As I performed by means of Mario Tennis Fever‘s barebones marketing campaign and its different forgettable modes, like some scoring challenges, one phrase emerged from my mind to explain this newest installment within the sequence: perfunctory. That’s not nice. Making it worse, although, is that Nintendo is promoting this uninspired tennis recreation for $70. Ouch.
Out now on Swap 2, Mario Tennis Fever is the most recent instance of Mario and his friends (and enemies) getting collectively to play a sport. Generally they play golf, typically soccer, occasionally some baseball, they’ve even performed basketball collectively from time to time. This time round, the game of selection is tennis, and as soon as once more this Mario Tennis journey is developed by Camelot, a studio that has been making Mario sports activities spin-offs since 1999. And if all you need is a brand new Mario Tennis recreation with a couple of modes, an honest roster of characters, and multiplayer help, then Fever checks all these containers. The issue is that it does so with about as a lot enthusiasm as somebody filling out paperwork on the DMV.
Tennis, anybody?
The massive star of Mario Tennis Fever is the sport’s journey mode, which capabilities as a single-player marketing campaign in addition to a tutorial for the right way to play. It solely took me about three hours to get by means of this journey, and but that was nonetheless too lengthy. Fever‘s journey mode is all about Mario, Luigi, and some different key characters getting became infants after being attacked by a monster whereas getting a magic apple to heal Daisy from a horrible sickness. To develop into adults once more, they resolve the very best plan of action is to battle the monster, and they also go to a tennis academy as infants to learn to play a sport they’ve performed so many occasions that there’s a complete franchise devoted to it. Perhaps this sounds goofy and foolish. Belief me, it isn’t.
Cutscenes in Mario Tennis Fever are static, boring, and have little motion or pleasure. I’ve watched Powerpoint shows which are extra energetic and interesting than the cutscenes and narrative moments in Fever.
Between these bits are tennis matches and tennis-themed minigames. None of those are terrible, however all of them are typically very brief, and I not often felt like I used to be digging into some new characteristic or mechanic. For instance, an enormous new component in Fever is a sequence of highly effective tennis rackets that allow you to spawn hearth, ice, mud, electrical energy, and different zany results to disrupt your opponent. They are often highly effective in journey mode, however the recreation barely spends time on anyone racket, so I by no means felt like I mastered something earlier than I used to be zipped off to a brand new location for extra boring cutscenes and dialogue.
As Child Mario works his approach by means of the journey mode, he ranges up, however you don’t have any management over what stats are improved, nor does the sport provide aspect content material for which levelling up is an enormous assist. So the level-up system would possibly as nicely not exist in any respect. Ultimately, you beat the ultimate boss, and the sport ends with yet one more boring cutscene of characters not shifting and chatting. Roll credit.
Severely, does anyone wish to play tennis?
Exterior of the brief and dangerous marketing campaign are a sequence of different recreation modes that change in high quality from “okay” to “meh.” There are some rating problem mini-games you could play in opposition to the pc or a buddy. There’s a freeplay possibility that allows you to and as much as three different gamers regionally play some tennis whereas altering the principles and different variables. There’s additionally a mode that allows you to play utilizing movement controls, but it surely solely features a handful of the particular rackets, which appears bonkers and makes this feature a waste. Simply play Wii Sports activities tennis as an alternative.
My favourite mode is event, which pits you in opposition to totally different NPCs in a sequence of almost uninterrupted tennis matches that result in one ultimate match to win that specific bracket. It’s not a revolutionary providing, but it surely at the very least focuses on the very best a part of Mario Tennis Fever: the precise act of enjoying tennis.
Again-of-the-box quote:
“Come on, there aren’t many different arcade-y tennis video games to select from.”
Developer
Camelot Software program Planning
Kind of recreation:
Colourful and wacky arcade tennis recreation
Appreciated:
Appears good, feels positive to play, Fever rackets are enjoyable
Disliked:
Journey mode is boring and dangerous, different modes are principally forgettable, tennis gameplay feels floaty, $70
Platforms:
Nintendo Swap 2
Performed:
Completed journey mode in three hours, mess around six hours of different modes solo and in opposition to different gamers
Launch Date:
February 12, 2026
To be clear, I don’t assume the tennis gameplay in Mario Tennis Fever is improbable, because it lacks the depth I need from even essentially the most arcade-y sports activities video games and by no means felt exact sufficient for me. However it’s simply the very best a part of the sport. Hitting a ball actually onerous and aiming it at simply the proper spot to attain feels candy. Lengthy rallies can get intense and, in my time with the sport, virtually at all times led to some cheering (or groaning) from of us watching or enjoying. So the truth that event mode focuses fully on the tennis a part of Fever made it simply my favourite strategy to play this newest Mario sports activities spin-off.
Oh, and sure, there may be on-line multiplayer, and it really works, and… that’s about all there may be to say, because it doesn’t characteristic any actually outstanding choices. It’s Mario Tennis Fever, however on-line. Not thrilling, however good to have.
Look, I get it. Generally you simply do sufficient and transfer on. I’ve achieved that earlier than in life. I can’t even depend the variety of occasions I turned in assignments at school that have been simply sufficient to move and nothing extra. Or how usually I’d just do sufficient cleansing as a child to persuade my mother or dad that I’d picked up my room. The factor is, in these circumstances, I by no means charged anybody $70 for the privilege of receiving my minimum-effort choices. Mario Tennis Fever, however, does simply sufficient to be thought of a brand new Mario Tennis recreation and calls it a day whereas charging a premium to play. Watch for a sale or go decide up a used copy of Mario Tennis Aces as an alternative.
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