Game footage

DS, Available now, £29.99

Mario Hoops is a basketball game starring the portly Italian plumber, but apart from having two nets and a ball it doesn’t have much in common with the real sport. The game is controlled via the DS touchscreen, with an emphasis on making choreographed runs to the net to score extra points. The single-player game is easy and unspectacular, but the game comes alive in multiplayer, where you can share a variety of games from one cartridge. It’s also the best looking game on the DS, even if the touchscreen doesn’t quite offer the required precision.

Originally appeared in the November 2006 issue of Hotdog magazine.