Nintendo Switch Online just put out its first big incentive for subscribing since Tetris 99: the Game Trials program. Thanks to said program, I was able to experience Mario Tennis Aces in full, and that's what I'm here to talk about today. BACKGROUND:
In a bit of a twist for entries like these, I've actually played a good amount of Mario Tennis Aces before this, thanks to a limited-time demo of the game that was available shortly before it was released last year. I enjoyed what I played a lot, but I never ended up buying the full game. There's simply too many games I want to save up for, and I gotta draw the line somewhere. Out of the blue last week, Nintendo dropped a bombshell (well, it was a bombshell for me): Nintendo Switch Online subscribers can try out the game in full for free within a limited time period (five or so days, if I recall). It's not a full-fledged PS Plus or Xbox Game Pass kind of deal, but I appreciated it nonetheless. Being able to play a $60 game by subscribing to a $20/year service, even if it's only for a couple of days, is an awesome incentive to sign up for online. I hope Nintendo does more of these. PLOT: Mario sports games usually don't have a plot. Mario Tennis Aces is one of the few exception to this trend, boasting a full adventure mode for you to play. It establishes that Mario and the gang are chilling in the Kingdom of Bask, an island kingdom where tennis is all the rage. The story starts out like most Mario games: Mario and friends are out and about, having a jolly time, then shit hits the fan. In this case, Wario and Waluigi unearth a mystical tennis racket that is said to make its holder an unstoppable tennis machine. The twist? The racket is evil, and possesses Wario, Waluigi, and Luigi. It's up to Mario to break the evil racket's influence, and how else do you destroy such malevolence but by playing tennis? If you think that's absurd, you'll spend most of the adventure mode traversing the island in order to collect five Power Stones, which make the aforementioned evil racket more powerful. Yes, this game is Infinity War, but tennis. For what it is, the plot is amusing, but I doubt it'll hold most people's interests. It's a wacky time, and that's honestly good enough for a Mario Tennis game. PRESENTATION: Mario Tennis Aces looks as pretty as any other modern Mario game, with bright colors, flashy effects, and adorable shapes. There's nothing particular about the art style that really stands out, but it at least looks the part. The sound design is solid as well, with a few catch tracks, a lot of fun sound effects, and a charming assortment of short voice lines for your favorite Mario characters. What makes the limited voice acting great in my eyes is how these super short utterances are all Mario and co. can muster in the fully animated cutscenes, and how some characters have walls of text for dialogue, but can only produce basic noises. I found this dissonance hilarious. GAMEPLAY: If you can believe it, Mario Tennis Aces is a tennis game. It's a tad deeper than "swing and hope for the best", however, as you have access to specific techniques such as topspins, lobs, drop shots, and more. On its own, Aces is a satisfyingly challenging tennis experience, and it's largely thanks to the depth these techniques provide. While you can play Aces like any old tennis game without the gimmicks, the excitement lies within its new and wacky mechanics. The first of these is called a Zone Shot, which can be activated during certain points in a game. Activating Zone Shot pauses the game and allows you to freely aim where you want the ball to land, at the cost of stamina. Opponents can try and counter this powerful move with a well-timed swing, but if your timing is slightly off, your racket will take damage. If your racket takes enough hits, it's game over for you. The next mechanic is called Zone Speed, which allows you to slow down time at the cost of your stamina. It's a versatile tool that can help you catch up to the ball if it's far, or to get the timing down to block a Zone Shot. Somewhat tied to Zone Speed is the Trick Shot, which allows you to cover a large amount of space to reach a faraway ball. Whiffing will cost you stamina (and most likely a point), but getting the spacing right and countering what seemed to be an out-of-reach ball makes it one of the most satisfying maneuvers to pull off in the game. There's also a Special Shot, which is essentially your character's super move. When you have a full bar of stamina (built up by successful charge shots, blocks, and Trick Shots), you can let this move rip from anywhere in the court, and you'll enter a Zone Shot state where you can aim the ball freely. This move is incredibly hard to block, and will almost always result in a broken racket if you're in the receiving end. Definitely worth saving up your meter for. Now, I'm sure this all sounds daunting if you just read my descriptions, but the game's adventure mode does a fantastic job of easing you into most if not all these seemingly complex mechanics. It does so with a wide selection of levels, each with surprisingly varied objectives; yes, you have missions where you pretty much just fight the AI in tennis, but you also have missions where you go for the highest rallies, a hit-the-targets mission that teaches you how to control your aim, and more. These specialized missions did wonders in terms of teaching me the nuances of the game (like timing my blocks, or curving my shot). Exclusive to the adventure mode is the ability to equip custom rackets (unlocked by beating certain levels), and the fact that Mario levels up. Now, this sounds helpful on paper, but these elements truthfully don't impact your gameplay all that much. Most of the levels are decided almost purely by your skill, and if you're not too adept at the controls, a lot of the later AI tennis matches will be punishing. Thankfully, failing enough times grants you the option to retry the level with an unlimited stamina meter, which really helps close the gap in some of the more tricky levels. These levels take place in a delightfully diverse assortment of stages, each featuring a tennis court in places where there should absolutely not be a tennis court (e.g. the middle of the jungle, a snowcapped mountain, the deck of a large ship, and even atop a volcano). These locations often culminate in a fun boss battle, where you try and kill the boss.... with tennis. It sounds stupid on paper (especially with the way I phrase it), but it's actually a ton of fun in practice, as it's essentially a final exam covering all the mechanics you've learned, only in a combat setting. Unfortunately, there's only so many levels in the adventure mode, and the optional missions are so few that you might as well do them. It doesn't help that most of the levels don't have much in the way of replay value, so when you're done, you're done. That said, the post-game area is a series of minigames where the goal is to get a high score, so if you have an arcade leaderboard itch, that is waiting for you when you beat the main story. Of course, we all know that the PvP modes (whether local or online) are where it's at. Unlike the story mode (where you almost exclusively play as Mario), you have access to a full roster of Mario characters, each with their own stats and quirks. Unfortunately, there's not a lot in terms of game mode variety, so if you want to do something other than, you know, tennis, you're out of luck. There's also a mode where you can relive the glory days of Wii Sports Tennis and wave your Joy-Cons around like a jackass, but it's more gimmicky than anything. It's probably more fun in a party setting, I imagine. VERDICT: Mario Tennis Aces is a fantastic example of a great Mario sports game. It's got "easy to learn, hard to master" mechanics that lend themselves to an impressive amount of depth, an assortment of wild superpower mechanics to make things fun and interesting, a solid roster of characters and stages, endless PvP fun, and a silly story mode that doubles as a robust tutorial. If you're looking for a sports game that's a blast to play with other people and is also surprisingly challenging, I recommend this one. - end -
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June 2024
Derryck
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