• POLITICS
  • SCIENCE
    • Astronomy
    • Physics
    • Biology
    • Geology
    • Environment
    • Medicine and Health
    • Sociology
    • Psychology
  • MOVIES & TV SHOWS
  • TECHNOLOGY
    • Artificial Intelligence
    • Virtual Reality
    • Bionics
    • Nanotechnology
    • Engineering
    • Robotics
    • Space Exploration
    • Transport
    • Industry and Service
  • GADGETS
    • Mobile Devices
    • Wearables
    • Consoles
    • Hi-Tech
  • GEEK CULTURE
    • Gaming
    • Comics
    • Thingamajigs
  • MUSIC
  • SOFTWARE
    • APPS
      • Android
      • iOS
      • Windows
  • HARDWARE
  • CARS
  • Advertise
  • Geek Reply Jobs
  • Contact Us
Geek Reply
  • HOME
  • Editorials
  • Geek Squad
  • GeekReply Jobs
  • Contact Us
  • Facebook

  • Twitter

  • Google+

  • LinkedIn

  • RSS

Consoles

Is This Game Worth Buying? Super Mario Tennis Ultra Smash Review

Is This Game Worth Buying? Super Mario Tennis Ultra Smash Review
Taylor Lyles
November 22, 2015

Super Mario Tennis Ultra Smash is the seventh installment in the Mario Tennis series, being available for Wii U owners in North America since November 20th, 2015. Since the game has only been out for one full day the big question you Wii U owners out there are asking is:Is it worth buying? Dig into this article and you can decide for yourself.

To start off, Ultra Smash retains several key elements from predecessor games Mario Tennis Open and Mario Power Tennis and plays similar to all of the Mario Tennis games. The game does have two new features, Mega Battles, and Jump Shots. The game is very fast paced and crisp, and can be played with friends so you don’t have to worry about being bored with the AI players after an extended period of time.

The controls are button based, and I have some mixed feelings about them; while I prefer playing button-based Tennis games, I was very shocked that Nintendo decided not to add the option to allow players to play with motion controls, or a controller, they just made that decision for us. You can use your Wii remote to play but don’t expect to use your arm to make a slap shot motion while you’re playing as you can only use buttons to play.

While Super Mario Tennis Ultra Smash is fun and enjoyable it is unfortunately flawed in many ways. First off, there is no story so for those out there who are buying this game to be plot driven, the story is nonexistent, for those who play Power Tennis you will all know that there was a plot to the game, although it wasn’t over the top it still had some sort of storyline substance, and although Mario Tennis Open did not have any story either, I felt that this game deserved a story even if it wasn’t long or elaborate.

Super Mario Tennis Ultra Smash also lacks emotion in their characters, no trophy or win celebrations, and characters have the same opening animation, which  shows the lack of  diversity in the game. The music selection is so minimal that after three hours you’ll get tired of it. The fact that there are only 5 game modes you can play, which are Mega Ball, Mega Ball Rally, Knockout Challenge, and Classic Tennis only makes things worse. If you’re wondering where the mini games are, the only mini-game available in Tennis Ultra Smash is “Mega Ball Rally”. The object of the mini game is you play a double match, the more the ball is hit back and forth it decreases in size and speed, while getting the high score and not missing the ball, the AI’s are extremely difficult to beat if your personal goal is to get a high score making this mode only enjoyable with another player.

The best mode in the game is Mega Ball where you play a match and a Toad will randomly throw a Mega Mushroom onto the tennis court. If players run into them, they grow the characters to give them an advantage in offense and defense. However, 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, but the Mega Mushrooms are deployed too frequently and only for four turns per match, so they are of very little help, still managing to make or break the game in the end.

The Mega Mushroom can be turned off in Ultra Smash Classic mode, however in Knockout mode it stays activated whether you like it or not. Knockout mode and online play are the only modes where players can use their Amiibos, mind you. I did enjoy the variety that the game features in terms of how many Amiibos you can play with so if you choose to play with an Amiibo you will have the upper hand. Knockout mode will only have you face one opponent at a time and with the Amiibo it will be a 2v1 match. After five matches your Amiibo gets a new rank/skill so that’s a plus for Tennis Ultra Smash. There is a problem in Knockout mode though, the difficulty increasing after each match, so it gets pretty frustrating to play harder opponents with your Amiibos if you haven’t had time to train them. In this case they kind of get in the way, and it’s not like a small problem it’s like Sheva’s AI in Resident Evil 5 getting in the way almost 85 percent of the time! But if you’re really invested in training your Amiibos then you will reap the rewards and you can use them to play online when you feel they are ready to battle other players around the world.

The way the coins are used in Tennis Ultra Smash currency is a waste  though, using the coins to buy new stages, characters, or new difficulty levels, and considering the fact the challenges you need to do to unlock these things are very hard to begin with the coins were just a waste in the game, it would have been more useful if you could use these coins to buy new outfits or rackets for your players, in my opinion. Now the courts you unlock are pretty interesting. One court changes the direction your ball goes completely, another one changes the base of the court switching from a normal court to a sand court. now The downside to the settings of Ultra Smash matches is that while the courts are fun to use, the background is bland, and by bland they all look the same the only difference is the color of the court or what the court’s feature is, the background is located in the same stadium throughout the whole game so don’t expect to see  Luigi’s Mansion, DK Jungle theme court.

