Mario Tennis Fever Review

Mario Tennis Fever Review
Version Reviewed: Nintendo Switch 2

I am not much of a tennis fan, so it is safe to say I have never played a tennis game before. I am a fan of Mario games, however, and now that Nintendo are serving up Mario Tennis Fever for review, I decided to go out on the court and give it my all. Now, I do not know much about tennis at all, and thankfully, Mario and friends play a bit fast and loose, with all sorts of items and not many rules, so I think I might be okay. What’s It Like? Put on your visor, grab your racquet, and prepare to rally your heart out as we review Mario Tennis Fever for Nintendo Switch 2.

Surprisingly, Mario Tennis Fever has an adventure mode that tells the story of Daisy falling ill, and Wario and Waluigi suggesting the gang search for the Golden Fruit that can bring her back from the brink. Being Wario and Waluigi, they have an ulterior motive of raiding the island for treasure, which agitates a group of Fuzzies as well as a mysterious cloud that turns the crew into babies, causing them to lose all of their tennis skills. It is a bit of a wild story that involves Mario and Luigi training as babies at the Mushroom Kingdom Tennis Academy to build up their strength, while also dealing with other mishaps along the way. There are about four hours of shenanigans here, and it feels like a cross between Mario Tennis and Mario Party, which keeps things fresh and the player engaged for the duration. It includes a levelling system that doesn’t quite live up to the peak of the Gameboy Advance version of the game, but a promising sign it could be further built upon in the sports series moving forward.

Outside of Adventure Mode, there is plenty on offer. There are three tournaments, or six if you count doubles, that grow increasingly difficult. Trial Towers give you three towers with ten challenges each, including some interesting boss fights. There is Free Play, Mix It Up Mode, which lets you play on special maps with certain rules, and Swing Mode, which uses Joy-Con motion controls. Alongside the varied game modes are plenty of secrets to unlock, with a huge selection of characters, Fever Racquets, and even hidden challenges to discover. One such mode is unlocked after clearing the three Trial Towers, revealing a further 100 challenges to take on. Each match brings you closer to unlocking something new, and that constant drip feed of rewards makes Mario Tennis Fever quite addictive.

Speaking of playing, matches are fast and fun. You can stun your opponent with a return ace or claw your way back to victory after an intense rally. The gameplay has an easy-to-pick-up but difficult to master feel. Even after around fifteen hours of solo play, jumping online exposed me to new strategies other players used to completely outplay me. The big new addition this time is Fever Racquets and their abilities, which add an extra layer of strategy and offence to a standard tennis match. Build up some momentum, and you can unleash a Fever Shot, activating your racquet ability. These range from spinning fire bars to freezing shots that create slippery surfaces, or even ghost racquets that clone you for extra coverage on the court. There’s something so satisfying about smashing a ball that your opponent narrowly misses after a furious ballet of a back-and-forth rally. The strategy involved goes as deep as you like. Startign off, you may just hit left and right and use Fever abilities to get one up on your opponent, but as the challenge gets harder, you’re bringing them in with a soft shot, before lobbing a shot behind them, or even forcing your opponent to lob a ball your way, opening them up to a powerful star shot across the court. I replayed tournaments a few times just to get some practice in against the crafty AI, and despite getting absolutely destroyed by a baby Peach, it was so rewarding to finally emerge the victor after some well-timed and well-placed shots.

While they do add something new, I found that Fever abilities largely hindered competition. The issue is that they last too long. They can linger across sets and even matches in tournaments, getting in the way of some genuinely great rallies. They can even be frustrating when working in your favour. In one tournament, I was having some fantastic rallies with a Toad opponent, but after placing a few fire bars on the ground, Toad was knocked out almost immediately after serving. I understand that is the point of them, but I think they would work better as a short burst tool that disappears after a serve rather than dominating the flow of play. The good news is that you can turn these abilities off in free play or custom modes, and you can even play online without them, as online offers multiple rule sets under skill-based matchmaking. I played several rounds without issue when it came to matchmaking or netcode. Although, admittedly, I did have a few skill issues.

Mario Tennis Fever continues Nintendo’s signature bright and colourful worlds, with detailed environments that really shine on the Switch 2. Grass and court effects look gorgeous, and each character oozes personality and charm, from the classics like Mario and Luigi to smaller characters like Goomba, who holds his racquet in his mouth. Every character has their own mannerisms when it comes to winning and losing, as well as distinct movement across the court. It adds a lot of life to each match and helps the roster feel more expressive than just a set of stat differences. Oddly enough, there were a few blemishes that stuck out like a sore thumb. I noticed some strange pixelated shadows during certain matches, and a few effects, particularly the Ink Fever racquet ability, looked more like a basic 2D sprite dropped into an otherwise polished game. It does not ruin the presentation, but it is noticeable in a title that otherwise looks fantastic.

For my tennis pros looking into accessibility, there are no options to speak of in Mario Tennis Fever. So, as always, I recommend further research into finding out if the game suits your needs. At $110 AUD, I feel like Mario Tennis Fever doesn’t quite fit the price tag. It’s a great game, but it just doesn’t feel like it belongs in that price bracket. In my opinion, $79 would have been much more palatable court fees. That said, Mario Tennis Fever was a great game for me to debut on the tennis court. Its bright and colourful vibe makes it a joy to look at, while its gameplay systems deliver simplicity on the surface but reveal deeper mechanics and strategies the more you play. Despite a relatively short adventure mode, there are plenty of challenges to take on for both offline and online players, making Mario Tennis Fever a solid addition to the Switch 2’s library… if you can return the serving price. Whether you’re mastering rallies, pulling off crazy fever shots, or climbing online leaderboards, Mario Tennis Fever proves that the Switch 2 is ready for fast, furious, and ridiculously fun tennis.

So What’s It Like? Mario Tennis Fever is like having a fever, and the only answer is more tennis.

In the interest of full disclosure, a review copy was provided by Nintendo Australia, but this doesn’t influence my score.

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