Mario Football

Mario Football, known outside of the U.S. and Canada as Super Mario Gridiron, is a Mario sports game developed by St. Clair Publications that was initially released in the fall of 2002, coinciding with that year's NFL season. Originally intended by St. Clair Publications to be a one-off title, it had lukewarm reception at its initial release but, by its 10th anniversary, had enough of a cult following that "The Pubs" released a sequel two years later. This game was eventually remade in HD for the Nintendo Switch to more positive reception.
==Gameplay==
The game uses a truncated format of American football, with 5-minute quarters and the same people playing both offense and defense, rather than having one team for each purpose.
The game uses a prototype of what would become the team system in Super Mario Strikers. Instead of 11 players a side as in actual football, there are only five. You assemble a team by picking a captain, followed by four filler characters. On offense, the player you control is the one who has the ball.
==Controls==
Position type	GameCube controller	Nintendo Switch Joy-Cons attached/Pro Controller
Offense 	
*: Move
*: Fake out
*: Pass
*: Punt/kick
*: or : Use item
*: Take a knee for the national anthem
*: Pause.
*: Switch item order.
*: Make a lobbing shot in conjunction with or .	
*: Move
*: Fake out
*: Pass
*: Punt/kick
*: or : Use item
*: Take a knee
* or : Pause.
* or : Switch item order.
*: Make a lobbing shot in conjunction with or .
Defense 	
*: Move.
*: Switch who you're controlling
*: Low tackle
* or : Use item
* or : High tackle
*: Switch item order.
*: Pause	
*: Move.
*: Switch who you're controlling
*: Low tackle
* or : Use item
* or : High tackle
* or : Switch item order.
* or : Pause
==Game modes==
*Exhibition: Play a single game. You can only play locally in the original, but the Switch version supports online play.
*Tournament: Play a single elimination tournament with up to 16 participants. Again, the Nintendo Switch version supports online play.
*The Mushroom Bowl: Play a season of eight games. Win all eight to unlock a reward!
*Training: Practice.
*Records: View your records.
==Characters==
This game features 20 playable team captains, 16 of which are available by default.
In addition to this, there are 12 players for you to pad your roster out with, one of which must be unlocked.
==Stadiums==
This game features 21 stadiums, one per team captain plus a special one; however, only eight are available by default.
==Items==
As in the Mario Kart games, there are items available that can help you. Grab them by running into Item Boxes, or hitting them with the ball. They include:
Item Name	Description
Green Shell	Travels in a straight line, stunning whoever gets in its way for one second.
Red Shell	Homes in on the nearest player.
Blue Shell	Homes in on whoever has the ball.
Mushroom	Boosts your speed.
Banana 	Whoever hits it slips.
Fake Item Box	Whoever hits this gets bowled over.
Star 	Makes you invincible, boosting your speed, power, accuracy, and making you harder to sack.
Boo 	Makes you invisible.
Lightning Bolt	Shrinks everyone on the opposing team, slowing them down and making them weaker.
==Reception==
The fact that the game only allowed for two players was a main bone of contention for the original. Also, due to American football's relative unpopularity outside America, the original game was poorly received internationally.
Category:Mario Sports Games
Category:Mario Games
Category:Mario Football (series)
Category:Sports Games
Category:Nintendo GameCube Games
Category:Nintendo Switch Games
Category:2002
Category:2019
Category:Fan Games