Mario Strikers: Battle League, the first game in 15 years for the Strikers/soccer Mario sports franchise, has a free demo on Nintendo Switch that will include online multiplayer matches, available in six one-hour windows between June 3 and June 5. The demo is available now and may be downloaded until June 5.
Called the “First Kick Demo Event,” the demo’s offline mode is a training module to get players acquainted with the basics of soccer-as-a-Mario-sport. Online matches will support up to two players per side, with random matchmaking as well as friend invitations available. Nintendo says demo players may experiment with all 10 characters available at launch, to build a team that suits their preferred playing style.
Multiplayer will be available on the following dates and times:
- June 3, 8-9 p.m. PDT
- June 4, 4-5 a.m. PDT
- June 4, 12-1 p.m. PDT
- June 4, 8-9 p.m. PDT
- June 5, 4-5 a.m. PDT
- June 5, 12-1 p.m. PDT
A Nintendo Switch Online subscription is required to access the multiplayer portion of the First Kick Demo Event. Nintendo is dangling the usual free seven-day trial for those who don’t subscribe, and says that trial offer is good even for those who have used it in the past.
Mario Strikers: Battle League launches June 10 for Nintendo Switch. It’s the long-distance sequel to 2007’s Mario Strikers Charged for Wii, and 2005’s Super Mario Strikers for GameCube. All three games are developed by Next Level Games, the longtime collaborator that Nintendo acquired in 2021.