Ahead of the full release in a couple of weeks, Nintendo has announced a “First Kick” demo event for Mario Strikers: Battle League.

Players can now download a free demo of Mario Strikers: Battle League from the Switch eshop, which will give them access to the game’s tutorial. This will be followed up by a “First Kick” demo period where players will be able to participate in online matches. All ten characters who were revealed for launch will be playable, and players will be able to participate in Team Battles with friends or strangers according to these setups:

• two players playing on two Nintendo Switch consoles join one team
• two players on the same console join one team

The demo period will begin on June 3rd, according to the timeslots below, although it will require a Switch Online subscription in order to participate:

• Europe
  • June 4th and June 5th from 5AM to 6AM, 1PM to 2PM, 9PM to 10PM
• UK
  • June 4th and June 5th from 4AM to 5AM, 12PM to 1PM, 8PM to 9PM
• North America (ET)
  • June 3rd from 11PM to 12AM
  • June 4th from 7AM to 8AM, 3PM to 4PM, 11PM to 12AM
  • June 5th from 7AM to 8AM, 3PM to 4PM
• North America (PT)
  • June 3rd from 8PM to 9PM
  • June 4th from 4AM to 5AM, 12PM to 1PM, 8PM to 9PM
  • June 5th from 4AM to 5AM, 12PM to 1PM
• Japan:
  • June 4th from 12PM to 1PM, 8PM to 9PM
  • June 5th from 4AM to 5AM, 12PM to 1PM, 8PM to 9PM
  • June 6th from 4AM to 5AM

In addition, all participants who own a Switch Online subscription will be able to complete a special mission for 100 Platinum points by simply playing the demo. Furthermore, a set of Mario Strikers: Battle League customizations will also be available for purchase from June 10th onwards, after the game releases in full:

What do you think? Let us know in the comments.