Mario Tennis Fever review – Nintendo ace their latest sports game

Nintendo’s long-running sports series gets its best new entry since the 90s but there’s still some aspects that fans may take issue with.

The Nintendo Switch 2 will be a year old in less than four months and it is very strange that we still haven’t had even a hint about a new Super Mario game, either 2D or 3D. Very strange is, of course, Nintendo’s stock in trade but with a new animated movie coming out in April they seem content merely to push remasters of Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, with not a hint of what their modern day successor might look like.

That’s not to say that there are no Mario-themed games out in the next few months but it’s all things like the Switch 2 version of Super Mario Bros. Wonder and a standalone Yoshi title. The most significant of these spin-offs is this, the ninth entry in a sports series that stretches back to Mario’s Tennis on the Virtual Boy – which will become available on Nintendo Switch Online later this month.

Very few people ever played that though, so for most the series began, and peaked, with Mario Tennis on the N64. One of the most entertaining multiplayer games on the system, the main mode was a semi-realistic tennis sim with all the Mario Kart-inspired gimmicks cordoned off to the ancillary modes. However, that hasn’t been the case for any of the subsequent titles.

Apart from the Virtual Boy game, every single one of the Mario Tennis titles (and sister series Mario Golf) have been developed by third party studio Camelot Software Planning. The quality has remained consistent but the problem with each new game is that instead of the power-ups and wacky abilities being an optional novelty they quickly overtook the whole game, removing any real sense of skill from it.

You can see why – a Mario Kart style take on popular sports seems a fun idea in theory, and either way you’ve got to come up with a new selling point for each sequel – but all it’s done is frustrate fans of the original and bamboozle those who just wanted to play an arcade style tennis game. 2018’s Mario Tennis Aces did pare things back a bit, and was the best of the modern games, but it was still not a must-have title.

It’s arguable as to whether Mario Tennis Fever is, but it’s certainly the best entry since the N64 era and for a number of good reasons: it’s stacked full of content, with a ton of unlockables and multiple single-player modes, including a story campaign; it has a robust online mode; and, most importantly, it’s relatively easy to set-up a game that is just normal tennis, without any of the gimmicks.

In terms of the basic gameplay, the controls are identical to the original N64 game, allowing for a fair amount of shot choice, as well as lobs and charged smashes. Even stripped down, it’s not exactly a simulation, but although the amount of swerve you can put on a ball, and how far you can be from it and still hit it, are greatly exaggerated it’s a lot closer to real tennis than Mario Kart is to real motorsports.

The central gimmick for the game is fever rackets which have a special ability you can power up and unleash over the course of a match. Activating one lets you automatically return a ball, no matter where you are on the court, and initiates a power-up, ranging from pools of mud, sheets of ice, and lightning bolts to spinning fire bars, a volcano, and a shadowy doubles partner.

There are lots to unlock and some, like the ink one that obscures your view, are more disruptive than others but all are easier to cope with than it first seems. Although you do have to bear in mind that your character has a HP bar and can be injured, including by being hit by an ordinary ball.

It’s a simple matter to turn off the fever rackets but if you want a plain vanilla match you also have to consider that some of the characters, particularly the unlockable ones, have their own passive traits, such as Kamek’s physics-defying curve balls. To avoid that requires a gentleman’s agreement before you start a match, which you’re not going to get online unless you know who you’re playing against.

Tiptoeing around the options like this can be annoying but at least the game recognises that not everyone is going to want to use fever rackets, with even ranked matches offering an option to leave them out. In fact, the game is admirably customisable, including the ability to turn off the Talking Flower commentator (we liked him) and an optional motion control method with the Joy-Cons, if you’re missing Wii Sports.

The story campaign is surprisingly long and leans into the role-playing elements that the series emphasised in its early years, making it far superior to the one in Mario Tennis Aces. There’s also separate single-player tournaments and one or two-player Trial Towers, which work like Mortal Kombat tower challenges but with specific stipulations about what rackets and limitations you and your opponent have.

Mario Tennis Fever is certainly the most comprehensive entry in the series, in terms of the range of modes and options, and whether you like them or not the fever rackets are a good gimmick. However, that’s predicated on you knowing how they work and how you can combat them when they’re used against you, which means the game isn’t as pick up and play casual friendly as Mario Kart.

Once you get all the settings where you want them, though, it is a very enjoyable multiplayer game. Although it’s also a very expensive one, even if you get the cheaper digital download. Whether you feel it’s worth it depends on your circumstances and preferences, although if you’ve played any previous Mario Tennis titles you’ll know exactly what you’re getting yourself into. It’s definitely our second favourite of the series and over time may even take centre court.

Formats: Nintendo Switch 2
Price: £58.99 (£66.99 physical)
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Camelot Software Planning
Release Date: 12th February 2026
Age Rating: 7

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