Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash

Genre: Sports (Tennis)

Players: 1-4 Team Competitive (Local)

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Review:

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, released on the Wii U in 2015, is the requisite entry in the Mario Tennis franchise on the Wii U. The main gimmick this time around is Mega Battle, where characters can get mega mushrooms to temporarily become bigger and powered-up.

I’ll start things off by saying I do not understand the hate that this game got from reviewers. While I definitely agree with one of their biggest complaints (and you’ll see me detail it below), I don’t think that this game’s issues counter the fact that this is one of the best games in the series. That’s right, I said it. Come at me, bro.

It starts with a beautiful presentation. Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash features bright colors, beautifully detailed 3D courses and characters, and gorgeous animation. While it lacks some of the more imaginative elements that we would see in the Nintendo Switch follow-up, Mario Tennis Aces, I think that this game is overall more polished… although I suppose that may be easier to pull off if you’re less ambitious. As for the sound, it’s… fine, about what you’d expect from a Mario Tennis game. Energetic, sporty music (that’s nevertheless not very memorable), voice clips of the Mario crew reacting in excitement or dismay at events on the course… you know the drill by now.

One issue I will note is that the different tennis courses in this game aren’t really even different courses. Rather, they’re different ground textures, all within the same tennis court. That’s right, nothing else changes with the visuals! What’s more, you only have three different course types to choose from at the start (though you’ll very gradually unlock a few others. This is such a visually-boring, lackluster element of this game, one can’t help but wonder just what the heck is going on here.

However, what really pleases me about Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is that it has perhaps the best core gameplay in the series, perfectly balancing accessibility and skill. It’s clearly based on the gameplay that was in Mario Tennis Open on the Nintendo 3DS, slightly evolving on those mechanics with its new “jump shot” mechanic that allows players to double-tap a button to commit to their shot and make it a more powerful variant. This game uses traditional gamepad controls, so you won’t see any motion-controlled waggle or touchscreen shenanigans here, although like the 3DS game, players can opt to use the touchscreen to input the type of shot they want, or simply use it as a reminder what button combinations perform each shot type.

It may not be quite as accessible as, say, Wii Sports tennis, it makes up for that with much deeper gameplay, a good variety of shot types, and markings that indicate where you can exploit a shot by an opponent to hit back with something much more difficult to stop. I will say that the physics are occasionally a bit cartoony (slices curve in a way that doesn’t just laugh at physics, it spits out its tongue too), but once you get used to it, it makes for a delightful variety.

That’s good too, because you won’t find much variety in this game’s features and game modes. Players only have regular classic tennis, “knockout challenge” where you take on an endless succession of opponents (possibly joined by an Amiibo helper), mega ball rally where you try to hit a slow ball back and forth as many times as possible, and mega battle, which features the mega mushrooms I mentioned above. There are no minigames, no tutorial, no RPG elements to build up a character… nothing. For a series that’s supposedly the less-serious, wacky Tennis franchise, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is completely uninspired when it comes to content and features.

There is one other problem here, although it’s not one I can fault this game for. As I write this review in 2022, the online lobbies are completely abandoned. If you’re wanting to play this game in multiplayer, you’re going to have to bring your own friends to play with you.

In the end, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash has a lot of problems. It’s visually repetitive, it’s sorely lacking content, and its online lobbies are empty. Yet, despite this, it’s still quite possibly my favorite game in the series. This is thanks to truly excellent, balanced gameplay that’s both accessible and still deep, as well as a polished presentation that looks great, even if there’s not much variety to it. If you’re looking for a Mario Tennis game with a lot of different surprises and various activities, this game will be a huge disappointment to you. But if you’re looking for a game that gets the core Tennis gameplay right, this is an absolute must-have.

tl;dr – Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is extremely feature-poor, lacks court variety, and its online lobbies are deserted. However, while it definitely has its issues, the core gameplay is excellent, and the visuals may lack variety but they look extremely nice and polished. All things considered, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash may have disappointed players expecting a wacky Tennis game with tons of features and creativity, but if you’re primarily looking for quality Tennis gameplay, this is one of the best games in the series.

Grade: B+

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