Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash

Nintendo’s best competitive sports title is just as thrilling as ever, but feels a little too familiar and light on content.

In conclusion, Mario Tennis Ultra Smash is well presented on the Nintendo Wii U and evolves the original N64 game into a worthy next-gen version. Sure, it is lacking some replay value but if you’re looking for multiplayer and online fun, this is the perfect game for those short bursts of fun as you “grand” slam your rackets against your Mario opponents, especially in MEGA BATTLE!

Despite the fantastic presentation and brilliant on court gameplay, those looking for a solid single player experience can confidently ignore this entertaining but criminally undercooked offering.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a fun experience if shared with someone else, online or locally. If you’re planning to play it solo, there aren’t many options for you and, generally speaking, it’s not a content packed game.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a funny, colorful, exhilarating game... while it lasts. With poor online support and a lack of single player challenges, it's a missed chance for Nintendo.

Mario Tennis Ultra Smash brings the fun and entertaining gameplay that is expected from a title in the Mario Tennis series, along with a wide variety of characters and courts which will keep its players around the racquets for quite a while. It doesn't go beyond that, as it also leaves the impression that the game needs some additional work and the lack of game modes make its content feel rather empty.

Treat it as an HD remaster of the N64 game and this is actually one of the best Mario Tennis games since then, but the lack of features and extra content is a real turn-off.

Mario Tennis Ultra Smash is a welcome addition to the Mario Tennis franchise. It's very fun and it looks amazing. Unfortunately, there's a huge lack of content.

At the end of the day, folks looking for something more to do with their collection of amiibos, or who want a new multiplayer game to sit down with their friends, should definitely consider this one. What I can’t recommend though is expecting too much out of it from a single player standpoint.

Mario Tennis gets back to the court with a game which is identical to the 3DS version in terms of gameplay, which is a positive thing, but the content is very poor, in that there are no tournaments or mini-games.

Mario Tennis is a huge waste of potential: controls and graphics are great, but there are few game modes, normal shots are too easy to do, and super shots are way too important.

The extracurricular activities are severely lacking, but the core tennis is good. Hitting a ball back and forth has been a fun video game pastime time since the medium’s inception, and responding to your opponent’s volley with the appropriate attack and pulling off powerful Ultra Smashes and jumpshots is fun. I just wanted more reasons to keep playing.

There's a quality game of tennis here - it's a shame there aren't enough game modes to support it. [Christmas 2015, p.68]

It can be fun with friends, but it truly lacks content, and is not even remotely excellent, especially when compared to other Nintendo titles that were able to reimagine sports gaming in unexpected ways. Consider it only if you have kids, or if you are looking for an intuitive party game.

Fun but limited tennis arcade game starred by the Nintendo characters. Too shy in the game modes and options department.

Mario Tennis Ultra Smash is a hard blow to the Wii U that didn't need such bad games to keep sinking its sales. The game offers no content whatsoever, it is only saved by the recycling of Mario Tennis Open's gameplay which is still good.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is fun. I enjoyed my time with it — much more so than I did with Mario Tennis Open. It’s a step up over the last iteration in some areas, yet still it manages to be a lackluster entry in a series that seems to be sadly suffering from continual decline.

This surely is a pre-release version with content to be added? It isn’t? But why? No tourneys? No career in any form? No elaborate online options? This is essentially gorgeous and easily accessible arcade tennis that has serious content issues.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash doesn't believe it's a sports Mario game. Short in game modes and in crazy options.

The gameplay is stlil tons of fun, but the content in this new chapter are not nearly enough to assure many hours of entertainment.

Like a rookie player with bags of potential, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash has that raw ability, but it lacks the finesse to be a champion.

It’s shocking how little content there is in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash. As much as we’d love to explore the title further, the rabbit hole doesn’t go any deeper.

In the end, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a solid tennis game that feels thin when it comes to content. But the gameplay is fun and the visuals are great eye candy. Playing with friends in a living room is a fun way to kill a few hours.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is very disappointing. It's main additions are rather annoying, and the lack of content is undeniable. Still, it still fun when played with friends.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a reasonably solid game of arcade tennis that’s accessible for newbies, yet challenging enough to give more experienced players something to chew on. But despite the glitzy visuals, it’s a predictable serve that lands well inside the line, rather than a decisive, smashing ace. Tennis fans — and Matthew Perry — deserve a little more.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash will do ya if you're big on using buttons instead of swinging Wii Remotes or if you absolutely must perform fancy shots. Just know that this is a full-priced game that says, “Here, play some tennis,” and not much else.

Mario Tennis' transition to the Wii U feels like one step forward and two steps back. The addition of Mega Mushrooms is clever enough, but the game doesn't commit to the idea of power-ups enough to sustain it. Meanwhile the no-frills package feels so anemic that I was burned out on the experience after only a few hours. If you want a great Mario Tennis game, stick with the better, cheaper, and more complete 3DS version.

