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Mario Tennis Aces Discussion (Nintendo Switch) [game]
 
Mario Tennis Aces on the Switch
8.03/10 from 4 user ratings

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As someone who has been way down on the Mario Tennis franchise for probably a decade (of Chance Shots), Mario Tennis Aces looks freaking amazing. They've finally rehauled those tired, unintuitive mechanics. Into something that even less resembles tennis, granted, but it seems incredibly fun. Like a tennis fighting game! Blocks, Specials, a meter, Supers, Taunts, and a c-c-combo breaker! It has genuinely become one of my most anticipated games. I love the Block mechanic, since it actually prioritizes timing, whereas previous Mario Tennis games disdained it.

Story mode was nowhere near enough to hype me up. But these new mechanics are. And optional splitscreen for local multiplayer is such a great idea. If they balance it well, Mario Tennis Aces will be an absolute scream in multiplayer. Party in a cartridge.

Camelot has redeemed themselves. Now let's get some Mario Superstar Baseball, Namco!

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03/13/18, 00:57    Edited: 06/23/18, 18:44
 
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The game is out!

Story Mode's pretty fun so far and the mechanics are great as always. Unfortunately, I wanted to main Daisy but I just can't perform with her. Rosalina ended up getting me some wins, though, so I'll stick with the cosmic princess for the time being.

I've gotten to the Tourney finals twice but lost both times. The most recent loss was especially frustrating, against a Chomp that just charged in the middle and returned everything with intense ferocity, getting a meter advantage as early as the first volley. Ugh. That playstyle has me a bit stymied, as does Bowser Jr., whose arms seem to reach the entire court's length.

Otherwise, I'm really enjoying the gameplay. I just wish I could've taken home a trophy tonight.

And I am kind of wondering how much longer I'll be able to play player-vs-player stuff. It gets me a lot more stressed out than single player against computers and probably even couch multi. I dunno what it is!
06/23/18, 07:26   
@TriforceBun
It really IS more stressful to play online. That might be a generational thing. Like, maybe playing online just equals playing video games for kids today.

But probably not.

As an aside, I've always felt that males need to have an outlet for the aggression that naturally emanates from them. And competition is one of the healthier ways to channel it.
06/23/18, 19:10   
Edited: 06/23/18, 19:27
I'm excited to try it but I'm hosting my future family I'm law this weekend and playing in the Splatfest.

Soon!
06/23/18, 19:14   
Edited: 06/23/18, 19:14
@Anand

Yeah, I've always been fairly competitive, even doing stuff like playing cards or board games with the family. What can I say? Winning is fun!

I never actually get insanely angry playing games (like, swearing and throwing controllers, etc) but it certainly makes my heart rate go up. I just lost another tourney. Pretty frustrating!
06/23/18, 19:14   
Does anyone else find the audio mixing in this game to be kind of unbearable? BLARING menu music, I turn the TV down, enter a match, everything goes dead silent, I turn the TV back up, switch sides of the court, music fades in super loud again... forget an underwhelming single player mode, I can't stand to play the multiplayer mode for more than five minutes like this. I want to love this game, but man, I dunno if it's gonna happen.

I can't believe no one is talking about this. I've had this issue with other games in the past too (Metal Gear Rising comes to mind), and nobody else on the planet seems to care. It comes across as so shoddy to me, Nintendo's the only dev I can count on to nail little polish details like this and they dropped the ball hard on this one.

EDIT: Okay, the audio still sucks, but I played a bit more and I'm learning to tolerate it.

Any tips on when to use the different swings?
06/24/18, 06:48   
Edited: 06/24/18, 18:45
I finally picked this game up a few weeks ago. Man, what an improvement on the Mario Tennis formula! The new mechanics even put the old ones into better context.

I've always thought that this game looked like it would be amazingly fun in local multiplayer, and it totally is! My recent 4P session was a blast. The fear of having your racket broken really amps up the tension, and breaking one is incredibly satisfying.

I've only played one tournament online, but it ran pretty well. And the opposition wasn't as intimidating as I'd feared, thanks to the brilliant tier-based system.

Really fun stuff. A great blend of strategy and arcadey mechanics. And seeing that they plan to support and balance it for another year makes me even happier. I haven't even dipped into Adventure Mode yet, but that mode is more of a bonus for me.

After years of middling (non-golf) games, this game brings back the Mario Sports series with a vengeance. I'm so glad that sold it well. Can't wait for the inevitable return of baseball (Namco), soccer (Next Level), etc. I missed arcade sports titles so much! (Also arcade racers. Thanks, Mario Kart!)

Mario Golf World Tour DX with improved graphics, single-system multiplayer modes, more control options, all of the DLC, and a token Story Mode is a guaranteed slam dunk, as well. It's just a matter of time, really.
09/16/18, 23:06   
Edited: 09/16/18, 23:20
Just finished the Adventure Mode. Honestly, I found it to be pretty damned good! There were a nice variety of objectives and unique bosses, all with a good usage of the core Aces mechanics. And I didn't have to open locker doors to look for Exp! Speaking of which, the RPG mechanics were kind of meaningless, but they didn't really hurt the experience, either.

I guess that they rebalanced the Adventure Mode in the recent patch, but I found the difficulty curve to be almost perfect. Each boss took me two or three tries. Discover, practice, master. And the Score Attack island was also a nice little cap. As well as the only part of the Mode that I would come back to, most probably.

Still, it exceeded my expectations. I think that this game is kind of underrated, to be honest. Camelot should patch in some meaningless progression elements to make people happy, like cosmetic unlocks and some kind of overall league ranking for friends, the region, and the whole world.

It's funny, because Mario Tennis 3DS had tons of unlockable cosmetics, but the core gameplay was way less enjoyable.

