A staple of Nintendo consoles over the past decade has been the Mario sports franchise. The Italian mascot started as a tennis player, then moved on to the golf course. Before long, he was an expert at just about every sport imaginable.

On the Wii, however, the Mario sports games have been less prevalent, making room for the best-selling Wii Sports franchise. Discounting the Olympic Games that Mario shares with rival mascot Sonic, it’s been since 2008’s Super Mario Sluggers that Mario last had a chance to show his stuff. In 2011, Mario will finally head back into the field of competition with Mario Sports Mix.

Four different sports are included in the game: volleyball, ice hockey, dodgeball, and basketball. Each of the sports supports up to four players in 2-on-2 versus matches, or up to three players for co-operative gameplay. Like the previous Mario sports games, the action takes place in various Mushroom Kingdom-themed venues, such as a volleyball court located on DK Dock which slides left to right during play, or a basketball court on Bowser Jr. Boulevard with bonus and penalty zones that appear during play.

The game is developed by Square Enix, which is notable in that they were the same developer behind Mario Hoops: 3-On-3 for the Nintendo DS, a Mario-themed basketball game which utilized the touch screen heavily. While it’s unknown how the Wii’s unique control scheme will be used in the basketball mode of Mario Sports Mix, it’s clear that the developer has experience programming this type of game on a Nintendo platform featuring a unique user interface. Although Mario Hoops: 3-On-3 featured some Square Enix franchise characters, there has been no indication of their inclusion in Mario Sports Mix.

As in other Mario sports games, Mario Sports Mix will heavily feature the use of items such as Koopa Shells and Mushrooms, all of which will have different effects depending on the sport being played.

Mario Sports Mix promises to serve up good old-fashioned arcade-style sports fun with a low barrier to entry, but enough depth to create a great gaming experience. The game is set for a 2011 release exclusively on Wii.