Mario Tennis Fever (NS2) Review

Happy Mar10 Day, everyone! With today being the portly plumber's special day, it only makes sense to grace SuperPhillip Central with one of his games--and a recent one at that: Mario Tennis Fever! Let's take to the court with the SPC review.

Mario and Friends' Swing Fever

I've been a bit hard on Nintendo's sports offerings on the original Switch--but for good reasons. Both Camelot's games on the Switch, Mario Tennis Aces and Mario Golf: Super Rush, launched with a paltry amount of content for the asking price, especially when compared to past entries. While both games also received free post-launch content, it's stuff that should have already been in the base game and not released piecemeal. As if listening to me directly (and many other players, too), Nintendo and Camelot come bursting onto the court with a brand-new Mario Tennis entry that seems to be the genuine article, at least when content is concerned. After all, content is king.

Mario Tennis Fever is the latest iteration of the famed Mario Tennis franchise, and it's Camelot's first foray on the Nintendo Switch 2. Is this a fever you'll enjoy, or one that you'll want a cure for?

Nintendo heavily marketed--or at least portrayed--the Adventure Mode as some big deal content-wise for Mario Tennis Fever. It turns out, it's merely another version of a tutorial. It starts with Mario and company recovering a Golden Fruit for Daisy, who has succumbed to some type of illness. While the recovery attempt succeeds, it isn't without consequence. Mario, Luigi, Peach, Wario, and Waluigi are transformed into babies in the process, and without much fight to them, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi will need to go back to the practice courts to have their tennis know-how and skills eventually return to them.

They might be babies, but this won't be an Adventure Mode in Babysitting--they can take care of themselves!

The first half of the Adventure Mode takes place in the same tennis practice area, having Baby Mario and sometimes Baby Luigi as his doubles partner partake in various training exercises, each delving into some facet of tennis. There are mini-games to play, opponents to take on, and each of these generates experience points for Baby Mario to level up his skills and stats. 

By the time the training wheels come off and the actual ADVENTURE part of the Adventure Mode begins, it's short lived. There are a handful of areas to explore in a super linear fashion, more opponents to take on, story elements to enjoy, mini-games to play that are more organically interspersed in the adventure, and bosses to battle. 

The adventuring part of Adventure Mode sees a lot of variety, but it's also incredibly brief.

Really, and to reiterate, the Adventure Mode is meant to serve more as a tutorial than anything else--the appetizer to the main course which is the rest of the game. Instead, the heavy focus on the Adventure Mode from Nintendo made it out to be more important to the Mario Tennis Fever package than it actually is. That's not to say the mode's not worthwhile, but at the same time, a five-hour tutorial isn't the most compelling concept.

The lackluster Adventure Mode aside, what truly drove me as a Mario Tennis Fever player was the other additional modes included in the game. There's your traditional Tournament mode--a three-cup, three-round apiece series of matches that can be played in both Singles and Doubles play. Though I wish the game denoted which characters have earned trophies in that mode. For as much as I disliked the initial offering, Mario Tennis Aces gave some replay value and longevity by logging and recording which characters completed which cups in Tournament mode. As is in Fever, there's no real incentive to replay the mode once it's beaten in Singles and Doubles because there are no trophies for individual characters to earn. Not to say that this unlocked anything in Mario Tennis Aces, but it was just nice to have, again for longevity and replay value purposes. It was rewarding on its own to see my full roster of unlocked characters shown as having a complete catalog of tournament trophies earned.

Mario, with the backhand return to continue the rally!

Regardless, Mario Tennis Fever does deliver a wide range of unlockables all the same, even without this aforementioned exclusion. There is a slew of achievements, and these aren't just for show. These unlock new characters, alternate character colors, tennis rackets, and courts, too. To unlock everything that Fever offers, I sunk a fair amount of hours into the game's multiple modes. 

Apart from the Adventure and Tournament modes, there are special score challenges. Such challenges include: Ring Shot, Piranha Plant Challenge, and Auto Tennis. Ring Shot has you in a rally with another player as you attempt to aim your shots and volleys into rings of various sizes and point values to meet a point requirement before time runs out. The Piranha Plant Challenge sees a Piranha Plant coming out of one of three green warp pipes on the opposite side of the net, firing tennis balls one at the other. Your character has to return them without the player on the opposing side returning them back to you. Lastly, Auto Tennis takes a mechanical Piranha Plant that shoots out tennis balls, and your goal is to return them atop of various score tiles for points.

