Mario Tennis Aces (Explaining Why Mario has Never Got Together with Peach)

All things going well, I'll b in a position to pick this up in a couple of weeks' time.

I'm not paid until next week so I'll be getting it then.

I'll see if work has it, but I'm in no panic as I've got a lot to play even on Switch and reviews haven't been that flattering.

Only read the videogamer review so far where they gave it 7, oddly seems like despite them enjoying the tennis part of it & saying it has good variety they've marked it down because of the difficulty of the AI in adventure mode. Most of my time with this will be with the online MP anyway which I really enjoyed during the network test & if we have a few more of us getting then I think we can get some fun tournaments going.

I've got it and am already not getting the ever so slightly different control scheme. Enjoying the variety of adventure mode so far, but simple mode will be happening when we're playing multiplayer. WON'T IT.

I'm fine playing with whatever rules people prefer, I did notice on a twitch stream yesterday that the number rackets can be adjusted so KO victories are less of a thing.

The_Jaster wrote:

Only read the videogamer review so far where they gave it 7, oddly seems like despite them enjoying the tennis part of it & saying it has good variety they've marked it down because of the difficulty of the AI in adventure mode.

Blast, that's what I'll be getting most of my playtime out of. Scullion said the mode felt throwaway as well.

I'm sure we'll get a few local games of it at the meet up.

I've decided not to get this in the end, by all accounts the singleplayer content is very lacking (3 hour long and frustratingly unbalanced adventure mode, only 3 tournaments with easy AI, and free play limited to a single set of 2 games so no full matches).

I can see what they've done with this game - they've made a competitive online fighting game - but that's not what I wanted at all

OrangeRakoon wrote:

.......and free play limited to a single set of 2 games so no full matches

I've seen a few folk flip out about that online & while it'd be nice if the game had that option I really loved the quick and fun nature of the matches in the network test.

What you said OR is what put me off getting day one and will only be getting if cheap or during double discount, in work, if we've got it.

As flawed as Aces is - for all the reasons OrangeRakoon lists - it's still light years ahead of Ultra Smash on Wii U in every way thinkable. I actually quite like it - Mario Tennis has needed new ideas since the GameCube one, and they've tried a few different things here. Definitely wanting to play some of youse online 👌

I can't fault them for innovating! I don't think it's a bad game, I just don't think it's the game for me. My favourite Mario Tennis game is the one on GBC with its lack of gimmicks and full on RPG adventure. My second favourite is probably the N64 game for the proper tennis matches. The gimmicks in Aces seem well implemented and balanced for the game they've made, but I want to turn on simple mode and play a variety of tournaments with full matches against a competent AI - from what I've read that's not what the game offers.

Should you really be buying a tennis game for single player only anyway? (Btw it's perfectly fine if MP isn't your thing)

I have and spent hours in the single player mode of the likes of Top Spin.

The_Jaster wrote:

Should you really be buying a tennis game for single player only anyway? (Btw it's perfectly fine if MP isn't your thing)

I'd also want it for local play - but the same complaints about number of sets/games applies. Also the local play is split-screen, which is madness for a tennis game!

Ahh that's fair enough and a bit of shame the number of sets/games is a deal breaker for you.

It's a pretty big thing for me too: my default when I used to play local play was 3 sets 2 games, but I had been known to play 3-6 matches in the past. And I got a whole lot of mileage out of just playing the CPU as well. A real shame, this, and probably a deal-breaker if I'd known in advance.

OrangeRakoon wrote:

free play limited to a single set of 2 games so no full matches).

That seems really daft. Like, to the degree where I can't even work out why they made that decision.

I'm still down to get this eventually as I felt the core gameplay was top notch stuff, but it's one I'll be waiting for Cappa to find it incredibly cheap for us all in a sale, I think.

As top-notch as that core gameplay is, I recommend holding fire on Aces, whether you decide to wait for a couple of patches, wait for an update or two, or wait for a price drop. Right now, it's quite unbalanced.

Here's my quick thoughts. The Adventure campaign is nothing like Mario Tennis on GBC or GBA like a lot of folk had hoped - it's actually quite linear and repetitive, and the difficulty wildly varies from stage to stage. It's easy to the point of boredom at times, and stupidly unfair at others. Online is similarly flawed - some characters are just much better than others, with a couple being game-wreckingly good. The CPU Tournament mode is, on the other hand, too easy right the way through. Swing mode has potential, and feels surprisingly authentic for a game of cartoon tennis, but there's just not enough to it.

I'll definitely bring it to the Manchester meet-up and I think we'll enjoy it there, but for those of you who are on the fence about Aces, I recommend staying on the fence.

JayMoyles wrote:

OrangeRakoon wrote:

free play limited to a single set of 2 games so no full matches).

That seems really daft. Like, to the degree where I can't even work out why they made that decision.

My guess is that the match length is balanced against the likelihood of winning by KO, so they figured there was no point in having longer matches.

Of course that logic doesn't carry over to playing in simple mode without the gimmicks, but that was probably something they didn't even want to include in the first place!

That definitely sounds like a possible reason but it also has a higher focus on online play than previous games so I think that might come into it as well.

I really don't like that shift of emphasis... but the Switch has knocked it out of the park with local multiplayer so far this gen. so I'll forgive them.

I wouldn't worry to be honest since the Switch really is made for local play & everything game that does have an online focus still has a way to play it locally.

I picked this up on Sunday and I've rattled through what seems to be most of the Adventure mode in a few hours. I think the meat from this will lie in how much mileage you reckon you'll get out of multiplayer battling, be it local or online.

What's really impressed me so far is how intense the games can feel when both players are playing well. The rallies can last for ages if both players are hitting their blocks and actively trying to nail zone shots. I had a monster of a game with Andy where I had to go through 2 full rounds with only a sliver of racket durability left. Thankfully, my unbeaten record against him continues and the streak lives on at 16-0.