Oh yeah, a new Mario Tennis game baby.
So let’s plug Ultra Smash in and see what epic opening the game has
in store.
Oh.
Well, at least it’s pretty, I guess.
And that about sums up Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash.
It’s pretty--but there’s not much to it.
Okay, I’m getting ahead of myself.
Here’s the good news: the core gameplay is still pretty solid.
The controls are fast, responsive, and wonderfully simplistic, allowing you to pull off all kinds
of shots with almost no learning curve.
So when it comes to the very core of the gameplay, Mario Tennis still has it.
But here’s the bad news: it mucks up that core gameplay up with some questionable new
& returning features.
One of these new features is the Ultra Smash, which allows you to launch the ball at blistering
speed whenever a star-shaped spotlight appears on the ground--it’s basically a new type
of Chance Shot from Mario Tennis Open.
And it actually wouldn’t be that bad of an addition--except that the rest of the Chance
Shots are back too.
And my main problem about the Chance Shots--and now the Ultra Smash--is that it makes the
gameplay more about them than actual Tennis.
I mean, they’re overpowered, reveal exactly where the ball’s going to land, and appear
all the freakin’ time.
I felt like I was mindlessly running point-to-point more often than using actual strategy.
And all of this chance-based gameplay is compounded by the game’s primary new mode: Mega Battle,
where Mega Mushrooms are randomly thrown onto the court that make your player bigger, stronger,
and extends their reach.
And while it is kind of fun as a novelty for first few matches--it quickly wore out its
welcome because it’s just another gimmick layered on top an already gimmick-ridden experience
thanks to the Chance Shots & Ultra Smashes.
But mercifully, the game has a Classic Tennis option that turns all of those gimmick off--so
yeah, no Mega Mushrooms and no Chance Shots.
Even the game concedes this is the mode you want to play if you like strategy being a
factor.
So needless to say, this was my preferred way of playing, if only because it reminded
me of how the classic Mario Tennis games used to play.
Unfortunately, Ultra Smash is still missing almost everything else that made those original
games so special.
Instead of a variety of well-themed arenas, you get just the one stadium here.
Although you can at least swap out the court itself for different materials that affect
how the ball reacts.
Then there’s the serious lack of new modes.
Beyond Mega Battle and Simple Tennis, all that’s left is the snorefest, Mega Ball
Rally, in which you hit a slightly larger ball back and forth in as long of a rally
as you can, and knockout battle--which is the closest thing this game has to a single-player
mode, where you battle progressively more challenging opponents in a round of Tennis.
Of course, Mario Tennis has always been at its best when played with friends--and that’s
still the case here too.
And thankfully, the game even allows you to even take the action online too--unless you
want to play with your friends.
Yep, in a baffling decision, there is no friend option at all, meaning you can only go up
against random players.
But, I will say the online multiplayer ran well in my experience, with only occasional
connection issues when playing in doubles matches.
Although speaking of which, if you want to play Doubles, you’re going to find a partner
first--either a friend on the same system, or an amiibo figure that you’ve trained
in the Knockout mode.
Unfortunately, there is no option to use a standard CPU as a teammate, which means you’ll
be at a huge disadvantage if you haven’t properly trained your amiibo.
On the upside, what little that is here actually looks pretty great.
The game runs at a buttery-smooth 60fps, and the characters are superbly animated.
I especially love their reactions during the instant-replays.
This is the kind of character and attention to detail that I wanted to see from the rest
of the game.
So here’s the deal: Mario Tennis is a great looking game...without much to offer.
Sure, what’s there, though flawed, can still be fun.
But it’s the same fun that I’ve had many times before in past Mario Tennis games--only
there was a lot more to play around with back then.
As such, the overall experience of Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash just left me feeling meh.
While it may take the series visuals to new heights--it wasn’t worth trading in its
soul.
Thanks for watching and make sure to stay-tuned to GameXplain for more reviews and other things
gaming too.