Super Mario Saddles

Super Mario Saddles
Super Mario Saddles is a sports game that was developed by Nintendo and Now Production and published by Nintendo for the Switch in 2024 The game was created in the vein of other Mario sports games such as Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour and Mario Power Tennis. This game is now a Nintendo Selects title. As with most Mario Sports titles, it has traditional rules of the sport, but with special, Mario-themed quirks and mechanics to differentiate itself from the real sport.

Gameplay
Characters can compete in a number of events related to horse riding and equestrian. Each event plays out as its own separate mode. Most of the mode have its own tournament mode, a five-tier system that has eight participating players in total, catered to single and/or multi players. Four cups are available, with the first cup being the Mushroom Cup, the second being the Flower Cup, the third being the Star Cup and the fourth being the Special Cup. Completing the Special Cup unlocks the Champion Cup, and completing said cup unlocks "Royal versions of playable characters, who have increased stats. The player needs to unlock Royal characters for each sport individually. Super Mario Saddles  has its own lesson mode as well, where players can practice techniques or learn how to ride a horse.

Alongside the main sports modes, additional modes include "Champion's Road" "Free Ride" and "Giddy Up Round and Round".

Characters
There are a total of 18 playable characters as of version 2.0.0 more characters are planned to be added post-launch. Mii Characters are also playable, with variable statistics. As of version 2.0.0., if the player achieved a rank of A- or higher in Ranked Match, they would unlock three alternate colors for Yoshi: Red Yoshi, Blue Yoshi, and Yellow Yoshi.

Racing

 * 100 Meter Dash
 * 150 Meter Hurdles
 * 200 Meter Dash
 * 250 Meter Hurdles
 * 400 Meter Dash

Story
In some ruins within Toad and Toadette's Riding palace, Bowser Jr and his brothers and sisters, stumble upon the two riding horse's in a riding stable named "Mushroom Pony Club", Bowser Jr remembered the plan that his father instructed him too. Bowser wants to use the Riding Palace as his own castle to take over the world, and he thought of enlisting the help of horses to do so. Toad, Toadette and the other horses evacuate the place and gallop fast to Mario (or Luigi) to stop Bowser jr and his brothers and sisters from their plan.

Gameplay
In Champion's Road, the player plays as Mario or Luigi. Starting with a basic amount of experience, the player can earn experience points by participating in Lessons and Equestrian Events. Doing so grants the player skill points that can be used to upgrade their stats. such as power, stamina, speed, agility, discipline and behavior, while experience points upgrade their level and overall Lead Rank. In the overworld, the player can interact with several characters, such as Toad and Toadette who may provide the player with challenges. There will also be matches against the playable characters and boss fights. The player will also be able to collect coins. By winning tournaments, players will be able to obtain new outfits.

Lesson Mode
Lesson mode is where players can learn how to care for and ride a horse. Each lesson is numbered and colored depending on the difficulty of that lesson. Lessons 1-6 are bronze and are the easiest lessons, Lessons 7-12 are colored silver, and the lessons are an intermediate difficulty. Lessons 13-18 are colored Gold and are advanced lessons. Platinum lessons are expert lessons, and are from numbers 19-24.

Free Ride
Free Ride is where players can freely ride horse's either in Toad and Toadette's riding palace or in many of the riding areas and stables unlocked in Champion's Road.

Riding Arena's
Toad and Toadette Riding Palace is the starting riding arena, and other riding arena's are unlocked for Free Play by completing levels in Champion's Road.