During the most recent Nintendo Direct, Nintendo announced that the latest iteration of the Marios tennis games, Mario Tennis Aces, will be gracing the hybrid console on June 22nd.
The seemingly random combination of Nintendo’s mascot and tennis has done well for the brand and has received an iteration since its first inception on the Nintendo 64. The most recent title, Tennis: Ultra Smash, was released on the Wii U to mixed reviews with a Metacritic score of 58.
While this is indeed a tennis game, it is not without that Mario flair. The direct, which featured a large portion of Mario Tennis Aces went over the various additions to the first entry for the Switch. Namely, they detailed the plethora of new shot-mechanics, one of which even powers up your shot and can break a racket for an insta-win, which looks to provide further depth to the franchise. Also, as expected, the roster will be the usual suspects (Mario, Luigi, Toadette and so on), but newcomers are also in the wings with Chain Chomp being the most notable.
In addition to the new mechanics, Aces will also feature a story mode, of which hasn’t been a part of the franchise since Mario Tennis Power Tour on the Game Boy Advance (2005).
It’s amazing that Nintendo has such star power that they are able to create buzz over a game revolving around… tennis. I am by no means even remotely interested in tennis, but this title is certainly shaping up to be a day one purchase. For those yet to be sold on the idea, there is going to be a pre-release tournament to try out the new title before release.
Mario Tennis Aces is being developed by Camelot Software Planning, published by Nintendo and will release exclusively on the Switch on June 22nd.
