Nintendo fans are currently up in arms, but not over graphical downgrades or Pokédex revamps. Nope, this time, it’s over a shunned character in an upcoming game, and not even an A-lister at that: Princess Daisy isn’t in Mario Strikers: Battle League.
Mario Strikers: Battle League, announced during a February showcase and planned for a Switch release next month, is the next entry in Nintendo’s Mario Strikers series of soccer games. Sure, soccer sims are a dime a dozen, courtesy of a certain decades-old series that recently lost its naming rights. But who cares about things like “offsides” or “yellow cards” when you can turn a soccer ball into a meteor?
Fans of Mario Strikers (hi) have been over the moon since Battle League’s announcement, as it heralds the revival of a long-dormant, if comparatively niche, series. The gameplay looks faithful to its forebears, replete with all the “Hey, that move isn’t approved by FIFA” hijinks the series is known for. After the February announcement, some fans expressed concern that Daisy wasn’t shown, though assumed it was because of an innocuous reason—like, say, her character model not being finalized.
