Mario Tennis Aces Brings A GBA-Style Story Mode To Switch

Can’t wait to play this with my daughter

Just as long as it has more than Ultra Smash, I think we'll all be ok.

It already looks better than Ultra Smash, though that’s not saying much. In all seriousness, though, the story mode should go a long way in making this game compelling.

Oh yes, please.

Looking forward to it myself.

Dear God, let there be motion controls!!!

Wow !
Finally, Mario with proper Tennis outfits !
There was Dance Dance Revolution Ace.
Now, there is Mario Tenis ACES !

This is definitely one Mario Tennis game that I would say that looks good since Power Tennis on GameCube. While it definitely looks to be stomping Tennis Open and Ultra Smash, I won't say that I'm fully onboard with it just yet. I still need to see its modes and while the Mario charm seems to be returning (at least, what's seen in the trailer), it's just not there for me yet. Hopefully, this game turns out to be decent because I seriously don't want another Ultra Smash.

Edit: Sometimes I feel like I'm just spouting out words for nothing.

Looks great, can't wait

I want this.

Can’t wait! Always loved Mario tennis

Loooove tennis games. Looking forward to this!

Yeeeeessss. Would of loved more info on yoshi

Been wanting this for years.

The campaing mode sold me on this one. The first ever Mario Tennis I'll play.

Apparently they learned from Ultra Smash, this looks promising

This is using the exact same engine as Ultra Smash... Same victory animation...

Must buy for me! Hopefully we get a Wario and Waluigi opening?

Will wait for reviews, but definitely have my eye on this. If it can match the charm and fun of something like Golf Story...I'm all over it.

Already looks to be a huge improvement. Amazing how they went from having no story mode in handheld entries (Open) to this having the first story mode for a console game!

Yes! Petey Piranha is finally back!

I wonder the story mode though.

Will you be Mario characters? Or original characters like in the GB(C/A) titles?

Motion controls, please! I need my tennis fix.

I can't wait to play this! And Kirby star allies!

Any word on whether there are motion controls? I'm not a massive fan of motion controlled games in general but Tennis games are tailor made for them.

@nitrolink Hey, saving time by reusing an engine to focus on story and gameplay seems like a good compromise to me.

I hope this game is good and sells well. I'd love a Mario Golf game in the same vein.

@nitrolink You say same engine like that's a bad thing. An engine is literally just a toolset for developers to use.

@sillygostly Yes please! Motion controls, story mode and 4-player mode...god THAT would be amazing.

Mario Tennis does not work with motion controls... not nearly enough precision.

Hopefully they fix the broken mechanics of Ultra Smash... mainly, allowing a player to just use a single button to pick the correct stroke.

Yes please. Looks much better than Ultra Smash

This is a good fun time. I skipped the Wii U one, but with that RPG mode, I'm back on form.

Already looks way better than Ultra Smash. Definitely looking forward to it!

I knew Camelot was probably working on something for Spring, but I just assumed it would be Mario Golf. Aside from that minor disappointment, I have to say this game looks great. The "chance shots" look like they're optional this time, local multiplayer is back, and that story mode looks awesome! Basically fixes all of the problems I had Mario Tennis Open. I need to see more, but there's a good chance I'll be picking this up.

Now get to work on Mario Golf, Camelot!

Believe it or not, this game had me the most excited of anything announced at today’s Direct. Don’t have a ton of time for gaming anymore but when I do play, it’s something multiplayer with my kids. This looks to be great fun. Liked Mario Tennis on the Wii U but got old quick. These extra game play modes look like an awesome way to extend the playability

Game looks fun. I'm hoping there will be online play and please bring back Mario Superstar Baseball too!

It actually looks...good.

Take your time with this please, Camelot. More modes, courts, charm in the game like you usually do, and please add some anti-aliasing and you should be good.

I didn't think I'd ever feel enticed enough to buy another Mario Tennis game.

Very much in contrast to Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, this one has certainly got me excited. In fact, this was probably the highlight of the Direct for me! Already looking forward to this one! So long as they don't make it such a rushjob again like the Wii U game, but it's already looking more fleshed out with what they've shown here honestly.

I am very impress impressed with this announcement and I am looking forward to see what else Nintendo has at E3

Nintendo, Camelot, please do right by this game. Mario Tennis 64 and Power Tennis are some of my favorite games of all time, and the story mode from Power Tour that you've invoked in the description of this game is also a hell of a target to live up to. Hell, I even loved Mario Tennis on the Virtual Boy! (Though it's not technically part of Camelot's series.)

But Ultra Smash was a travesty... like, seriously, one of the most disappointing games I've ever played! Hell, it was a worse follow up than even Warrior Within to Sands of Time! (I skipped Mario Tennis Open) And no, not just because of the lack of content, which was shameful in its own right. The core mechanics were seriously wrong in that game! Chance shots are a horrible mechanic, and while you can turn them off, Ultra Smash's core mechanics were influenced by them in such ways as to seriously break the pure, refined arcade tennis gameplay of its forebears.

