“Mario Tennis Fever” is not real tennis.
As someone who got served during my last real tennis match, that’s supposed to be a good thing.
See, many, many, many years ago, I had the great idea of convincing my then-girlfriend that we should play tennis. At the time, there were tennis courts near our university and she wondered if tennis would be fun. As someone who played a little bit of tennis — emphasis on “little” — as a kid, I thought I could teach her a bit.
Well, someone certainly got taught a lesson that day.
Long story short, she beat me like a drum.
OK, that’s not quite accurate. She actually beat me like a timpani.
You know, like the one being played in the opening of Richard Strauss’ epic orchestral composition, “Also sprach Zarathustra?”
Let’s just say there was no sunrise for me during that friendly little tennis match.
There would be no more tennis matches for me after that, either. It wasn’t because I was mad or anything like that. It’s because I was just that bad at tennis. Like unsalvageably bad.
I could still hear the voice echoing in my head.
“Jason, thou shouldn’t playeth tennis anymore.”
Thus spoke Zarathustra.
Interestingly enough, the first Mario Tennis game was released around the same time. That first N64 game and the Gamecube followup would become my primary outlets for fulfilling my impossible tennis hopes and dreams.
Unlike my real body, the characters in the game could perform the shots I wanted to do with my mind — topspins, flat shots, cuts, lobs, drop shots. And curved shots, too. Oh, those sweet, beautiful, um, round things curving through the air.
Needless to say, the Mario Tennis series was one of my favorite Mario sports games.
This made me quite interested in trying out the newest entry in the franchise, Mario Tennis Fever.
Nintendo’s Mario Tennis franchise serves its first game for Switch 2
As the first Mario Tennis game for Nintendo’s new Switch 2 system, Mario Tennis Fever admittedly has some big tennis shoes to fill.
Despite its cartoony look, the entries in the franchise had some nice technical chops, particularly when disabling its multitude of gimmicks.
Granted, Mario Tennis started leaning more into those gimmicks with each new entry. I’d even go out on a limb and say Mario Tennis Fever feels the most gimmicky of all thanks to its new mechanic involving Fever Rackets.
In fact, Mario Tennis Fever is the most Mario Kart-like entry in the series because of it. Forget playing a friendly match of tennis. This game is about surviving your tennis match.
For those who haven’t played the game, Fever Rackets are special rackets that come with unique abilities. These abilities can include leaving fiery obstacles that burn characters who touch them, creating mini-fields that zap them with lightning or scattering a bunch of banana peels on the court.
The goal is to basically interrupt, slow or immobilize characters so they are unable to respond and hit back tennis balls.
I was introduced to the disruptive nature of these rackets while going through Mario Tennis Fever’s campaign mode.
At first, I was mowing down opponents easily while playing “normal” tennis without any gimmicks. Like riding a bicycle, it didn’t take long for the old muscle memory to kick in as I used drop shots against baseliners, lobs against net hogs and well-timed flat and topspin shots to the sides against poorly positioned foes.
Even the new Fever Shots that boasted extra power felt really good to use.
Then Baby Wario and Baby Waluigi came in equipped with Flame Rackets. What followed was the longest match I’ve played in the game up to that point as my team of Baby Mario and Baby Luigi got burned and even sidelined multiple times by fiery chunks that their rackets left when I failed to prevent a Fever Shot from bouncing on my side of the court.
The fact that I was forced to continue using the powerless Personal Racket made the match feel incredibly unfair. As someone who grew up as a Bjorn Borg fan, all those on-court meltdowns by John McEnroe suddenly started to make sense.
Eventually, they took a two-set lead in a five-set match and I felt just about as helpless as that infamous tennis match with my ex.
The only difference was that I somehow managed to rally and win the next two sets. After a hotly contested fifth set — no pun intended — with multiple tie breaks, I finally prevailed and was rewarded with the very same Fever Rackets that tormented me.
While victory tasted sweet, the baby match from hell also served as a warning on how overwhelming it can be to deal with Fever Rackets. This can be further magnified by special stages with their own gimmicks, like the jungle court with piranha plants. At times, it can be hard to keep track of the ball due to all the stuff that’s going on.
The good news is that you aren’t completely powerless. The key is to make sure you return the Fever Shots successfully before they can bounce. If you’re successful and your foe fails to return your shot before it bounces, then they’ll end up with some nasty karma and have to deal with the after effects of the very Fever Shot they tried to unleash.
This adds some extra strategy and tension to matches. I admit, this can actually be quite fun when things get hot and hectic. For folks who prefer a more normal tennis match, however, it can also be quite stressful. For the latter, I recommend deactivating gimmicks if you prefer a more classic match.
Mario Tennis Fever boasts plenty of modes
For folks looking for plenty of stuff to do, Mario Tennis Fever has you covered.
Mario Tennis Fever boasts plenty of modes as well as unlockable characters and rackets that you can work toward while playing the game.
The options include an Adventure or campaign mode that has you traveling through multiple areas to solve a curse that has turned Mario, Luigi and Princess Peach into babies. This mode starts you out at a tennis academy that serves as a tutorial of sorts. Once you graduate, you’re able to go out into the world in order to cure your “babyness.”
The campaign is pretty short and not really that exciting, kind of like a certain tennis match against a certain ex-girl — uh, never mind. That being said, I had several chuckles along the way, thanks to some hilarious dialogue sprinkled here and there in an otherwise uneventful story. Someone certainly had some fun cooking up conversation in this game.
The campaign also features several mini-games to give players a break from the regular tennis gameplay, though they can be hit or miss.
I do give Nintendo credit for at least adding a story mode. The devs could have just nixed it so we end up with just glorified menus. I will always appreciate games that take the time to add a campaign, even if it doesn’t have the most riveting story out there.
There’s also a Trial Tower mode that requires you to beat a consecutive selection of foes to fulfill various objectives, which was quite enjoyable. A bracket-style Tournament Mode lets players fight their way to the top as well.
For folks who like to play against other players more competitively, an Online Mode features Online Rooms with customizable rules as well as Ranked Matches.
Online, though, was a mixed bag.
As someone with high-speed Internet, I’m not sure if it was an issue with the host I played against or the connection of my random partner but my online matches would regularly freeze for a second before continuing.
In a game where it’s important to quickly respond to Fever Shots and return them before they can bounce, the laggy gameplay pretty much equates to a death sentence.
Playing online with a local partner for doubles matches also isn’t straightforward, with some features unavailable — at least at launch — particularly for ranked matches. For players who like to play online matches while teaming up with friends or family members on the same console, this can be a deal breaker.
It’s certainly a missed opportunity, especially given how tennis is a lot more fun when playing with or against real people.
I’m sure my ex would agree.
Final thoughts on Mario Tennis Fever
Mario Tennis Fever builds on top of the series’ excellent tennis mechanics by adding new mechanics to spice up the base gameplay. These include Fever Rackets, which add tension, sabotage and an assortment of court shenanigans that make the game feel like Mario Kart. The story campaign feels a bit sparse and online feels lacking for a modern game. The game helps freshen up the series, however, making Mario Tennis Fever a nice addition to the franchise.