Topic: Mario Tennis Aces

So . . . I downloaded the demo earlier today. I went in skeptical, but it sold me. I'm having a killer time with this demo!

What's strange is I'm not even a huge fan of the Mario sports titles, despite spending many hours with the original Mario Tennis both solo and playing friends. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I'm seeing some of that classic vibe in Aces. I certainly didn't see either classic or new appeal in Ultra Smash. That game had me asking for a refund.

@JTMnM That's basically exactly how I feel. I haven't bought a Mario Sports title since... probably Mario Tennis GBC. But I'm definitely wanting to get this one, it feels great to play.

I think people complaining about the special shots are just bad at the game and/or don't know how to counter them. I can use several of them in a game and have each one end up being countered by my opponent. You just need to manage your stamina so that you are able to block them with the help of the time slow-down thing, or use a special shot of your own. However, I've noticed that people often get pushed to the back of the court if they counter a special shot with their own special shot, which leaves them open for a drop shot. Then again, I'm pretty sure I've used that strategy and had people be able to return the ball anyway, so it's probably a case-by-case thing.

Either way, special shots are not a magic bullet like many people think they are. They're certainly powerful, especially against people with little to no stamina, but they're hardly the be-all end-all. They're not that hard to stop.

@KirbyTheVampire agreed its not just a standard tennis match its closer to a fighting game, manage your energy bar, use specials when the timing is right, learn how to counter.

Looks like the full game will have a basic tennis without the extra stugg too , so everyone should be happy in the end

@KirbyTheVampire The way to recover from a double special is to use a trick shot to return the ball if you're drop-shot'd after. Also I've found that if you're the person sending off the first special, if you send cross-court to a back corner, if they counter with a special they'll be force way off into that corner, and pretty much any shot to the opposite corner will be out of reach. (((if that makes sense)))

@ValhallaOutcast It definitely does feeling like a fighting game in some aspects. I find that part of the game really cool.

@Judi Thanks, that helps a lot! I was wondering what the best ways to approach that were.

I must say, I'm really looking forward to boss battles and story mode with this games control system!

It surprises me that I see a quite a bit of pushback against the added Special Shots and stuff on Reddit/etc, even with the knowledge of the simple mode being in the game. Honestly the mechanics don't really take away the mindgame element of tennis, and there are counters to everything, and it doesn't turn the game of tennis into something it's not. I don't get that specific complaint about it not feeling like tennis, because it's still a tennis game through and through. It's not random like Smash or Mario Kart items, they're carefully baked-in mechanics that complement the core tennis gameplay.

Idk dude, people have their preferences and if people like their tennis to be traditional, that's understandable. But it's not so gimmicky that you can't call it a tennis game. Maybe I'm ranting at a small subsection of a vocal minority. Who knows.

Until you learn how to block without zone speed, matches do tend to become a case of who can break the opponent's racket first. KOs are even worth more tournament points than traditional wins.

Nail biting Championship match for me and won and I'm sold.

Trick shots arent hard to do when you're just returning the ball but to gain energy is soo tricky. I'm probably buying this.

@Grumblevolcano Not in my experience, because blocks are fairly easy to do. I did win via KOs and I got KOed once or twice throughout this entire weekend, but overall the focus was more winning the traditional way than destroying the opponent outright.

was it just me or were some matches best of 3 and some best of 5 gmaes

@Grumblevolcano That's because breaking rackets is considerably harder than scoring points, since you need three successful zone shots at minimum to pull the former off while the latter can be done by anything. I only ever consider trying to break rackets if I lose the first game in these short one-set matches, because otherwise I can win much faster and earn more rank points overall with more frequent victory bonuses by normal wins.

@EvilLucario I suppose people are afraid simple tennis will get treated as an afterthought in the real game, but you kind of have to push the new features to the forefront to show how this game is different from the rest. That last part is crucial; without these special gameplay features, Aces would just have been the third cookie-cutter Mario Tennis game in a row, story mode be damned (and I'm sure the energy mechanics allow for more interesting scenarios anyhow). Dare I say it, Ultra Smash 2.0.

@ValhallaOutcast You have to beat your opponent by 2 points, so you win when the score hits 2-0 or 3-1. If you end up at 2-2, you go to a tiebreaker round where you need to score 7 times to win.

@Snaplocket Bowser, Peach, and Rosalina are my favorites. Bowser packs such a HUGE punch and Zone Speed/Trick Shots get around his slow speed, while Peach and Rosalina have very good court control and can amplify their low power with Zone Shots.

@Snaplocket I love it as well as it makes each character a lot more viable to use both casually yet still competitively at a slight yet still substantial enough angle. Skill will still be 95% of what determines wins, but outside of Waluigi every character is very well balanced.

@EvilLucario ahhh thanks I guess I was wining 2-0 when it felt like a short match

are the tie breakers like real tennis first to 7 but by 2 ?

@ValhallaOutcast To win a tiebreaker, you just need to hit 7 points and that's it. You can win 7-6.

I feel like most players I've come across don't use Zone Shots as much as they should. They prefer to try to get full energy as quick as possible so that they can sit on their special as a crutch in case something slips by them, when using zone shots to score while you have the upper hand in energy is much more economical. That being said, it IS smart to not use them if the opponent does have full energy, because specials can completely overpower them.

In general having more energy than your opponent is a huge advantage, and if you're behind you need to play very conservatively to catch up, to the point of allowing zone shots and specials to pass you by not just to prevent your racquet from being damaged, but also preserve your growing energy reserves. Remember: the only point that truly matters is the last in the game or set.

@meleebrawler Another thing I noticed are people trying to counter Special Shots with their own Special Shots. That just leaves the guy who countered wide open for a drop shot.