Mario Strikers: Battle League final free update adds Birdo and Bowser Jr.

The last new strikers hit pitch

It looks like updates for Mario Strikers: Battle League are coming to a close, and they’re doing it with two familiar faces. The Wave 3 update adds Bowser Jr. and Birdo to the soccer title, in what Nintendo says is the final free update for Mario Strikers: Battle League.

Shown off in the , Bowser Jr. is a balanced competitor with accurate passes. I guess the little dude learned teamwork somꦰewhere. Birdo, meanwhile, is an offensive powerhouse with powerful shots. See them in ♓action below:

While Mario Strikers has added three batches of post-launch characters and other updates, like special gear and arenas, it looks like the free updates are coming to a close. Over on , Nintendo UK says this is the “final free update” for Mario Strikers: Battle League.

Though the door may still be open for paid DLC somewhere down the line, it looks like this particul💮ar sports spinoff is comℱing to a close soon.

End of regulation

Mario Strikers: Battle League went live back in June of this year, and it seemed to deliver some high-octane soccer to fans. Soccer hadn’t seen much love in the Mario sports-sphere in some time, so it was nice to see this particular line of spin-offs get a new entry.

While most of the Switch-era sports spinoffs have seen a of , it’s sad to see this particular one come to a close. Whether this means we’ll see another entry on the way soon or not isn’t clear yet, but since the Switch seems to be sticking around a while, I’m hopeful we see some other sports entries revived. Mario needs to play some baseball again, is all I’m saying.

The third free update for Mario Strikers: Battle League goes live on December 13.