Mario certainly is a jack-of-all-trades: plumber, princess saver, tennis player, street brawler, baseball player, golfer, go-cart driver, and now Mario can even add basketball to his resume, though he plays more like a struggling rookie learning the ropes than a Kobe or Nash. You know what they say - jack-of-all-trades…master of none.

THE STORY SO FAR
Mario and the crew want to get their b-ball game on in the Mushroom Kingdom. Really, there isn't anything more than that to say, because the Mario sports games have never been about story.

SINGLE PLAYER: GAMEPLAY
Though reading the manual will get you off to a good start, you'll definitely want to do the tutorials completely before you try to tackle the game, because there are a lot of stylus brush strokes to remember when you're playing on both offense and defense.

On offense, you use the D-pad to move the character around the court, and they'll automatically dribble for you, but you can tap the screen to dribble faster in a direction, dribble away from the guard, or dribble on a block to get more coins. To pass the ball, you'll stroke the stylus to either the left or right depending in which direction you want to pass. To shoot the ball you stroke up (running close to the basket will initiate a slam instead) or you tap the screen to charge your shot for better accuracy and then do the stroke up to shoot; charge shots (for even a little bit) are your best bet since these players are pretty poor when shooting normally, as their shots like to bounce around the rim like crazy. You've also got special power shots, which are accomplished by tapping a letter quickly twice onto the screen like a "M" for Mario (the five end points of the "M" in this case). The power shot is a visually stunning move, netting you extra points as well, but it takes a bit to charge up, leaving yourself open for easy steals.

Meanwhile, on defense, you stroke down to try and steal the ball, stroke up to jump and block (can follow up with a stroke down for a smash attack), and you also throw items towards opponents by swiping the stylus in their direction.

There are more technical maneuvers, like doing spins to get to the player's dribbling side, blocking, charge steals, and others, but those are the main controls you'll be using during your play duration. If you don't like the stylus controls, you can even switch it so the buttons of the DS perform the exact same moves, though I saw no way to do the special shots since you aren't tapping the screen at all with the "help" buttons turned on.

Unlike regular basketball, all the rules are thrown out of this game, as there are no such things as two pointers or three pointers; instead, there is no goal lower than 20 points. Anytime you make a slam or shot it is 20 points right from the start, though the special power shots are 40 net right off the bat. However, by dribbling over the coin blocks on the court or charging up slams, players can garner extra coins, which act as point totals that add on to whatever shot you have, so if you dribble on a coin block ten times and then slam it, the score will now be worth 30 points. You'll play this way for two (two minute) quarters, though those two times can be changed if you want.

Besides the point changes, the environments are also different than your usual game of basketball, because some of the courts are littered with environmental obstacles, while all feature countless items you can use to mess up your opponent. You've got Mushrooms (speed you up for a while), Poison Mushroom (slow you down for a while), Star (invincible for a while), Lightning (everyone but user gets struck by lightning and fall to the ground), Bombs (boom!), Shells (throw and bounce or home in on targets depending on type of shells), etc.

As for the environments themselves, though sometimes they are regular courts with a Mario slant, the later tournaments feature different problems, such as Piranha plants as baskets, which don't allow you to slam the ball so you must shoot it; a casino level where you can spin for extra points if you collected a coin when you shot the ball; an ice level where if you make a running steal and miss you'll go sliding; a pirate level where a Kraken from the depths swipe at characters on the side of the court and cannonballs roll and explode; and an underwater level (with a neat motion swirl effect) where everyone is slowed down are but a few of the unique levels. In most cases, the gimmick levels are pretty fun, but sometimes (like the ice level) they are more frustrating than anything else since you might find yourself having to rely on a gameplay you've never used before only because you have to.

When you start a tournament you'll pick three characters from the roster, who range from All-Around Players to Trick Players to Speedy Players. All the Mario staples are here, so if you've played one of the Mario sports games before, you'll know who you'll be able to use. However, there are also some new players in the mix, such as a handful of characters from the Final Fantasy universe, such as a Ninja or the ever cute Mog.

Tournaments happen in various stages, with you winning the cup after three successful victories (after you win a cup you move on to the next higher cup and then so on). By completing cups with certain point totals, you can unlock new balls, courts, costumes, but most importantly new characters.

The biggest flaw about the game (though the controls not always seeming to work is a big one a good bit of the time) is the fact that the game just isn't that hard. I played through all four regular cups on the normal mode and never lost once (not even to the Square team) and then started to play the same cups on Hard mode, and I didn't lose once again until I got to the Square team, who are finally proving a challenge. Either I finally found a game I'm a master at or either the game is just really simply; whatever the reason is I just never was able to find a real good challenge (however I was still compelled to keep playing to see everything there was and unlock some characters). Another problem is the lack of defense and intelligence when it comes to your teammates, as they do nothing to help you at all, so if a player gets by you, don't expect one of your partners to pickup the slack and help you out with the block.

MULTIPLAYER: GAMEPLAY
Mario Hoops allows you to play some multiplayer through DS Wireless Play and DS Download Play, but there is absolutely no way to get online with the game and play people across the world like you can in Star Fox: Command and Metroid Prime Hunters, and that is simply unacceptable for a game like this. The single player game is available to play as well as a Dribble Race and Coin Hunter, and though while they are a nice diversion, they aren't as fun as a game of basketball. So if you don't have friends nearby to play with, forget taking the multiplayer for a spin.

GRAPHICS
Yes, it isn't the Xbox 360 we're talking about here, but when you look at what it is (the Nintendo DS) and then take that into consideration, you'll be amazed at the graphics, as the characters look nicely detailed, the animation is fluid, environments are bright and cheerful, and some of the effects are truly stunning. Mario Hoops is easily the best looking Nintendo DS game I've played.

SOUND
The sounds of a game of hoops are rather nice, though they all repeat over and over, and though the music is rather good, it still isn't anything to really get excited about as I've found myself turning down the volume on more than a few occasions simply because I was tired of hearing the same looping songs over and over again.

IN CONCLUSION
For all its shortcomings, Mario Hoops 3 on 3 is still a rather fun game, and once you get through the initial easiness, you'll find a good challenge eventually for those times when you can only play the single player. The controls don't always work perfect and the AI is rather dimwitted, but hopefully it can be improved on if future incarnations come out like they've done with the golf and tennis Mario games. As is though, it is an average product with a lot of potential, but Mario-philes will probably pickup it up to ensure their collection is complete.

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