Distributor provided a review copy
The original Mario Tennis, which came out for the Nintendo 64 over 25 years ago, remains one of my all-time favorite games. Yes, Mario Kart is the more accomplished and culturally impactful title, but it was on the tennis court that I remember having some of the best and most frantic games of my youth.
That same energy echoes in Mario Tennis Fever, the eighth installment of the series. Played with friends, it has the same wackiness as the Nintendo 64 version, only amped up with a much higher degree. While there are a bunch of unnecessary additions, namely a pointless story mode, it's an immense relief to see that Nintendo hasn't messed with the foundations of their arcade sports masterpiece.
Said story mode is easily the weakest part of the package. There's a nonsensical plot about Daisy falling ill and the entire gang heading out to find a cure on a mysterious island that robs them of their tennis skills (!), but it's so perfunctory you might as well skip it.
For newcomers, the adventure/story mode serves as a functional tutorial, but that's about it. Everyone else should keep it on the back burner when you have to play alone. Though why you'd want to is a mystery, as Mario Tennis Fever offers a robust selection of multiplayer options, ranging from local to online, that work beautifully. Nintendo's GameShare is another triumph, which offers other Switch owners (on both systems) the chance to play as long as one person owns the game.
You've got the regular tennis modes for singles and doubles, which are great fun for those looking for the most traditional experience. Both free play and tournament have the superb gameplay feel of the Mario Tennis franchise honed to perfection, and the rules remain simple enough that a single game teaches you all the basics.
Then there are the Fever Rackets, the special gear that enhances abilities and provides unique attacks to those that wield them. It's here that Mario Tennis Fever really kicks up a notch and brings the series closer to the mayhem we remember from the past.
Like with Mario Kart, each game begins with choosing your favorite character, followed by selecting a Fever Racket to play with. Unlike with Karts, the rackets don't power up the character in essence; rather, they complement different playstyles by emphasizing offensive or defensive abilities. A good team, for example, will pick one of each to keep their side of the court unpredictable.
For experienced players, Fever Rackets provide immense depth to an already fascinating gameplay experience. But they are an acquired taste. In my testing, I found them akin to a Hard Mode compared to the far more accessible regular rackets, which you can also choose as the default.
There's also a Swing Mode, which attempts to recapture the feeling of motion controls seen in the Wii era, but with mixed results. It's not bad, but it is fiddly, and it just doesn't work as well because the game isn't designed around the gimmick anymore.
Other game modes include mini-games on increasingly unhinged maps, including ones with cameos from recent Mario titles like Super Mario Wonder. They're all fun and breezy, but hardly the main draw. I played through most of them a single time and didn't consider ever returning. Why would I when the main game is so much fun?
If there are complaints, they're in the grind, which is a natural part of the Mario sporting titles. Almost all the major characters require some hustle to unlock for the multiplayer sections. To do that, you have to play every mode, including the adventure, for a bit.
Yes, that's part of the fun with these titles, but it can get tedious, especially for those not invested in putting dozens upon dozens of hours into the game before you even have friends over.
But it is a minor complaint, especially when everything else is this much fun. On the Switch 2, Mario Tennis Fever runs beautifully and looks stellar. The physical cart has everything on it, making it a wonderful addition for any collector who cares about preservation.
More than that, it's just a really, really solid game. It understands the simplicity and beauty of tennis and effortlessly combines them with the wacky fun of a Nintendo title. As a party game, it's right up there with Mario Kart and Mario Party.
