When it comes to spin-off games like the Mario Tennis series, one of the reasons why people keep coming back is to see what kinds of tricks the game throws in to make it fresh enough to pick up again. The Tennis series in particular has had everything from an RPG mode on the Game Boy Color, to the popular power shots in the GameCube days, while the 3DS iteration mostly fell flat in this writer’s eyes. How do you improve on the formula for its Wii U debut? If Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash has any say, it’s that bigger is definitely better!
The demo version that we sat down with featured your standard Singles and Doubles matches, with characters such as Mario, Luigi, Peach, Toad, Wario and Yoshi coming with their own play styles and stats. However, none of them can top Rosalina, as she throws her power around while gracefully floating along the court. Like previous games, tapping different combinations of the two main face buttons will trigger different types of swings, such as a lob, top spin or back spin. Using these techniques to catch your opponents off guard is just as rewarding as it ever was, bringing back the deceptively strong strategy element to this arcade style sports game.
But then again, if that’s all there was to it, then you might as well play any other tennis game and get a similar experience. In Ultra Smash however, Mega Mushrooms will slide across the court for one of the players to grab. Doing so will make the first character to touch it grow into a towering giant, much like how they did in the New Super Mario Bros. series that the item debuted in. When bigger, each swing is receives a drastic power boost, stunning and knocking back the player who rallies the ball back. Assuming you don’t catch your opponents sleeping with a ball straight to the face, (which happened MANY times during my play through,) the defending team is left with a tense, desperate struggle to defend their side of the net, a dynamic which has yet to be seen in the series until now.
If playing locally isn’t your thing, online play has been confirmed as well, so you’ll be able to match up against players from around the world. When real friends aren’t good enough for you, Ultra Smash also features full Amiibo support, allowing you to train them until they learn to slaughter you as bad as they do in Super Smash Bros. A single player tournament mode or mini games weren’t confirmed, but I’d be surprised if they don’t make it in the final game in some form considering they’ve been in every other version. No matter what mode you play however, motion control options have been completely removed in this version, so those who wanted to get their swing on are out of luck.
Releasing on November 20th exclusively for the Wii U, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash might be the game you need to get your arcade style sports fix. Are you planning on picking this up? Comment below and tell us why!