Mario Tennis Aces Review Round-Up

After E3 2018, a lot of Switch owners are probably looking forward to Super Smash Bros Ultimate, but while we wait for that game's December release date to roll around, there's another Switch title that requests your more immediate attention. That game is Mario Tennis Aces, and it's launching this Friday. Before it does, however, some reviews have already started going live, giving us an idea of what to expect from the title.

For a quick glimpse at what reviewers generally think about the game, we turn to Metacritic, where Mario Tennis Aces is currently holding down an aggregate score of 78 out of 100. That's based on review scores from 31 different publications, but it's worth pointing out that Metacritic also hosts a fair number of reviews that don't actually present a score and therefore aren't represented in that aggregate.

Still, 78 out of 100 isn't a bad score by any means. It might not be as good as Mario's last outing in Super Mario Odyssey, but then few of us probably wouldn't expect it to be in the first place.

In general, many of the positive reviews for Mario Tennis Aces center on its deep and technical mechanics as one of the best parts of the game. Those who played the demo earlier this month will understand what those reviews are talking about – Mario Tennis Aces is a surprisingly deep game, and one that almost feels like a fighting game at times considering how many options you have at your disposal when choosing how you'll beat your opponents.

In turn, these mechanics lead to online matches that are intense and engaging. The game's multiplayer modes, whether they're local or online, seem to be the main draw and biggest win for a lot of reviewers, and that portion of the game should keep players coming back after launch.

So, where does Mario Tennis Aces begin to fall behind? Looking at these reviews, many of them say the single-player adventure mode is lacking. A lot of reviewers claim that it can be downright unfair at some points, making it frustrating to play and only really useful as a tutorial before you dive into the game's multiplayer modes. A few reviews also say that Mario Tennis Aces' online modes could use more options for customization, though those complaints seem to run secondary to ones about single-player modes.

Balance also seems to be a sticking point for some reviewers, but again, not all agree on how balanced or unbalanced the game is. In any competitive game, balance is an incredibly tricky thing to get right, and Nintendo will almost certainly be looking at the performance of various characters in the roster and making appropriate tweaks post-launch.

While those complaints might give some players who are the fence pause, it's clear that this is a good buy if you're looking to play local and online multiplayer. Essentially, if you played the demo and you liked what you saw, you can feel good about adding it to your Switch library. Those who were looking to stick to single-player modes, however, might want to do a little bit more research before committing their hard-earned cash. Mario Tennis Aces launches for Nintendo Switch on June 22 and costs $59.99.