Feels like a rushed Christmas pick-up after the incredible fan-service of Super Smash Bros and Mario Kart 8. The tennis gameplay is solid fun, and groups will certainly find some enjoyment at its core, but with a limp lack of variety and none of Nintendo’s usual personality, it’s a functional but forgettable note in Mario’s history on the court.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash isn't more hilarious and intense than its gamecube predecessor, buts it adds a solid and strong online mode. However, it has lack of single player content.

Mega Battle is great fun, especially in local multiplayer, and has seen me both laughing and cursing aloud, but with no mini-games or notable campaign to speak of, and without the overblown power-ups I’m used to in Mario games, it’s a game that I’ll have all but forgotten by the time Wimbledon rolls around next year.

Considered as a whole, Ultra Smash does just enough to get by. At moments it shines and at others it frustrates, but mostly it just coasts.

The core gameplay of Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is enjoyable, but disappointing side modes, online restrictions and gimmicky power-ups make this return go a little wide of the mark.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a wonderful looking game with very little substance. The game is a hollow corpse when held up against the franchise’s history. I just don’t understand how a franchise hitting a console with so many opportunities such as the Wii U could have fallen so hard on its face.

For the diehard Nintendo or Mario Tennis fan, Ultra Smash is worth a look, but if you're looking for a satisfying new Wii U title this holiday, this probably won't do it for you.

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. It can be a fun diversion with a group of friends, but it loses its appeal within a day.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a poor game. Although it's fun and simplistic gameplay, it doesn't offer anything that goes beyond of what we had saw from the series in the past. It just simple feels hollow, with few game modes and little replay value. However everything is not that bad; at least its multiplayer mode is enjoyable, even more when playing locally.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is one of the most disappointing games I’ve played this year. The tennis part is pretty fun, but the rest of the game is so light on content it’s hard to recommend this to anyone outside of children or tennis fans.

Mario Tennis Ultra Smash is a disappointment. The basics have been okay-ish for years, but the new modes like Mega Battle and Knockout are boring. The online bits are so simplified that even playing against friends is not an option. This game feels like a waste.

A tennis game that lacks motion controls, signature Mario silliness or even the effort for unique cut scenes, the only thing Mario Tennis Ultra Smash has going for it is that it's functional and vaguely entertaining for short periods of time.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash feels like it was rushed into the holiday season to mask the absence of Star Fox. You're 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.

Even hardcore tennis fans will most likely find themselves with nothing exciting to experience after having the game for a week. [Issue #19 – January/February 2016, p.76]

Controls are Ultra Smash’s biggest problem.

I wanted to love Ultra Smash, but it fought me at every turn to keep me from wanting to play more of it.

Excellent, enjoyable gameplay clashes with a shoddy and lazy set of features. It's up to you whether that's worth your money.

The brief enjoyment comes to a head after just a handful of play sessions, as there’s just not much else to do within the game afterwards. What is present seems like a good base for what could have been a really solid Mario outing, but it appears that Nintendo wasn’t willing to leave Camelot‘s latest in the oven quite long enough.

Tennis fans should wait for Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash to hit the bargain bins. Everyone else can safely skip it, and hope Nintendo takes our collective refusal to purchase as a message to fatten up future versions of its Mario sports games.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a mechanically decent game that is slew-footed by a lack of interesting gameplay modes. There's online play, but outside of that there's nothing of real substance to be found. As such, the game feels both lacking and rushed, and doesn't have the type of hook that one would hope for.

While Camelot is typically known for rich and deep experiences in their Mario sports games, the bare bones Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash feels like a step backwards for this series.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a bare-bones, lackluster addition to Mario's sporting adventures.

Its gameplay may be solid but Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a very weak package that lacks campaign or training modes. You can't help but feel that this was rushed to fill a gap in the Wii U's release calendar for this Christmas. The multiplayer component could at least give some hours of fun to those players looking for a challenge with the best of the best.

The fact that it's a mechanically solid sporting experience can't save it from mediocrity or a lack of any real reason to come back, and that's really the worst sin a sports game can commit.

Some people will be happy with this release, but I feel it’s a game that desperately needed more time in development to deliver a feature-rich package that this franchise deserves.

While I appreciate that multiplayer is always going to be the core of the Mario Tennis experience, the complete absence of any kind of single player meat to go with the local and online multiplayer is another blow against it.

Mario Tennis Ultra Smash misses a lot of balls and it hits the rest of them straight into the net. Serve us something better next time, Nintendo.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash isn't good in the slightest. While the game can be decent in passing, it’s a horrible value when you stop and think about it. There is just one stadium, limited online options and less features than the previous two entries.

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash should, quite frankly, not exist. It is an embarrassment with next to no content, absolutely no strategy involved, and feels like a blatant cash grab more than anything.