Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash Reviews
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash should, quite frankly, not exist. It is an embarrassment with next to no content, absolutely no strategy involved, and feels like a blatant cash grab more than anything. Nintendo has gotten far too safe with the Mario IP if the developers felt that they could release a skeleton like this for $50. Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is nothing more than a platform for selling amiibo and should not be purchased by any means.
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash isn't good in the slightest. While the game can be decent in passing, it's a horrible value when you stop and think about it. There is just one stadium, limited online options and less features than the previous two entries.
The good news is that after the bomb that was Mario Tennis on the 3DS, Camelot turned things around and nailed the 3DS' Mario Golf. I do hope that there's history repeating there because a really, really good Mario Golf game would be either the perfect way for the Wii U to go out, or the perfect title to launch with the Nintendo NX next year.
To say the least, this game is underwhelming. It just seems like Nintendo really wasn't even trying with this game. It feels very rushed because they left out so many things – like a campaign and tournament mode. I found it fun to play initially, but I got bored very quickly. I wouldn't ever really pick it up to play again, especially by myself. The only thing this game is really good for is a bit of family fun, and that's about it.
The fact that it's a mechanically solid sporting experience can't save it from mediocrity or a lack of any real reason to come back, and that's really the worst sin a sports game can commit.
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a bare-bones, lackluster addition to Mario's sporting adventures.
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash serves up a feast for the eyes, but Camelot has lost too much of the charm and character that made its predecessors so special.
Fun, but nothing on its 11-year old predecessor
It looks great and plays very nicely, but Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash lacks the depth, the career modes and the content that make a great Mario sports game, and Nintendo's usual attention to detail isn't quite there. With a bargain basement £10 to £15 price tag it might be worth considering, but at £40? It's not even close.
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is an odd game to score or recommend. The basic gameplay is strong, has slick performance and handsome if basic visuals; as a multiplayer game it can be enormously enjoyable, too. With options to ignore newfound gimmicks in simple matches included, fans of the franchise that want a HD / 60fps entry to play with friends - or some random opponents online - can find entertainment. Those are positives, but we cannot emphasize enough how phoned-in and thin the content offering is, nor how throwaway Mega Battle is as a tentpole feature. Frankly this shouldn't be a retail game at $49.99 and regional equivalents, as it is at launch; it should be a budget retail game at best.
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a mechanically decent game that is slew-footed by a lack of interesting gameplay modes. There's online play, but outside of that there's nothing of real substance to be found. As such, the game feels light and lacking, and doesn't have the type of hook that one would hope for. It's a shame, really, given how great Mario Tennis used to be.
I had a lot of fun playing Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, but it fizzled out way too soon. The game play is excellent, but the lack of modes and diversity really suck the fun out of it after a couple hours. Not being able to play with friends online is a drag, and the AI is simply not enough to keep me coming back. I wanted to love Ultra Smash, but it fought me at every turn to keep me from wanting to play more of it.
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a barebones installment of a beloved franchise on Wii U that leaves gamers with very little to do outside of a few traditional game modes.
Nintendo's latest cartoon tennis game has great mechanics, but no career mode, character progression, or even any tournaments in which to play
While Camelot is typically known for rich and deep experiences in their Mario sports games, the bare bones Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash feels like a step backwards for this series.
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash provides the bare minimum tennis experience, as shallow gameplay is disguised with gimmicks, particularly when it comes to the single player offerings. The pretty graphics and online functionality are largely its only strong points.
Unless Nintendo decides to give Ultra Smash some Splatoon-esque post-release support, series loyalists should just keep playing old versions
A tennis game that lacks motion controls, signature Mario silliness or even the effort for unique cut scenes, the only thing Mario Tennis Ultra Smash has going for it is that it's functional and vaguely entertaining for short periods of time.
If Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash were a book, it would have the cover of an epic novel and the pages of a children's book.
Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash feels like it was rushed into the holiday season to mask the absence of Star Fox. You're better off just playing any other previous game in the series, which is particularly easy to do since the first game is on the Wii U Virtual Console for just 10 bucks.