Mario Tennis Aces
Review

Mario Tennis Aces (2000) is the latest in the series of tennis game. These games recreate a relatively traditional game of tennis, although you play as Nintendo characters who each have special moves and powers.

You can pick Mario, Luigi, Wario, Peach, Waluigi, Daisy, Rosalina, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Bowser, Toad, Toadette, Chain Chomp, Bowser Jr., Boo, and Spike. Each character is unlocked by participating in monthly tournaments.

You play shots by tapping buttons to apply topspin, slice, lobs or drop shots. New to Mario Tennis Aces is the ability to use the motion-sensitive Joy-Cons to aim directly at the screen to mark where the ball will go. If the opponent counters the zone shot, their racket will take damage and will eventually break. There's also a new zone speed which puts everything but them in the game into slow-motion.

For younger players, the Simple Rules mode, can keep things a little simpler and less bewildering as they get started. This can also be fun for adults who want to play a straight game of tennis without the thrills. There's also Swing mode, where you use the Joy-Con like a real racket, similar to Wii Sports. This motion option is also available in the Wii version of Mario Power Tennis.

The series appeared on a range of Nintendo machines:

• Mario Tennis (2000) Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Colour.
• Mario Power Tennis (2004) GameCube and re-released for Wii
• Mario Tennis Power Tour (2005) Game Boy Advance
• Mario Tennis Open (2012) Nintendo 3DS
• Mario Tennis Ultra Smash (2015) Wii U
• Mario Tennis Aces (2021) Nintendo Switch.

Our examiner, Andy Robertson, first checked Mario Tennis Aces 2 years ago. It was re-examined by Jo Robertson and updated 22 months ago.