Redeem this series, please!

it will arrive along with World Tennis Tour

This was the only thing in the Direct that was for me. I do wish it were MarioGolf instead though. Oh well, I’ll take it.

I'll hold out for reviews and impressions before i place my judgement on this game. They have a lot to prove after releasing ultra smash.

I will check out this game. It will be a day 1 IF AND ONLY IF they confirm an RPG mode, not just a story mode. If you have never played the GBC or GBA Mario Tennis, you don't understand how much DEPTH those two games had. At the very least, Alex, Nina, Clay and the gang need to be playable! PLEASE CAMELOT!

Looks like Ultra Smash with a tacked on Story Mode. Fool me once...and all that. It's come out of nowhere and releases in the next few months. It's only 2 years since Ultra Smash released. Oh ya, and this was the only new game Nintendo announced today.

That actually looks pretty cool. I've not bought a tennis game since Davis Cup on the Megadrive. Might be time.

@SLIGEACH_EIRE Apparently Camelot is behind this particular game. If their pedigree is any indication, the best Mario sports games have been made by them, including the very excellent Mario Tennis for GBA. I don’t think you have to worry about this being anything like Ultra Smash.

EDIT: Apparently Camelot was behind Ultra Smash, as well. I was mistaken. Sorry about that!

Cool. I might have to buy this.

@thesilverbrick Ultra Smash was developed by Camelot, too...

@SLIGEACH_EIRE well two years would be enough to tack on a story mode to ultra smash (which is exactly what the game needs)

@thesilverbrick camelot haven't made a great game in years though

Oh no, Mario Tennis again? This will probably be another disaster...

@SLIGEACH_EIRE @manu0 @xaviorq8 I stand corrected. Camelot did develop Ultra Smash, meaning the skepticism is entirely valid. Sorry about that.

@thesilverbrick Don't get me wrong, I still believe in them! You can't make those good of Mario sports games, the Golden Sun series, and mother-effing SHINING FORCE by accident. Come on Camelot, you're better than this!

do enjoy the Mario sports games , but while the game looks good I am still a bit nervous. Ultra Smash was not that good of an game to be honest.Then again it already clear this game will have more content so should be better than that one

Now if only the Mario Party team can listen too.....

I'll definitely need to read a review before this one as their last Mario Tennis game was, um, not so good.

Hope you can use Joycons with motion like on Wii. So many good memories playing that game with Krysta every Saturday at 3am after she'd get done bartending, before she died.

This could be huge. The 3D games have been the pinnacle for arcade Tennis (with the odd hiccup), while the portable games have not only established that story-driven Tennis RPGs as a thing, but as a very very good thing.

Probably my most hyped thing in the Direct

@xaviorq8 Let’s hope they can bring back those glory days. I’m honestly hoping that Nintendo gives them more of a budget this time around. I honestly think that Ultra Smash was so bad because Nintendo wasn’t interested in pouring any resources into a game for a dying console.

Was there a camelot logo in the trailer? Story mode with RPG elements a la GBC is great. (Also we want a new Golden Sun please!)

I’m excited for this. Another local co-op option. Let’s hope it’s good.

I think I'd rather have Mario Golf, but hopefully this will be a return to form for the series.

Well it looks like they have listened to fan feedback about ultra smash which was an abysmal space filler in launches and an insult to replayability imo. I'm interested but nervous to see how much they have put right 🤔

Mario Tennis Ultra Smash was a terrible game because Nintendo needed a new Wii U game during November 2015, so they pushed Camelot to rush out Ultra Smash. Same thing happened with Animal Crossing Amiibo Festival.

Mario Tennis Aces is clearly not being rushed out to meet a holiday deadline. Not saying this game will blow people's socks off, but don't expect a literal shell-of-a-game like Ultra Smash.

@xaviorq8 @SLIGEACH_EIRE @manu0 @thesilverbrick Rather than find a way to paraphrase myself, I'll cut and paste a comment I made in another thread on what I think is going on with Ultra Smash and Aces:

I don't think Ultra Smash was the result of mistakes in development. I think Ultra Smash, Amiibo Festival, and some other games were essentially sacrificed and sent out as a skeleton of what they would have been so that Nintendo could provide some content on Wii U while internally they focused on the Switch and gave their upcoming system most of their resources. As bad as the Wii U release schedule got it would have been a disaster if they abandoned it entirely, but they couldn't afford to give the Wii U much, both because there was no money to be made, and because they needed the Switch to be successful. I suspect that a lot of Aces was originally intended for Ultra Smash but just wasn't feasible at the time.

@bstoppel If the reception and sales are good enough for 'Aces', then who knows? They may be committed to other sports games. Let's hope so at least!

I was actually really pleasently surprised by this. I hope it'll turn out great. After Golf Story, this is exactly what I need, esp. since I didn't have any tennis game at hand outside of my PS3 (Virtua Tennis 4, which hails from 2011) in a long while.

I'm definitely down with this, is what I'm saying ^^

@JimmySpades I agree that Ultra Smash was rushed out and that was perhaps the major reason for its lack of content. However, its lack of content was the least of my issues with the game.

