s even inMario Strikers Charged,as well as the Mario Kart series,Mario Tennisseries,Mario Golf, a couple of others, and of course, Daisy is inSuper Smash Bros. Ultimateas an echo fighter ofPrincess Peach. So, her exclusion is certainly a headscratcher compared to her legacy and her status as a fan-favorite character. Some have speculated that was cut to work Rosalina in, but that’s equally odd and just speculation at this time. However, just because Daisy isn’t in the game at launch doesn’t mean she won’t be.
Mario Strikers: Battle League’s Daisy Should Be the First DLC Character
DLC is nothing new in this industry, but many have adopted a live-service model in some form. That’s not to say fans should expectMario Strikers: Battle Leagueto be likeFortnite, Apex Legends,orCall of Duty: Warzone,but that post-launch content updates would not be surprising. After all, it already happens in other Mario games.
After its June launch,Mario Golf: Super Rushreceived quite a few content updates. In August, September, and November,Mario Golf: Super Rushadded new characterslike Toadette, Koopa Troopa, Ninji, Wiggler, and Shy Guy, as well as new courses and other quality-of-life improvements. With all of this in mind, it wouldn’t be surprising to see free content updates after launch to fill outMario Strikers: Battle League’s roster, among other things.
As such, the very first character ought to be Daisy. Of all theMariocharacters that could be added this way, Daisy sticks out the most. It’s not certain how much support it would get or how much fans can expect Nintendo to expand its roster size, but it’s a relatively safe bet for the game’s future. Now, why Daisy didn’t make the launch cut isn’t certain and there will no doubt be complaints about the game not being complete, but as long as Daisy does join, it fixes a big problem for the game.
Mario Strikers: Battle Leaguereleases June 10 for Nintendo Switch.
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