I also dabbled in Swing Mode. I'm not quite able to call my shot yet, but it feels pretty good. Hitting a hard shot is satisfying. And the Online Co-op was fun, but the networking was quite unstable during my sole attempt.

Tennis!
09/25/18, 12:08   
Edited: 09/25/18, 21:56
Logged on for my monthly unlock-a-character online tournament, got my second (third?) win! The first two rounds were a cakewalk (to the point where I felt bad for my opponents), but the final match was a real come-from-behind nailbiter. He knew how to lob! And, of course, he used a damned Tricky character. But trusty ol' Mario prevailed, baby.

Super-tense, though. My heartbeat definitely accelerated. I only see people whine about this game online, but it's so fucking fun! An outstanding and accessible multiplayer title. Easily my favorite sports(-ish) game in years. So hype.
06/02/19, 03:48   
Edited: 06/02/19, 03:51
@Anand

I'm happy people are still enjoying this game! I don't think it's for me, but I really appreciate that it exists and is good for Mario Tennis fans, Nintendo's B games ought to be quality too.
06/02/19, 08:24   
@Secret_Tunnel
Is it a B-game? Hmm, I might just be a "B-game" fan, in general, if that refers to mechanics-driven games. How would you define a B-game?

I dunno if Nintendo's stuff can be broken down in terms of AAA, B-game, etc., because they don't really do that cinematic adventure thing very often. Is Animal Crossing AAA? Mario Kart? Smash? Sort-of-Nintendo fans always harp on whether a Mario or Zelda (or Metroid?) title was shown/talked about/released/etc., but I honestly don't care, as long as there are enough interesting games.

Anyway, what don't you like about Aces, specifically? Just the audio thing? Do you still want tips on shot choice? Slice curves more towards the handedness side and decelerates upon bouncing (not so much in this game), topspin kicks away from the handedness side and accelerates upon bouncing, drop shots are short, and lobs will counter people at the net. Tennis is all mind games. A lot of people just go cross court, but you can psych people out by hitting it down the line when they're running back to the center of the court. Those are the basics. Aim for where they're not. Put the ball in the hole!

You can charge your zone meter by holding the shot button early, which is essential in this game. Zone can be spent to slow down time or hit a power shot or special. Specials can one-hit KO a racket, but the opponent has time to prepare for them and decide whether to block or avoid. I'd prefer to take several quick-fire Zone Shots with an equivalent amount of meter. Very hard to prep for and react to, and a point is a point. You can take a Zone Shot from the star caused by your opponent's off-balance return, which you can force by putting them out of position and/or drilling a charged shot. When you see the star, you can decide whether to quickfire a Zone Shot and make them use up their meter trying to catch it, use a Zone Shot to damage their racket, or just charge the hell out of your return for a laserbeam return which also fills your meter.

I could go on about stategies, returning specials, when to hold 'em and when to fold 'em, Zone Serves, etc., but was this stuff even what you were asking about before?

Also, just to set the record straight, I've been way down on the Mario Tennis games since... after the Gamecube one? I thought that the charging mechanic didn't feel very tennis-like and that the chance shot mechanic completely eliminated the strategy, which is why I'm so impressed by Aces! It recontextualizes charging into a core, fighting game-like mechanic. Actually, Aces IS an arcade fighting game, but with a unique setting and super-easy execution. It's all about quick thinking.
06/02/19, 19:23   
Edited: 06/02/19, 19:29
@Anand

I'd probably break them down something like:

S Tier ("AAA" has a weird connotation):
Mario
Zelda
Metroid (sometimes!?)
Smash

A Tier:
Mario Kart
F-Zero
Star Fox
Animal Crossing
Pokemon
Splatoon
Pikmin
Donkey Kong
Fire Emblem

B Tier:
Mario Tennis
Mario Party
Kirby
Yoshi
Luigi's Mansion
Paper Mario

And then gross stuff like the Chibi-Robo platformer abomination and the seventh Mario & Luigi game can be C-tier!

I don't remember why I stopped playing, I think it was similar to Arms, where I could really appreciate the depth of the mechanics, but the game didn't really ease you into it at all, which meant that if I wanted to get good I'd have to exert a lot of effort looking up guides and practicing techniques, and at that point I might as well just practice piano instead! Games with depth are the best, but they need to curate how I experience them! Hold my hand and take me on a journey!

Maybe I'll try adventure mode again?
06/02/19, 19:35   
@Secret_Tunnel
I have so much to say in response to your tier list that I can't even begin!

Regarding Adventure Mode, I mean, it's not that long, I guess... but it's not the meat of the game. If you want a step-by-step tutorial, it's fine. But have you tried playing online? There are a LOT of terrible players out there. Beat some of them!

Is it really that complicated? I think it's just a few simple systems, layered on top of each other. I just explained, like, 75% of it!

ARMS is probably more challenging, since it's harder to understand what you're doing wrong. Or maybe that's my bias, I dunno.

Go play piano, regardless. Music rocks!


Also, Mario Kart has been the best-selling title on the last four consoles, or something! How is it not in your S Tier, aaaahhh!!
06/02/19, 19:53   
Edited: 06/02/19, 19:57
@Anand

Aren't Mario, Zelda, and Metroid typically considered to be the "Big 3"? This deserves a roundtable!
06/02/19, 20:10   
@Secret_Tunnel
It does! Make it!

(I have to go somewhere. Otherwise, I'd also post my planned "What do you think about the current state of Retro Studios" roundtable. Although their released games have all been consistently good, they're kind of a fascinating mess of a company! Lots of hidden footnotes.)
06/02/19, 20:20   
Edited: 06/02/19, 20:21
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