Enough of my complaining, overall this is NOT by any means a terrible game. While Super Mario Ultra Smash did seem to have potential to be something more, it isn’t horrible. Is it for hardcore Mario fans? No. If you just want a tennis game on your Wii U or something fun for your kids? Then Super Mario Ultra Smash is the game for you.

Final Score: 3/5

W3Schools
Related ItemsMario TennisMario Tennis Ultra SmashMario Tennis Ultra Smash amiibo supportMario Tennis Ultra Smash online multiplayerNintendoWii U
Consoles
November 22, 2015
Taylor Lyles @TayNixster

Related ItemsMario TennisMario Tennis Ultra SmashMario Tennis Ultra Smash amiibo supportMario Tennis Ultra Smash online multiplayerNintendoWii U

More in Consoles

Gotham: The Underrated Superhero Show

Matt DavisMay 28, 2019
Read More
Sentinel Pro Xp 1080p

Sentinel Pro Xp PS4/Xbox One 1080p Portable Gaming Monitor Detailed

Mike GuarinoJanuary 4, 2019
Read More

Pokemon on a Dreamcast VMU

xantos dracoDecember 9, 2018
Read More
Nintendo Switch sales top 17 million April 2018

Nintendo Switch Sales Top 17.79 Million Worldwide, Super Mario Odyssey Breaks 10 Million

Mike GuarinoApril 26, 2018
Read More
Sunset Overdrive Xbox One X Patch

Sunset Overdrive Xbox One X Patch Unlikely, Says Insomniac Games

Mike GuarinoApril 9, 2018
Read More
PS4

Fraudulent PS4 Console Sale Ends With A Fatality

Ule LopezApril 8, 2018
Read More

The Ataribox is now Called Atari VCS, Demo Available at GDC

Ule LopezMarch 20, 2018
Read More
Nintendo

Nintendo 64 has the Best Second-Hand Sales in USA

Ule LopezDecember 30, 2017
Read More
Generation

IDC Analyst: Xbox Lost to Sony this Generation

Ule LopezDecember 30, 2017
Read More
Scroll for more
Tap

Game Deals

  • Popular

  • Latest

  • Comments

  • Three Great Online Marketing Solutions for Your Small Business
    Opinion PiecesNovember 22, 2019
  • AMD 2nd gen radeon rx
    AMD Introducing 2nd Gen rDNA-Based Navi GPU Powered Radeon RX Lineup At CES 2020
    HardwareNovember 18, 2019
  • iOS 13.3 iPadOS 13.3 beta
    iOS 13.3 And iPadOS 13.3 First Betas Seeded To Public Beta Testers
    iOSNovember 7, 2019
  • Apple Watch sales Q3 2019
    Apple Watch Sales See Huge Increase In Q3 2019
    GadgetsNovember 8, 2019
  • Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac
    Stellar Data Recovery Professional for Mac- It can surely save the day
    ReviewsSeptember 26, 2019
  • Anthem Origin
    EA Still Bafflingly Charging $60 For Anthem On Origin
    GamingDecember 5, 2019
  • 7 Space Video Games You Can Play Now
    GamingDecember 5, 2019
  • Mario Kart Tour app
    The Most Downloaded iOS Apps Of 2019 Have Been Revealed
    iOSDecember 4, 2019
  • 5 BIGGEST Game Releases Of December 2019
    GamingDecember 2, 2019
  • Just 10% Of iPhone X Users Want Apple To Remove The Notch, Survey Says – My WordPress Website says:

    […] There are lots of requests that Apple users are…

  • The 9 most plausible rumors in regards to the new iPhones – Mark Swarrts says:

    […] Just 10% Of iPhone X Users Want Apple To…

  • Onimusha: Warlords HD PS4/Xbox One Box Art Revealed - GameSinners says:

    […] mean for the series, as its success could result…

  • 5 Essential Tips to Setup a Web Hosting Business | Your Own Website says:

    […] Source link […]

Geek Reply

Greetings techies! We are Geek Reply, a website whose main goal is to bring you all the latest news and updates from within the industry and beyond. What can you expect to find here?

Professional journalism coupled with expository writing for the most part, but we also give our honest opinion or throw in a pinch of humor for good measure when we deem it necessary. Our team is comprised of enthusiasts from across a wide variety of fields ranging from smartphone junkies to camera nerds, and everything in between. But perhaps you were looking for your daily dose of science news or hoping to read about the latest apps. If that’s the case, don’t worry, you came to the right place.

GeekReply Secured with GeekReply Scured
Nintendo Switch GeekReply

Copyright © 2017 GeekReply

One Piece Burning Blood New Screenshots Released, Zoro And Kuzan Confirmed For The Game
Mark Cuban owner of Dallas Mavericks is into eSports more specifically into League of Legends