Tournament mode gets rather challenging, so make sure you don't lose your focus.

Then, there is the meatiest mode within Mario Tennis Fever--though it doesn't appear to seem so meaty right from the get go--it's the Trial Towers mode. This mode is essentially the Events from Super Smash Bros. Melee put to tennis tasks. You have three towers to take on, each with ten challenges to complete. Every time you fail a challenge, you lose a heart. Lose all your hearts, and it's game over and you have to start from floor one on a new run. 30 challenges or missions spread across three towers doesn't seem too exceptionally content-rich, but after the third tower is completed, it's then where the content pours from every orifice of Mario Tennis Fever's Trial Towers. 

Variety is the spice of life, content is king, and Trial Towers delivers both.

After beating each tower, unlocking the characters associated with each, you unlock 100 trials to take on, and this time in any order. Simply select a trial and then take it on. These are similar to the missions seen in the three preceding towers, such as taking on an opponent with them using a certain racket to make things more difficult or battling a powerful opponent as three weaker, but faster baby characters, for instance. The difference is that these individual trials have three goals each to them, and you earn a star for completing each--whether that's not losing a point, not getting knocked out, or something more challenging like not taking damage at all. Understandably with 100 trials, this mode will last players a while.

Of course, all the modes and content in the world couldn't save Mario Tennis Fever if its tennis gameplay double faulted. Fortunately, Fever's tennis action is better than ever. For one, it forgoes the elimination-based power shots that Aces supported. For me, the timing for Aces' counters were waaaaay too strict, often resulting in me getting eliminated from matches when all of my rackets shattered. While there is a gimmick to Fever's tennis with Fever Rackets, losing all your HP does not mean you're permanently eliminated from the match. Instead, it's either temporarily in Doubles play, or you simply play with less stamina and trudge along the court in Solo play until your health recovers. 

I'm seeing double with this particular Fever Racket!

The Fever Rackets are indeed the main draw and gimmick of Mario Tennis Fever, understandably so. There are 30 or so rackets to unlock, and with over 30 characters to play as, that means you're going to get a lot of different character and racket combinations to experiment with. When your Fever Gauge is full, you can choose to unleash a Fever Shot with your given racket. If it hits the court before your opponent can return it, your racket's ability will be utilized. The Volcano racket, for instance, erupts on the court where the ball hits to reveal a fiery crater that launches fireballs out. Any player that comes in contact with them will get burned and lose HP in the process. Meanwhile, the Golden Dash racket is better served for defensive play, offering a temporary but super helpful, speedy boost to the player that uses it, allowing them to jet around the court with relative ease.

Diddy, we're not in Kansas anymore.

Of course, your opponent can counter a Fever Shot, and if the ball lands on your side of the court, the area-of-effect power will happen there, which means you'll have plenty of dodging to do as you try to contend with hitting the ball back to your opponent. It's absolutely riveting to have an action-packed rally where players keep hitting the ball back and forth, not letting it touch the ground, to keep the Fever Shot chance going. A counter to a counter, to a counter, to another, until ultimately someone finally misses and the Fever Shot hits the court, resulting in chaos on their side.

Rosalina sees how the Mario Tennis Fever action can heat up in a most literal sense.

That said, if you prefer traditional tennis, like Mario Tennis Aces before it, there is an entire mode of play dedicated to that. Have yourself a no-frills, no Fever Racket, pure game of tennis! Though if you want to unlock most of the content within Mario Tennis Fever, you're going to have to engage with the Fever portion. Still, it's nice to have the option to play without the extra craziness and have it come straight down to skilled play, outmaneuvering, and leading your opponent into a disadvantage for you to earn the point.

Disappointingly, at least for me, is the number of courts in Mario Tennis Fever--just seven, with multiple variations of court types (i.e. grass, sand, concrete, etc.). While the number of courts is similar to past installments, I would have loved to see more in the way of locales and venues. That notwithstanding, what is here is enjoyable, whether it's the gimmick courts like playing tennis within a pinball table, or a court themed after Super Mario Bros. Wonder, complete with unique Wonder effects that occur mid-match.

