I have a love-hate relationship with the Mario Tennis franchise. I loved the first GameBoy Color release, and have liked elements of almost all the releases ever since. What generally happens with each release is that I love the arcade like tennis matches, but less so the wacky realities of the Mario Kingdom universe. With Mario Tennis Fever, I think those thoughts still persist, but I’ve been enjoying this romp at the courts more than previous entries.
If there is one thing Nintendo does, and does well, it’s animations and world-building. How can such a simple game have such a beautiful and complex world? Even if you aren’t making your way through the incredibly short adventure, all the different courts have their own personality, as does the massive host of characters playing on those courts. There is charm around every corner in Mario Tennis Fever, and amazing animations to highlight it.
The game takes what we know about Mario Tennis and elevates it with Fever Rackets (more on this later). Through the Adventure Mode, you’ll learn about power shots, drop shots, lobs, slices, ball placement, and more. Even without extra bells and whistles, I found a very competent arcade tennis experience that I think will have wide appeal. And hats off to Nintendo, who let you play this way in quick matches if you choose to.
The Fever Rackets are what really makes this a Mario experience, though. Pairing characters with racquets is a lot of fun, and with so many combinations at your disposal, it will take a bit to figure out what pairing works best for you. These Fever Racquets provide over the top complexities to what would otherwise be a regular arcade game of Tennis. One leaves little fireballs on your opponents side of the court, another a rotating fire ball like in Bowser’s Castle stages of Super Mario Bros. Others yet create a sheet of ice, making movement that much harder for your opponents. There are racquets with lightning effects, sludge effects, water effects and more.
It’s not a guarantee either. Most offensive Fever Racquet abilities don’t trigger until the ball hits the court, so it is possible for your opponent to return your Fever Racquet shot with no impact, and potentially cause problems on your own side of the court. More often than not, it feels wacky and random, but fair. There are times, though – especially in doubles – where the court just becomes too littered with obstacles, at which point any tennis skill goes out the window and it feels incredibly overwhelming and/or lucky.
The Fever Racquets bring with them health bars as well, and as your health depletes, your character will move slower (singles) or get sidelined for a brief period of time (doubles). It’s an additional added wrinkle to consider when playing, and has made me opt to not return a ball I knew was likely going to result in me taking damage and potentially leaving me out of the next bit of the game. I comment Nintendo on providing a lot of variety here, and with the right group, Fever Racquets and the associated damage meter bring a lot of fun and excitement to the game.
And that is where Mario Tennis Fever is at its best: played locally or online with a group of friends. Even with strangers, it can still be a good time. I had the opportunity to test the online multiplayer modes with Nintendo and other media members, and despite not knowing who they were, we were able to connect via GameChat (camera optional, always) and play a number of matches. That was one of the quickest hours of my life, and it was pure enjoyment. The same feeling translates well into my living room when playing with my wife and kids. Mario Tennis alone is pretty underwhelming after some time, but with friends, this is a great title to hop into from time to time.
Mario Tennis Fever does offer an offline, solo adventure mode, but we found this to be woefully disappointing. My son and I both cleared it individually in about 4 or so hours, and a lot of the content feels like filler mini-games you might find in Mario Party, and not purely tennis like we expected here. The story is unique and fun for kids, and the artwork and animations are phenomenal. Seeing Wario and Waluigi as babies makes it worth playing through at least once. But for most people, that will be all. I might be remembering wrong, but I thought the adventure mode in Mario Golf Super Rush was a bit beefier than this; I wish this mode had been more like that.
The single-player mode that shines, however, is the Trail Towers. These trials are unique challenges that are presented to players that require them to work through a problem and win a quick match. This is an area I hope Nintendo adds to in future updates if they plan to support Mario Tennis Fever beyond launch.
Ultimately, though, playing with others is still where most of the fun lies, and I especially enjoyed the wacky modes included. One has you collecting Wonder Seeds and will result in board transformations, while another has you playing on a grass court that is always changing depending on who’s hitting balls into the mouths of hungry piranha plants. Still another simulates a pinball machine, with bumpers that pop up when hit by a ball, sending characters bouncing all over the court. These games are most fun with 4 other players, and as long as no one is taking it too seriously, there is a ton of fun to be had. I do hope for more crazy courts in the future, and I’m sure Nintendo will deliver with future updates.
Adam has been writing about video games since 2014 and board games since 2018. If he's not rooting for the Toronto Maple Leafs or Toronto FC, he definitely has a controller in his hand - probably playing on a Nintendo platform - or is sitting at a table playing a board game. Adam also has firm opinions on a few key topics: there are much better board games than Settlers of Catan, and Nintendo doesn't need to compete with Sony and Microsoft.
Bulkhead Interactive has announced it is moving WARDOGS' early access release forward, with the tactical FPS now targeting a launch later this summer. The studio cited overwhelmingly positive feedback from…
