Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash

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Template:Infobox Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a sports game in the Mario Tennis series, developed by Camelot Software Planning, for the Wii U. It is the fourth home console installment in the series and the seventh overall.

It retains several elements from two predecessors, Mario Power Tennis and Mario Tennis Open, while introducing Mega Battles and Jump Shots. It is set to be released in November 20, 2015 for Europe and North America, while slated for a holiday release in Japan and Australia. The Wii U GamePad is taken advantage of in two player singles, where a second player can get a second screen in perspective of their character. Initially announced at E3 2015 in June, it is one of the few games to be released in the same year it was announced in. If players download the game from the Nintendo eShop, the software will require 888 MB to be installed.

Gameplay

Mario serving with a Peach amiibo character.

The game plays similarly to previous entries of the Mario Tennis series, and follows the basic rules of tennis. Players serve and hit the ball back and forth until one side misses the ball. Players earn 15 points for each successful point, and win a game point if a player makes a point in their 40th point. If the other player ties with the player at the 40 mark, a deuce commences, and a player has to score two consecutive points to win a game point. Winning a number of game points makes the player win a set, or a match, and matches can be divided into sets. If two players tie in a set, a Tiebreaker commences, in which whichever player reaches 7 points wins the set or match.

Chance shots, which made their debut in Mario Tennis Open, make a return in the game, acting exactly as they did previously; players can input a certain command over color-coded areas of the court to send a powered version of the ball specific to that certain Chance Shot. A new technique mixed in the Chance Shots is called the Jump Shot in which the character does a leap and sends the ball flying down the court.

Players can use the Wii U GamePad, the Wii Pro Controller, or the Wii Remote on its side to play the game; for the Wii Remote, it is confirmed that the game does not support motion controls, meaning that the Wii Remote on its side is the only control option for it.

The game has been confirmed to work with amiibo. When a compatible amiibo is scanned into the game, that character appears in the game as a computer partner that can be trained, similar to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U. After every five matches in Knockout Challenge, it earns a random stat boost, and the amiibo character can get 10 in total. Players can access the amiibo training menu to change up stats, however, by spending coins to alter stat slots. amiibo partners make it possible to play on 2 vs. 1 matches, though only with CPU opponents, making it the first and only game where 2 vs. 1 matches are possible.

Game modes

Peach serving on a grass court.

The game offers various game modes. It includes Mega Battle, Classic Tennis, Knockout Challenge, and Online play.

Mega Battle

File:MarioTennisUltraSmashScreenshot1.jpg

A screenshot in Mega Battle mode.

The default mode is the Mega Battle mode, where Mega Mushrooms can randomly spawn in the court. If players run into them, they grow the characters to give them an advantage in offense and defense. In doubles play, only one player of each side can grow large at a time. Players can play against the CPU or with up to four players.

Classic Tennis

Another game mode is Classic Tennis, where players can play normal tennis without Mega Mushrooms. Standard mode features play with Chance and Jump Shots, while Simple is pure tennis without any Chance or Jump shots. Players can play against the CPU or with up to four players.

Knockout Challenge

Knockout Challenge is a single player mode that replaces the Tournament modes from earlier installments of the Mario Tennis series. Players challenge and win against a consecutive number of CPU opponents, who gradually get harder over time. The matches, by default, are Mega Battles with Tiebreaker rules; the player has to win 7 rounds in order to win the game. With every battle won, players earn coins, which can be spent on buying unlockables, such as star characters and courts. amiibo characters can help the single players out; however, other human players cannot help the single player.

Mega Ball Rally

A Mega Ball Rally taking place.

The sole minigame of Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, players rally a large ball for the highest score possible. It can be played solo or up to four players.

Online

Online can be played alone or with another player or amiibo character in Singles or Doubles. The game does not support lobbies or communities, whereas the only options are Singles and Doubles. Similarly to Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U, online play is split into two categories: Relaxed and Serious. Serious play lets players play in ranked settings to grow their standing compared to their online opponents, whereas, Relaxed has no ranking. Players can chose a Tiebreaker or a two-game, one set match.

Characters

Playable characters

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash has been confirmed to have sixteen playable characters. Out of them, Toadette, Rosalina, and Green Sprixie Princess are new playable characters to the series. Of the character-types, there are three All-Around, two Speed, two Technical, four Power, two Defensive, and three Tricky.