One of the handful of gimmick-themed courts to play on. If you prefer no gimmicks, you can play without 'em!

If you're the type who prefers to play online and show the world your tennis ability (or for me, my lack thereof), there is obviously online play to participate in, either in Singles or Doubles play. You can play with or without Fever Rackets, as well. Ranked play pits opponents against each other in a tiebreaker best of seven series. While some may balk at the idea of such a relatively short match instead of something set-based, it keeps matches quick, the pace of finding new matches even faster, and if you're completely getting decimated in a match, you can get it over with lickety split. Unlike Aces, there are currently no tournaments or unlockables to earn through online play--it's simply there for those with a competitive spirit to engage in.

Online play is like Yoshi's armpits after a 20-hit rally--sweaty.

No matter the type of tennis you prefer to play--online or offline, with or without Fever Rackets, solo or multiplayer--you're getting a gorgeous game with colorful and crisp visuals. I absolutely love how animated each character is and how much personality they show in everything they do on the court. Fever's replays after every point would be better if they could be turned off entirely (a strange omission), but what's there are entirely epic showcases of sharp shooting shots and points earned. So, too, would it be nice to be able to turn off the Talking Flower, also from Super Mario Bros. Wonder, for commentary. I enjoy the action-packed words from our floral friend, but not everyone will. 

The courts are colorful, the characters are crisp--Mario Tennis Fever is a winner in the graphics department.

Camelot Software doesn't exactly serve an ace with its first Nintendo Switch 2 offering, but Mario Tennis Fever serves in general as an excellent starting point all the same. The tennis gameplay is great as ever, the amount of characters and rackets means that you'll have loads to experiment with to find the best character and racket that suits your play style, and the level of content is absolutely satisfying this time around. The Adventure Mode disappoints once again, but the rest of the package is more than worthwhile. I've got a fever, and the only prescription is more tennis with Mario. Now, pardon me as I take some more sick days due to this Fever of mine.

[SPC Says: B] 

Under the Island (Multi) Review

Our first review of March takes us all over the island, atop the island, and yes, under the island in... Under the Island, a Zelda-inspired title from Slime King Games that launched last month on most current platforms. Let's take our hockey stick in tow, raise it over our head, and proceed to take to the island with this SuperPhillip Central review.

A strong Zelda-like that won't grind your mystical gears.

Indies are exceptional for their creating unique gameplay ideas and mechanic concepts, and so many times we see such off-the-wall experiences that would be deemed too risky for larger devs. Sometimes, however, it's also awesome to see indies take previously built, tried and true concepts and expand upon them in their own, unique way. This is what developer Slime King Games has done with its game, Under the Island. Taking the formula and foundation that Nintendo's The Legend of Zelda franchise created, Slime King Games offers a charming and enjoyable adventure that was for me, quite reminiscent of Link's Awakening.

Under the Island follows a teenager named Nia who begrudgingly relocates with her archaeologist parents to Seashell Island for a one-year research expedition. Quite quickly, she meets a girl named Avocado, and the pair unexpectedly stumble into some ancient ruins under the main town of the game. There, they encounter a bipedal bird who informs them that Seashell Island will sink deep into the ocean if four mythical gears are not collected and reassembled. Thus, Nia has her mission, the MacGuffins to go after in the form of the gears, and an entire island to explore, one area at a time.

Time to get our rears in gear, it seems! We've got an adventure to embark on!

The narrative of Under the Island is one that engages in plenty of verbose cutscenes. These weren't annoying to me, offering some further personality to flesh out characters, but I do imagine that a fair number of players will prefer a "less is more" experience. This is especially so because a lot of the conversations between characters are rather long-winded and don't provide too much on offer to say. Furthermore, some typos and dialogue issues are present in the game, and a notable puzzle in the final dungeon of the game confuses "its" and "it's", the contraction, which is somewhat immersion breaking.

Don't mind me. Just passin' through!

Regardless, that niggling nonsense aside, Under the Island is a rather lovely Zelda-like experience. It offers an expansive map to explore, opening up little by little as Nia obtains new items--generally the more robust set of tools offering the most utility are discovered in the game's dungeons. The items range from a flower that spits out flames, which gets plenty of use throughout the adventure--from lighting torches, to burning faraway bushes, for example--to chow that can lure animals on top of buttons to weigh them down, for instance.

