Certainly one of my greatest Nintendo blindspots has been Mario Tennis. Honestly, I’ve by no means performed any of the video games, regardless of the sequence relationship again to 1995’s Mario’s Tennis on the Digital Boy and truly being the originator of considered one of my favorite Mario characters, Waluigi, within the eponymous 2000 sport on the N64. That alone piqued my curiosity within the plumber’s newest sports activities sport, Mario Tennis Fever, however after taking part in a number of rounds of it at a latest preview occasion in New York Metropolis, I discovered myself shortly falling in love.
Proper off the bat, it jogged my memory of one thing Nintendo does finest: taking extremely technical genres like sports activities, racing and combating and making them way more delightfully zany and approachable. That’s definitely the case with Fever, which adopts a decidedly unfastened strategy to tennis, as you’d anticipate. Whereas I knew there’d be extra of an arcade-y really feel, which I very a lot favor, I used to be stunned by considered one of Fever‘s latest mechanics: the Fever Rackets. With them, you’re capable of unleash every kind of particular “Fever Shot” talents on the court docket that shake issues up in great methods.
For a part of the preview, there was a bit wheel we spun to resolve our gear, and I ended up getting the Golden Sprint Racket, which helps you to get a velocity enhance for last-second saves. However my teammate landed on the Shadow Racket, permitting him to create a ghostly clone to help him. Different choices from the number of 30 Rackets embody Fireplace and Ice (depart damaging flames or slippery ice on the court docket), Pokey (make enemies seem in your opponent’s facet) and Mini Mushroom (flip your foe pint-sized). Many of those results injury your opponent’s HP, which, when depleted, can severely hinder their velocity or, in doubles, briefly knock them out of the match.
Total, the sheer selection on show is superb and makes for Mario Social gathering-style chaos. On the similar time, this technique feels balanced as a result of the Fever Pictures are handled as supermoves you could solely activate when you fill a metre by profitable rallying. Plus, a well-timed swing can really mirror the shot again at your opponent, additional rewarding skillful play. Given how a lot the Fever Rackets add to the expertise, I’m actually shocked that Fever marks their sequence’ debut; I can’t think about taking part in with out them.
We additionally received to pattern a few of Fever‘s many mode choices, which Nintendo says is the sequence’ largest so far. Given how I’ve heard criticisms surrounding the dearth of content material within the final Mario Tennis sport, 2018’s Aces, that is definitely good to listen to. Admittedly, I couldn’t get a full bearing of this within the brief demo, however even realizing normal information about Fever, like the way it has 38 distinct characters at launch in comparison with Aces‘ paltry 16, is unquestionably reassuring.
However what I did get to see was a few of the varied unconventional sport sorts by the Combine It Up mode. The one we really tried out was Surprise Court docket Match, which cleverly attracts inspiration from Tremendous Mario Bros. Surprise that often sees Warp Pipes of various heights blocking the web and summoning Surprise Seeds that you must acquire to win. It felt like a enjoyable “catch the Quidditch Snitch in Harry Potter” form of aspect so as to add a special form of goal utilizing considered one of Surprise‘s standout mechanics. Different match sorts, which I didn’t get to expertise, embody Pinball (which might ping-pong you between bounce pads), Forest Court docket (increase the court docket by feeding tennis balls to Piranha Vegetation) and Ring Shot (exactly hit balls by small targets).
That is precisely the type of factor I really like seeing from Nintendo. They take the core concept of one thing like a “tennis sport” and stretch it out past what you could possibly presumably anticipate, and I’m desirous to see what else is in retailer for the sport. Nintendo can be teasing an expanded campaign-style Journey Mode (one thing I heard Aces was missing) that introduces the lovable Child variations of characters like my boy Waluigi, which sounds promising.
All in all, my transient time with Fever was an absolute blast, and it has me clamouring to play extra. Fortunately, the wait gained’t be lengthy, both, as the sport launches solely on Nintendo Swap 2 on February 12.
For extra on the Swap 2’s early 2026 lineup, take a look at my impressions of different video games from the NYC preview occasion.
Picture credit score: Nintendo
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