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 in its own separate mode. Most of the modes have their 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.

Classical Dressage
Classical dressage evolved from cavalry movements and training for the battlefield, and has since developed into the competitive dressage seen today. Classical riding is the art of riding in harmony with, rather than against, the horse.

Modern Dressage
As an equestrian sport defined by the International Equestrian Federation, dressage is described as "the highest expression of horse training" where "horse and rider are expected to perform from memory a series of predetermined movements."

Eventing
Eventing is an equestrian event where a single horse and rider combine and compete against other competitors across the three disciplines of dressage, cross-country, and show jumping. This event has its roots in a comprehensive cavalry test that required mastery of several types of riding

Jumping
Show jumping, also known as "stadium jumping", is a part of a group of English riding equestrian events that also includes dressage, eventing, hunters, and equitation. Jumping classes are commonly seen at horse shows throughout the world.

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. This includes the Mushroom Pony Club where you can ride with the Mushroom Brigade.

Giddy Up Round and Round
Giddy Up Round and Round is an online mode where players from around the world can compete in various equestrian tournaments.

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.

Toad and Toadette go horse riding

 * Toadette: Come on Toad, you sure you don't wanna ride?
 * Toad: I'm coming sister, I just have to get my horse all saddled up
 * Toad: Okay, he is all saddled up. Come on boy, lets go for a ride.
 * Toadette: Woah boy, let's wait for my brother and we can ride together
 * Toadette's horse whinnies with patience.
 * Toad: Okay, right first into the stirrup, swing the other foot, and into the other stirrup. Alright boy, are you ready to go?
 * Toad's horse whinnies.
 * Toad: Giddy Up.
 * Toad's horse walks to Toadette and her horse
 * Toadette: Come on boy, let's go.
 * Toad and Toadette ride the horses together
 * Meanwhile, Bowser and the other Koopa kids come across the Mushroom Pony Club
 * Bowser: Are you kidding me? A Mushroom Pony Club? Jeez, how much money does Peach have? She must be rolling in it.
 * Bowser Jr: Well boss, Princess Peach is really loving and caring to those mushrooms
 * Bowser: Quiet your mouth hole sonny boy,
 * Ludwig: So boss, what do you think we'll do?
 * Lemmy: Yeah boss, I'm ready to get in there and get rid of dem pizza toppings.
 * Morton: I would like my Mushroom pizza with Pepperoni, please
 * Bowser: Oh we're gonna do something even worse. We got our own horses. We're gonna crash the only club and kick Toad and Toadette out, and with that out of the way, we will take over the Mushroom Kingdom, and Peach will be my wife.
 * Bowser Jr: Oh great, here we go again.

Ride Back to the Pony Club

 * Toadette: There are you Buttons, your hooves no longer have any rocks. Good boy
 * Toad: Drink up Musty, we have a long road to go.
 * Toadette: Bowser is such a meanie
 * Toad: I know right, he kicked us out of the Mushroom Pony Club.
 * Toadette: By the way Toad, how long will it take for us to get back to the Pony Club
 * Toad: Ummm it is.....120 miles away
 * Toadette: Oh dear, it will take forever to get there.
 * Toad: Well we have our horses, they can take us for a ride back to a club.
 * Toadette: Your right, as long as they're up for taking us for a ride
 * Buttons and Musty neigh in happiness
 * Toad: Okay Musty, let's go for a ride.
 * Toadette: Come on Buttons, take me for a ride to the Pony Club
 * Toad and Toadette get on their horses. Button's and Musty walk back in the direction of the Pony Club
 * Toadette: You know I've never ridden Buttons outside the Pony Club before, this is exciting
 * Toad: Exactly, and as long as our horses keep us company and we ride them, we will not be lost
 * Toadette: Right. You're my good boy Buttons
 * Toad: You're my Good Boy Musty.
 * Toad and Toadette: Giddy Up
 * Buttons and Musty keep walking as Toad and Toadette ride them back to the Mushroom Pony Club.
 * Bowser: Huh, it looks like the mushroom men...okay who got the idea to make mushrooms talk?
 * Bowser Jr: Boss remember where we are right now?
 * Bowser: Touché
 * Bowser: Now my Koopa Kids, this routine will be the summoning of my ultimate weapon against the Mushroom Kingdom
 * Morton: Boss. I'm not sure how this is gonna work
 * Ludwig: HEY do you want our boss to get angry
 * Wendy: Hey boys, you wanna know what the difference is between you and me? I make this croquet club look good.
 * Bowser: Now Koopa Kids, let's begin this summoning of my ultimate weapon.
 * Koopa Kids; Yes Boss!!
 * Bowser: Ooof, not so loud, you're on horses remember
 * Koopa Kids (quiter): Yes Boss.