This plant, for our purposes, has one welcomed case of heartburn!

Nia herself sports a hockey stick as her main weapon. I say, "main weapon" because while you can unleash that previously mentioned fireball-shooting plant at foes, it's much too slow and weak to actually be useful in the heat of battle. The hockey stick allows for a three-hit combo, though I must admit that this weapon takes a bit of getting used to. It's rather clunky to use at best, and it's also not very powerful at the beginning of the game. Fortunately, there is a tent in the central town of the game, which provides upgrades for a price of money and dropped materials from enemies. 

Thankfully, penalties involving "high-sticking" don't happen off the ice!

Thus, combat is not the best part of Under the Island, though it also doesn't ruin the experience either. Instead, I would say the most entertaining portion of Under the Island comes from its exceptional environmental, world, and dungeon design. The island is both entertaining and enjoyable to explore, offering dozens upon dozens of dense areas--many of which are optional but reward players for careful investigating and going off the beaten path. Areas are interconnected in ways that make logical sense, with it always being a pleasure to figure out the path forward or how to reach a certain, seemingly inaccessible doorway or cavern. 

Fortunately, if you're not feeling like hotfooting it across the island, fast travel is an option, and even this brings some clever ideas and requires some exploration to unlock as well. For each fast travel location, there is a hidden nearby, block-pushing puzzle room, necessitating Nia to solve. Once solved, these open up the means to fast travel to that given destination. 

These block-pushing puzzles can certainly be brain-busters, but the fast travel reward's more than worth the effort.

Of course, Nia won't always be out-of-doors despite being on an island, as there are dungeons to delve into. These aren't always your typical dungeon fare, offering such locales like a greenhouse and even a cereal factory. These dungeons are home to various puzzles to solve, treasure chests to open (many of which containing Zelda-specific dungeon items like maps and compasses), and baddies to beat.

These baddies include bosses, which, too, take a different, unique approach to your traditional Zelda game. Circling back to the greenhouse, the first major dungeon within the game, the boss here is less a major enemy and more a set piece. It features Nia making sure a stage production goes off without a hitch, requiring her to adjust the lighting and culminating with her needing to fend off overzealous fans backstage from ruining said production. 

Weave through this boss's bullet hell-like attack.

Outside of the main dungeons and story progression, an immense number of optional side quests are available to take on, granting wonderful rewards to make the extra effort worthwhile. These can be exclusive items that Nia would otherwise never encounter on her adventure, or of course, a Zelda staple, the means to generate additional health. Though, this is performed by visiting a gym freak who in exchange for four Heart Coins will bestow Nia with an extra heart container, for lack of a better term.

Under the Island took me about 13 hours to fully complete. That was with unlocking all achievements, which included clearing the story, maxing out Nia's health, obtaining all cassette tapes, and other optional objectives. Overall, it was a really good time, and I found myself extending my play sessions just because I was enjoying myself so much.

Caves, treasures, and more await skilled explorers.

This extended to the presentation, which I also liked. The chibi sprite art is remarkably cute, the environments and landscapes are outstanding in detail, vibrant, and colorful. I was impressed by the enemy variety as well. Rather than utilize a simple handful of enemies and sprites across the entire game, Under the Island instead opted to change enemies up depending on the locale with matching monsters and sprites that fit each indubitably. The music, too, offers plenty to enjoy, full of tunes that are decidedly nice enough to bop one's head around to and tap one's toes to, as well. 

While its combat is a bit too loose, and its dialogue a bit too much in general, all in all, Under the Island won me over big time. I was able to tolerate those small-to-medium sized quibbles to fully enjoy and complete the game. There's such a wonderfully enjoyable world to explore with Under the Island's... well... island, that tracking down every last Heart Coin, every last item, and making Nia one lean, mean, baddie-defeating machine through upgrades discovered around said world was something I thoroughly loved doing. If you're yearning for a new, highly competent, top-down, traditional Zelda-like experience, Under the Island will fulfill that yearning indeed. It won't rival the highs of exploring The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening's Koholint Island, but then again, what does?

[SPC Says: B]