I bought the game knowing it was bare bones, having decided that was an acceptable con for the pro of finally having some new Mario Tennis to play on my TV. Where my limited expectations still managed to plummet to rock bottom was in the actual, core gameplay of the title. Not even a lack of polish or refinement, but fundamental changes to character movement, ball control, and basic shot mechanics. For instance, lobs were crazy easy to get to, regardless of position, and drop shots were shockingly useless, as they all automatically sailed to mid court instead of being able to place them just over the net.

As far as I can tell, chance shots were to blame for the above. What are chance shots? They are, essentially, powered up smashes, lobs, and drop shots. What purpose do they seem to serve? To allow you to deliver a score-able shot. Turn them off, and you're left with the watered down remains of a tennis system that revolves around chance shots for any kind of offense in the game.

That is my concern for Aces. Not content, but will the pure, technical, gimmick free tennis mechanics of the past titles make a return or not.

Story mode has me interested. Definitely going to give this a try as I did like the 3DS Mario tennis game.

Story mode?! I'll wait to see reviews but most likely, I'm in!!!!

This was probably my highlight of the Direct, with the announcement of a story mode and should be fun for a 2 player knock about on the go (Thanks Joycons!). Will be watchibg this one closely! As others have said it already looks more interesting than Ultra Smash!

@JimmySpades I think you’re right. I believe this also affected Open when the 3DS started off slowly.

Can't say it's GBA styled if you can't alter your stats and equip skills.
Still looks fun in it's own right, though.

I really, really wish they'd make a Mario Golf game for switch!

@nitrolink I don't think anybody complained about the engine for Ultra Smash. Most people said the gameplay was solid in Ultra Smash, just seriously lacking in other departments.

@johncalmc if that happens I might die of excitement!

Possibly. If the single player mode is really good, and online is not region restricted like on 3DS. It made it near impossible to get matches in Australia, and when I advertised on Miiverse I'd be online Sunday evening to try get a random match, Nintendo deleted the post.

It is a shame that Camelot wasn't given the proper amount of time for Ultra Smash because they have already proven that they are more than capable of making excellent games, I hope this is one of them! Mario Golf on GBA was bliss and I really enjoyed the 3DS Mario Golf too, I was addicted to that game!

I really hope this isn't Ultra Smash with a story mode..... Because that would be bad.
I want them to add the old fun mechanics that Mario Tennis used to have. I don't care for real playing tennis in a Mario universe, I get enough of real tennis at home. I want to have a fun crazy match, with power ups and all that.
I hope that the Spixies are in, they are just so adorable. (have them be alternate colors of the charscter instead of actual slots)

Wow I just said Mario Tennis the other Day! Mario Golf next!!

...I...so...WANT THIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

@StephenYap3 wise words... i dont think any mario sports game will ever reach the quality of the gc ones... mario power tennis and strikers charged still are 2 of my most beloved gc games

Already blows the Wii U Mario Tennis out of the water... I know it's handheld and a home console, but why could Nintendo just add this to the past home versions? again the Wii U version was really bare bones.

That doesn’t look like an rpg story mode

I really hope they don't have the 'big Mario' mechanic in this one

I don't remember anyone mentioning GBA-style story mode. All they said is Mario Tennis didn't have story mode since GBA era.
And as LUIGITORNADO mentioned, based on short story mode gameplay footage, it looks nothing like GBA story mode, which was part RPG.
I can already see many disappointed people once they realize it is more Mario Super Sluggers story mode which was very simplistic, but fun nevertheless.
With all that said, I hope I am wrong.

I guess a lot of people are hesitating because of the past. This is a new era, a new system and a company that wants to succeed because of the past system. Just take a chance and try the new game and stop comparing it to another game from a recent system. You will never know unless you get the game.

@roboshort I never understood how this was the case. It's true, most of the narrative about Ultra Smash when it came out was that it still played well but just didn't have enough content. As my other comments on this page attest to, I strongly disagreed with that assessment, and for the life of me could never understand how people felt it still played fine. Maybe it's because of how long it had been since Power Tennis? Perhaps people simply forgot how past Mario Tennis games truly played, or maybe there were simply a new generation of gamers that hadn't even played them before?

Dispense with the wacky nonsense please.

Wow just seen it’s made by CAMELOT let the good time roll!!

If it even has half of the content from Power Tennis on GameCube, it will be a great time. I am a little concerned about the 'story mode'. It doesn't remind me of the story modes that came before at all, but a change can be nice. Hopefully we get a Mario Golf this generation, too.

I would LOVE to see a new Power Tour game with a similar Story Mode. Aces will have story mode, but doesn't look at all like Power Tour.

BTW not saying it will be bad, i'll buy it DAY ONE. Just i would love a Power Tour-like game.

First thing I noticed: New garb for Mario!
Anyway, I didn't buy the last one on Wii u because reviewers said it was a very shallow affair. But this one has a story-mode! Its probably not the rpg-mode that everyone hoped for, but it could still be fun. This Mario tennis could be worth it!

If there is motion controls (there should be) then I'm definitely picking it up