Mushroom Cup

 * Toadette: So how far is the Mushroom pony Club anyway
 * Toad: I don't know, I think its..
 * Toad and Toadette: Woah Horsey
 * Toadette: Look at that, there are so many riding arenas
 * Toad: Maybe that big mean Dragon Bowser took over that
 * Toadette: Look at that riding arena, lt looks like a Big Garden
 * Toad: Woah, you're right Toadette it looks gorgeous. Let's go ride there Toadette
 * Toad: Come on Musty
 * Toadette: Come on Buttons
 * Toad and Toadette: Off we Go
 * Buttons and Musty walk to the Giddy Gardens Riding Arena
 * Toad and Toadette: Ello fellow riders. How do you do?
 * Toady-Boo Hi guys, it's me.
 * Toad: Toady-Boo! How do you do
 * Toadette: Are you enjoying riding your horse?
 * Toady-Boo: I sure am.
 * Bowser comes on the TV screen
 * Bowser: Well, Well, Well, it looks like Toad Toadette Toady-Boo have already decided to enter into the tournament to get their Pony Club Back
 * Bowser: My kids and I are working on a powerful attack in order for all of the Mushroom Pony Club to be destroyed so that I and my kids can take over the world.
 * Bowser: Now if you want to get it back, I have a deal with you. If you can make it through all of the riding arenas in the Equestrian cups, I'll give it back, and leave you alone forever, However, if you fail, I will finally have world dominance, all the riding arenas will be united under my allegiance.
 * Bowser: Good Luck Pizza Heads. Mua ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha
 * Meanwhile, Toad Toadette and Toady-Boo feed their horses as they talk about what they saw
 * Toadette: That means old Bowser has made a tournament?
 * Toad: Do you think we should sign up for it? I mean we are old not old enough
 * Peach: Yes you can my fellow subjects.
 * Princess Peach comes in riding on her horse.
 * Princess Peach: After all I was the one who taught you everything you need to know about riding horses.

Overview Trailer

 * Toad: Everybody in the mushroom kingdom is saddling up. Hi I'm Toad, and this is my sister Toadette
 * Toadette: We are inviting you to ride with us, in...
 * Toad and Toadette: Super Mario Saddles
 * Toadette: Oh dear it is so much fun to ride a horse isn't it
 * Toad: It sure is Toadette, but it wasn't like this, to begin with.
 * Toadette: What do you mean Toad?
 * Toad: Well that mean old Bowser and his children have taken over our riding area.
 * Toad: He has plotted a ritual that will help him take over the world, and he is using the horses to his advantage
 * Toadette: Oh no, no, no, we cannot allow that to happen.
 * Toad: How do you ride a horse in this game? Well it's pretty simple
 * Toadette: Flick both joy-cons to get your horse to move. You'll wanna hold one Joy-Con in both hands kinda like reigns
 * Toad: Turn your Joy-Cons from side to side to turn your horse.
 * Toadette: If you would like to stop, gently bring the joy-cons towards you,
 * Toad: Push the Joy-sticks forward to trot, canter, or gallop fast enough for a jump
 * Toadette: For beginner riders, we have a guiding stick for you to hold
 * Toadette: I am having so much fun riding buttons, he is such a good boy. I wonder what kind of games there are in Equestrian
 * Toad: Oh there are lots of them.
 * Toad: In Jumping, you and your horse will jump over beams in the quickest amount of time and without knocking a beam onto the ground
 * Toadette: Ooooh, now that looks beautiful, but it sounds hard
 * Toad: In Eventing, you and your horse will perform in show jumping, cross-country riding, and dressage.
 * Toadette: Three events at once?
 * Toad: Cross Country Jumping, is an endurance test that combines your horse's endurance, speed, and jumping ability, so think of jumping but with more style to it.
 * Toadette: I love the word Dressage, what does that mean anyway Toad?
 * Toad: Well sis, Dressage is a French Term which means "Training. The horse and the rider are expected to perform from memory a series of predetermined movements
 * Toadette: Now that one fits more my style.
 * Toad: That's not all the games we have to offer.
 * Toadette: What else can we do?
 * Toad: How about the Pole-Volt? In Pole-Volt, as you ride your horse you will throw a giant pole as far as you can, and the player who throws it the farthest wins.
 * Toadette: In Polo, The object of the game is to move the polo ball down the field as you ride your horse, hitting the ball through the goalposts to score.
 * Toad: How about some horse races?
 * Toadette: A horse race? Oh boy, I so wanna do that.
 * Toad: Up to four players can take part in these events including the races
 * Toadette: Wow, that's a lot of horses.
 * Toad: Here is what else we can do with our horse riding. We can do trail rides, we can ride in the arenas and we can even do farm rides in "free ride".
 * Toadette: Speaking of the arena what are these arenas?
 * Toad: Well each of the arena's are located in 5 different cups The Mushroom Cup, the Flower Cup, the Star Cup, the Special Cup and the Champions cup.
 * Toadette: Oh I get it, if you win gold in the Mushroom, Flower, Star, and Special Cups you can compete in the Champions cup, and if you win that one, you'll get an even bigger surprise.
 * Toad: Now there are events are "Hoof Dreams".
 * Toadette: Hoof dreams? Now that's a silly name to say.
 * Toad: Hoof Dream Events are events that are reminiscent of previous Mario Games. For example, in Delfino Polo, your goal is to guide the ball to hit the piranha plant.
 * Toadette: Oh, now I I get it, In Dream Pole-Volt, we have to hit the targets with the poles. The player who throws the pole the farthest will get a huge point stream.