While we eagerly await the new Mario movie, Nintendo has prepared another treat for all of us Mario fans.

Let's be clear, tennis is not new in the Mario world. It started back in 1995 on the unforgettable (but not for good reasons) Virtual Boy, which just received a re-release around this time. However, the Mario Tennis we know today began in 2000 on the N64, and since then it has appeared on every Nintendo console up to now. The Wii introduced motion controls, allowing us to hit a few balls and play a match for the trophy, even if it was just in the living room.

But enough history, we are here to see what the latest Nintendo hit brings us. Its predecessor, Mario Tennis Aces on the Switch, was highly praised and enjoyed by both young and old during family gatherings, so it was very interesting to see if and how Nintendo could surpass itself.

The biggest novelty is the Fever rackets, which dominated the announcements and trailers, and we were all curious about how this would actually work in reality. I must say, this is executed excellently, and I can no longer bring myself to play any of the older titles because I simply feel like I'm missing something. And I really am missing something. Fever rackets, specifically 30 of them. Each with its own special shots, so you can bury your opponent's shelf with banana peels, set fire traps, or obscure their view of the court with ink stains. My personal favorite is when you temporarily create your own doppelgänger who helps you by catching shots that would otherwise slip past you. It's very fun to try out various combinations, and it doesn't seem like there's a specific racket that everyone will choose because it's stronger than the others. It's disappointing that you can't randomly select which racket you want, as that would add an extra layer to the already exciting competition. I hope for some patch or update.

Of course, there is a whole set of diverse characters from the Mario franchise, as many as 38 of them. At the beginning, only a portion is available, and you unlock the rest by playing mini-games, winning cups, or simply by playing a sufficient number of matches. The characters are very different, the outfits are colorful, and the facial expressions are detailed - just as it should be in a Mario game.

And now a bit about the modes:

Adventure

The story is as follows: Princess Daisy has fallen ill, so Mario, Luigi, Princess Peach, and Wario and Waluigi set off on a journey to find the golden apple that will cure her. Of course, Wario and Waluigi have their own plans that, as always, go awry, and our cheerful team is turned into babies. And that's where your adventure begins. At the tennis academy, through various mini-games, quizzes, and matches with other characters from the Mario world, you will learn how to execute different shots, how to use the Fever racket abilities, and gain experience and strength to return to the mysterious island and break the spell.
The mode is single-player only, and aside from minor detours from the route to play a few exhibition matches, everything else is linear and quite easy. And also too short, as it will take you a little over 3 hours to finish the story.
It feels more like a tutorial than an adventure.

Tournament

This is a classic, you play in a cup system, through three different tournaments. Nothing spectacular, you'll go through this to unlock additional characters, and probably never start it again.

Trial Towers

This is a set of matches you must win to reach the top of the tower. In each match, you have predefined challenges waiting for you: for example, in some matches, you will be able to use Fever strikes the entire time, while in others, you will play in the middle of a storm. It's up to you to figure out how to turn that to your advantage.

Mix It Up

Here you have a choice of different modes that are primarily intended for playing with others, such as scoring points by hitting balls through rings, or when playing on a pinball machine where at one point three balls enter the game and you frantically wave to collect as many points as possible.

Swing mode

Unfortunately, this is the only mode where you can use motion controls, the most fun part of Mario Tennis ever since it was introduced on the Wii. Also, you only have 6 Fever rackets available, so you'll quickly get bored and switch to what Mario Tennis is really about, which is

Multiplayer

Nintendo allows you to try your hand at Ranked Match against players from around the world and try to climb to the top of the leaderboard, which resets every month.
In Online Room, you can play a completely casual, yet still very competitive match against friends or strangers, and the good thing is that two players from one device can play together against someone in doubles.
Local Play allows you to play against a friend on another Switch 2 device, while GameShare lets you play against someone who doesn't have this game but has a regular Nintendo Switch.

In the game, you will find yourself on numerous realistic and not-so-realistic courts, to mention just a few: The deck of a flying ship, a jungle court with ball-eating plants (no, I didn't make a mistake), an icy court, a mushroom surface, and on each of them, the ball bounces differently and needs to be controlled.

The buttons and motion controls respond perfectly, so if you want to blame the controllers for your bad moves and defeats, no one here will believe you :D
The game is beautifully made, the characters are detailed, the effects are excellent, and I didn't notice any drop in performance even with 4 players using different Fever rackets.
The sound effects are loud and varied enough, but the game is so fast that you won't even pay attention to them. The talking flower that comments on every move might be annoying to some, but I found it quite entertaining.

Pros:
- perfect arcade version of tennis
- Fever rackets, the combination of characters and rackets is countless
- very colorful, fun, addictive
- lots of game modes
- flawless controls
- MULTIPLAYER

Cons:
- short Adventure mode
- motion controls limited to one game mode
- inability to randomly select Fever rackets

To conclude, this is a beautiful and extremely addictive game. Countless combinations of characters and rackets give the game a deeper dimension, and the multiplayer alone will provide you with hours and hours of crazy fun. Whether it's online when you watch your progress (or regression) on the global leaderboard, or at your little cousin's communion.
I mean, who can resist when you say at a gathering: "Let's play Mario Tennis in pairs!"

OVERALL RATING 3.5/5

Nintendo Switch 2 copy of the game provided for review purposes by distributor CD Media.