The original Super Mario Strikers on GameCube is intensity personified, an excellent arcade quality game that's full of diving tackles, body slams, and even electric fences. It's not necessarily the deepest of games, but it offers up plenty of thrills, especially when four people are involved. And while the game should be backwards compatible with the Wii, Nintendo's creating a sequel that's specially designed for its latest console. Welcome to Mario Strikers Charged, a fast and frenetic sports tour de force. Actually, it's more like "extreme" sports, because this game is to EA's FIFA what the Harlem Globetrotters are to the NBA.

In games such as EA's long-standing FIFA series, I'm used to listening to British announcers ramble on and famous soccer players scoring game winning goals, but none of that exists in Mario Strikers Charged. There's no commentary to speak of, and all of those humans have been replaced with familiar faces from the Mushroom Kingdom, most notably, Mario, Peach, Donkey Kong, and the infamous Koopa. The stadium's also packed with hundreds of screaming fans such as boos and other critters. Germany, this is not.

Another thing that separates Charged from other soccer games is how it's played. Instead of just passing the ball between teammates and taking calculated shots, you're supposed to run up to opponents and smash them in the face. The cartoon violence is way over the top, so expect to see punches, kicks, body slams, and a host of other painful moves. There's even an electrified fence surrounding one soccer field, and if anyone touches it, thousands of volts will surge through the unlucky player's body. That may be cruel, but it's the perfect way to incapacitate your foes so that you can take a shot at the goal.

As for scoring, you don't just kick the ball so much as you unleash a huge fireball on the hapless goal keepers. When in position, you can either take a standard kick or hold down the B button on the Wiimote to perform a super kick so powerful that only the nimblest of goalkeepers will be able to make the save. But it takes a while to charge up and you've got to stay prone until the time's right, so defenders have a better than excellent chance of kicking you in the gut, which automatically negates the move.

The original Mario Strikers controls just fine with the GameCube controller, but Nintendo's got something special planned for the sequel. Instead of using a Wavebird, you move around with the Wii's nunchuck attachment, then pass with A and (as I mentioned) shoot with B on the Wiimote. And whenever you want to beat the snot out of someone, all you have to do is swing the controller around.

Visually, the game's on par with its prequel, though it appears that the developers have beefed up the crowd, thereby making them more realistic. But aside from that one graphical upgrade, it looks exactly like its predecessor and that's not a bad thing. The action's fast paced, the characters looks fantastic, and the game doesn't appear to slow down except when the situation calls for it (performing a special attack, for example). The only downside is Nintendo's unveiled two environments, a soccer field reminiscent of the last game's Peach Stadium and another that takes place on a mountain, the key feature being the lack of an electrified fence/force field, so you'll be able to knock people out.

Aside from these slim pickings, not much is known about Mario Strikers Charged. Nintendo has yet to reveal the full roster as well as possible mini games. But seeing as how the company is hosting a Wii event in NYC today, the chances are good that this title will be on the floor, and if that's the case, I'll report back with updated impressions.