• 

  Mario - All-Around

• 

  Luigi - All-Around

• 

  Toad - Speed

• 

  Peach - Technical

• 

  Daisy - All-Around

• 

  Rosalina - Power

• 

  Bowser - Power

• 

  Wario - Power

• 

  Waluigi - Defensive

• 

  Yoshi - Speed

• 

  Boo - Tricky

• 

  Donkey Kong - Power

Unlockable

• 

  Toadette - Tricky

• 

  Bowser Jr. - Tricky

• 

  Dry Bowser - Defensive

• 

  Sprixie Princess - Technical

Non-playable characters

• Goombas
• Koopa Paratroopa
• Koopa Troopas
• Lakitu
• Magikoopa
• Shy Guys
• Spikes
• Toads

Courts

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash features only one stadium, but players can choose different nine skins for the court, which affect ball behavior and/or character behavior in different ways. The following skins can be selected:

• Hard Court - "The most popular court used in competitions. It yields a steady bounce."
• Clay Court - "A court covered with hard clay. The ball speed is slower than on Hard Court."
• Grass Court - "A court covered with grass. The ball speed is faster than on Hard Court."
• Carpet Court - "The court with the fastest ball speed. You can enjoy speedy rallies."
• Mushroom Court - "The ball will bounce a great deal. Make use of Jump Shots!"
• Sand Court - "The ball won't bounce very much. Win points with Drop Shots!"
• Ice Court - "A slippery court. Work on your control technique."
• Bounce-out Court - "This court makes the ball bounce outwards, so you'll have to anticipate the direction!"
• Morph Court - "Chance Shots or Smashes will change the surface on your opponent's half of the court!"

Gallery

• 

  Mario

• 

  Luigi

• 

  Princess Peach

• TennisRackets-MarioTennisUltraSmash.jpg
• 

Reception

Critical reception

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash received mixed to negative reviews from professional critics with aggregate score of 61 from 34 critic in Metacritic and 56.69% on Gamerankings based on 21 reviews. Reviewers praised the graphics and presentation, but also lambasted the stark lack of overall content and basic features, local and online, calling it bare-bones, especially compared to the previous Mario Tennis games. Chris Carter of Destructoid was severely disappointed and harshly criticized the game, noting the lack of content, the forgettable jumpshot and Mega Mushroom gimmick, and the lack of lobbies or extras. He ends by saying that players are "better off just playing any other previous game in the series, which is particularly easy to do since the first game is on the Wii U Virtual Console for just 10 bucks." He gave the game a 5.5/10. Marty Sliva of IGN had a similar opinion, stating that "Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is about as paint-by-numbers as you can get. The lack of modes, characters, and new ideas make it a step backwards from the series’ debut on the Nintendo 64 back in 2000." He cites the Mega Mushroom feature as bad and gimmicky, appearing to be arbitrary and imbalanced. He also compared it unfavorably to its predecessors by stating "that Mario Power Tennis on the GameCube managed to include more characters, interesting modes, and varied courses a decade ago is a bit insulting." He gave it 4.8/10, a score labeled as "bad". Kyle Hilliard of Game Informer expressed similar disappointment, praising its core gameplay for being solid and fun, but wishes the game has offered much more.

Reviews
Release	Reviewer, Publication	Score	Comment
Wii U	Chris Carter, Destructoid	5.5/10	"There's no two ways about it -- Ultra Smash is a bare-bones game. If you came to this court expecting anything other than basic tennis, you will walk away disappointed. And even then, it doesn't handle the basics as well as its predecessors."
Wii U	Marty Sliva, IGN	4.8/10	"Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is as stripped-down a Nintendo sports game as I’ve ever played. The absence of modes, unimpressive unlockables, and tiring hook offer very little reason to keep playing. Sure, it’s pretty, but that’s about all it has going for it."
Wii U	Kyle Hilliard, Game Informer	6.75/10	"Mario Tennis Ultra Smash offers that same fun, silly take on tennis, but it doesn’t provide much outside of the well-executed core game."
Wii U	Game Trailers	5.7/10	"Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash feels like an unfinished game. The shallow mechanics quickly grow tiresome, and this is further emphasized by the lack of game modes and creativity that we’d expect from a Mario sports game."
Wii U	Scott Butterworth, GameSpot	6/10	"While Ultra Smash successfully recreates the basic mechanics that earned earlier titles Mario Tennis and Mario Power Tennis critical acclaim more than a decade ago, it fails to solve a handful of underlying design issues and omits much of the content offered by its predecessors."
Aggregators
Compiler		Platform / Score
Metacritic		61
GameRankings		59.69%

References to other games

• Mario Power Tennis: The announcer's voice clips returns.
• Mario Tennis Open: Chance shots return. Various court settings such as the Mushroom Court is also inspired by courts from Mario Tennis Open.
• Super Mario 3D World: The green Sprixie Princess appears as an unlockable playable character.

External links

• Official North American website