REVIEW: ‘Mario Tennis Fever’ Rocks The Advantage

Mario Tennis Fever, the latest Nintendo tennis title developed by Camelot Software Planning, is one of Mario’s best sports spin-off games yet. While the last few entries had their own charm, Mario Tennis Fever smartly reinvents the formula and builds on it. It boasts a huge roster and plenty of rackets that genuinely change builds and strategies. While the Adventure mode isn’t great, the rest of the package more than makes up for it, with the core tennis gameplay being a nonstop blast.

There’s plenty to dive into with Mario Tennis Fever, but most will start with Adventure Mode. It’s short, roughly 4 hours to credits, and is essentially a long tutorial with a number of mini-games thrown in. The narrative setup is silly and whimsical enough, as Mario, Luigi, and a few others get turned into babies by unknown monsters. They need to retrain their tennis skills, which are clearly the most essential for taking down the monsters and becoming adults again. 

Adventure Mode is a teaser for the fun game that awaits.

The first section is easily the most monotonous, as you spend time in an academy learning how to play. You’ll learn a shot, play a mini-game that feels like a Mario Party reject to cement the knowledge, try it out, take a test, finally play a round of tennis—rinse and repeat. 

Once you’re finally out of the academy and on the journey to regain your bodies, you’ll work through a few stages that boil down to one gimmick repeated. Hit a thing back at another thing, then do it two more times with slight variation to honor the rule of three, and then do something similar in the next world.

It never does anything more than this, and while it’s at least somewhat entertaining after you leave the academy, it just leaves you wanting to play actual tennis. The boss fights are the highlight, as you finally play some tennis against some of Mario’s classic foes. They’re big and fun, with unique mechanics for each new encounter. It’s a good thing the rest of the modes more than deliver where Adventure falters. 

Trial Towers stands out as the favorite mode among the many to choose from.

There’s a Tournament mode, where you tennis your way to the top. Trial Towers mix in some mini-games but with increased difficulty, with only three lives to make it all the way. Free Play lets you play to your heart’s content, while Mix It Up introduces some special modes that play with the formula.

All of these have their own charms and fun, with the Trial Towers being a standout favorite. The core tennis gameplay is just so much fun, with each match being a fast-paced and hectic back-and-forth. The biggest hurdle at first is finding the right character/racket pairing for you, as the options are plentiful.

In classic Mario Tennis fashion, the characters are divided by type. All Rounders are solid jacks-of-all-trades, while Technical characters have better corner control. Gone are the character special moves seen in previous entries, now replaced with rackets.

Special moves can be game changers, but time them wisely!

After you pick a character, you choose a racket, each with its own special ability that can be used when its bar is charged. Flame Rackets shoot out fire when they hit the ground, while Inky Rackets send ink blots out to obscure your opponent’s view. Each new racket, with there being 30 to unlock, can completely change how a character plays.

The stress of picking the perfect time to bust out a special move is real, especially as they can be sent back at you. A few rallies back and forth with a charged ball becomes a white-knuckle affair, with the loser now dealing with a significant court disadvantage. Worse still is having your own special moves end up back on your side, a hiccup that could cost a round.

The build craft gets deep here, as you work through different characters, their associated types, and the right racket. Do you accentuate their strengths, perhaps setting up a ball curving Tricky character with a Swerve Racket to make those arcs even grander? Or do you balance out weaknesses, where a Golden Dash Racket can make a Defensive character faster in a clutch moment? 

Mario Tennis Fever is a great return to the court.

There are a ton of ways to play Mario Tennis Fever, leaving lots of room for player skill expression. Hitting Free Play to find the right fit is a necessity, especially before attempting to climb the online Ranked ladders. Online is a ton of fun and can get humbling quickly, as you begin to learn the strengths and weaknesses of your current choices. 

Mario Tennis Fever also has plenty of doubles content to play with a friend or significant other, but it is also quite limited. Playing free play is fine, but going online isn’t really possible. You can make a lobby and play duos online that way, but you’re left hoping randoms join your lobby and play.

There’s no way to play ranked duos with a friend, locally or online. This feels like a huge miss, continuing Nintendo’s strangely archaic approach to most online gaming. This would’ve been a blast to play with a friend, you and a plus one versus the world, but it’s unfortunately not possible.

Mario Tennis Fever is a blast, easily one of Mario’s best sports games in recent years. The core gameplay is a ton of fun, with plenty of build experimentation across its many characters and rackets. While the Adventure mode and duo online play are lacking, the rest of the package is entertaining and addictive. Mario Tennis Fever is a great return to the court, and hopefully an indication of more sports greatness coming to Switch 2.

Mario Tennis Fever is available now on Nintendo Switch 2.