What parents need to know
Mario and his gang are back for a new tennis tournament in Mario Tennis Fever. The 9th game in the franchise (10th if you include Tennis on the NES), Mario Tennis Fever offers, as usual, completely crazy tennis games with superpowers, fireballs and completely chaotic courts. Let’s say that it’s a long way from a tennis simulation, and closer to a Mario Kart on a tennis court.
The big novelty is the frenetic rackets and the Fever shots that lend their name to the game. Basically, as the exchanges progress, each player’s Fever bar fills up. Once one of the segments is full, players can make a Fever move on the return, a much faster and more powerful move, in addition to being accurate. But above all, these shots activate the special powers of the racquets. The powers are varied; Some racquets set the court on fire, push opponents back to the back of the court, make the player invisible or create a player’s double to play 2 on 1.
In addition to the usual tennis games, the title offers many varied game modes. There is a story mode, in which Mario, Luigi, Wario, and Waluigi are transformed into babies as they explore a mysterious cave in search of a magical fruit to heal the critically ill Daisy. The plumbers must then train in tennis to defeat the monster that inhabits the cave and regain their original shapes.
There’s also a tournament mode, in singles and doubles, as well as rounds that feature 10 consecutive challenges from a list of 100, with only three lives.
Mario Tennis also offers alternative modes such as ring games, in which you have to make as many points as possible by sending the ball through rings. Finally, there is also a mode that uses the motion controls of the Switch 2, allowing the player to hit the ball with the joycon, a bit like in the famous Wii Sports.
Of course, the game makes a good place for multiplayer play. You can play with several people on the same console, face-to-face with two consoles (only one player needs to own the game, the other can play for free), and online.
Details
Level of experience required
| Age | 3+ | 7+ | 12+ | 16+ | 18+ |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Beginners |  |
 |
|
|
|
| Intermediate | |
|
|
|
|
| Experienced | |
|
|
|
|
Evaluation
We are in the cartoonish and cute universe of Mario. The characters can catch fire or get hit by a tennis ball, but it’s always funny and never violent.
No problem.
Some instructions are shared in writing, but it’s simple and easy to understand.
In the story mode, the characters try to help their sick friend, and they even forgive the bad guys.
There is certainly a way to master some subtleties of the game system and reach an advanced level, but the basic handling is simple. Mario Tennis Fever is a game that is quite accessible to beginners.
The base price ($99.99) is definitely high, but otherwise, there is no additional monetization.
Local game modes
There are many of them: adventure mode, tournament, turn, special games, swing mode (with motion controls), and of course, free games, alone or with others.
Online Game Modes
You can play online, in random or ranked games.
Expansions/Add-ons (DLC)
Nothing announced for the moment.
Our opinion
Mario Tennis Fever is at the top of the franchise’s game rankings. In fact, it would be at the very top if it were not for a misstep that we will talk about below.
But let’s start with the positive: the Fever system is an excellent novelty, and makes the games perfectly chaotic without detracting from the fun and giving the impression that the outcome of the confrontations depends above all on chance. The choice of rackets is varied, and the possibilities of combinations with the characters, each with their own advantages and disadvantages, are numerous.
The longer a game lasts, the more Fever moves become, and the more frenetic the exchange becomes. Fever shots can be countered, so the effects of rackets can backfire, but only if the ball is hit before it bounces. This is followed by rallies where not only do we try to avoid allowing our opponent to score, but also in which we try to touch the ball before it even hits the ground.
The effects are also funny. Some are a little too powerful, we have no doubt that some more assiduous players will forbid themselves the use of certain rackets under penalty of arguments, but it remains a pleasure to try the different (and numerous) rackets.
The single-player modes have been criticized for their length, but we disagree on this aspect. Admittedly, the adventure mode is not very long, a few hours at most, but it is at least interesting, with very nice cutscenes. No, it’s not Shakespeare, you probably suspected that. But I enjoyed following this little story, and above all, Wario and Waluigi steal the show in each of their appearances.
That being said, the single-player offer does not stop at the adventure mode. Tournaments are classic and short, but allow you to unlock characters. But I particularly liked the tours. The challenges offered are varied, sometimes difficult, and once you have beaten each round, you unlock an alternative mode where you have to complete each of the 100 challenges, with certain particular conditions to get a perfect score. Right there, we have many hours to go.
In short, the single-player mode is robust, the game system exciting and doubly enjoyable in multiplayer. What’s the problem?
The online mode.
Player experiences seem to vary a lot, but on our side, the latency was such that it was impossible to play online. When there is more than a second difference between the command and the result in English, you might as well say that there is no online mode.
It’s a real shame, because we would have liked to have been able to measure ourselves against other players online. Your experience could vary depending on several factors, but this writer has often played Mario Party from the same place, with the same connection, and the experience was virtually flawless. So there seems to be a problem on the Mario Tennis side.
It’s a shame, because it’s a big misstep coming from a game that really charmed us.
In short, if you like to play tennis solo, or if you want a good old multiplayer game to share with a friend who comes to your house, Mario Tennis is an ace. But if you want to play online, we can only give a foul (that’s a tennis term, right?)
