Mario Tennis. Mario Golf. Mario Superstar Baseball. Super Mario Strikers. These are just some examples that show that Nintendo's plumbing hero, his friends, and even a few of his foes are up to more than just the routine platforming business. Over the years, Nintendo's wisely put together a series of sports games to help capitalize upon their mascot, each presenting a special twist on the particular sport to make it that much more addictive. Joining the fray this fall will be a whole new game for the Nintendo DS, allowing gamers to take to the basketball court and drive one to the basket with a number of familiar characters from the Mario universe.

Mario Hoops 3-On-3, however, isn't just a slapped-together basketball game looking to make a quick buck on the Mario license. Rather, like the previous games, it has some fresh additions to make it that much more different from any other game on the market. That's probably because Nintendo's enlisted the help of Square Enix, the creator of many of today's more memorable role-playing games, to help put it together. The result may very well surprise you.

For one thing, the game controls like no other basketball game before it. Instead of just taking control of players via the D-pad with some help from the buttons, you actually execute a number of moves with the touch screen itself. This allows you to pull off all kinds of trick plays on the court, including tricky dribbles, special passes (like a lightning fast behind-the-back special) and "sweet shots", allowing you to drain a nice three-pointer with a well-timed tap of the screen. I'm sure this play technique will take a little getting used to, especially if you've played Mario sports games in the past, but both Nintendo and Square Enix are reassuring in the fact that the game will be just as much fun, if not moreso than the previous efforts.

Like the previous sports titles, gamers will be able to choose from many characters in the Mario universe, friends and foes alike, forming a dream team of three players that allow you to set up key defensive plays and offensive maneuvers to set up crucial scores during a game. Along with each player having their own special abilities to help enhance their skills on the floor, game players will also be able to snag power-ups, such as red shells and bob-ombs that will give them a chance for crucial steals, as well as the chance to score some coins. Grabbing coins actually has an effect on the score, so you'll want to keep a close eye out for them.

The presentation we've seen so far from the game looks to be rather stellar. We were treated to some video footage showing off some of the better effects in the game, particularly one with the ball entering a magical glow whenever you launched into an alley-oop play (which, by the way, looks wild all by itself). The top screen shows off all the action in 3-D without missing a beat, while the bottom shows off a play grid with every player detailed on it, so you can tap right away to your corresponding player to set up a key pass or oop with ease. The music wasn't really presented to us well enough for us to pass a final verdict yet, but it should be promising.

The big feature that will make Mario Hoops 3-On-3, however, will be its extras. The game features a series of mini-games that you can play by yourself or challenge others with, and the Wi-Fi Connection will allow you to hook up against other players for some fast versus dribbling action. It sounds like a great concept, and if it's done just right, this could be the next big Mario game, even overshadowing the likes of Mario Kart DS. That's a big "if", mind you. I mean, we all know how nuts Kart can get.

But it's nice to see that Nintendo's not going soft on their Mario-licensed sports games. Mario Hoops 3-On-3 looks to be a fun effort from the folks at Square Enix, and yet another great reason to have a DS Lite handy for the Christmas season. We'll be back with a hands-on report in the months ahead, and the eventual final review when the game arrives later this year. In the meantime, get to work on your b-ball skills. We hear your alley oop's a little bit lacking.