Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash is a tennis game from the studio Camelot, which on Wii U continued the long-running series of sports titles featuring characters from the Mario universe, dating back to the first installments on the Nintendo 64. The game offers classic tennis matches for two or four players, supplemented by a new feature called Mega Smash, where a randomly falling mushroom temporarily enlarges the player's character, granting stronger and more precise shots across the whole court. The character roster includes both series regulars like Mario, Luigi, and Bowser, as well as several other faces from the Mario universe, offering a varied palette of playstyles.

The controls remain faithful to the series' classic style – players choose the type of shot with a button and must time the shot correctly relative to the ball's bounce, with the game emphasizing simplicity accessible even to less experienced players unfamiliar with actual tennis rules. The Wii U version uses the gamepad to display supplementary match information and supports both local and online multiplayer for quick matches among friends. The graphics are clean and colorful, in line with the visual style of other sports titles from the Mario family of games, with the typical exaggerated effects on powerful shots.

Contemporary criticism was mixed, mainly due to the limited number of game modes and smaller content compared to previous installments in the series, such as Mario Tennis Open for 3DS. Even so, the game found its audience among casual players looking for quick tennis fun with friends in front of one screen. Today, Ultra Smash is seen more as a transitional entry in the series, whose shortcomings the series tried to address in later installments on the Switch, where sports titles from the Mario universe received much broader support and content. For Wii U owners it nevertheless remains a solid choice if they are looking for relaxing entertainment without needing to deeply study the mechanics.

Why play: If you're looking for quick tennis fun with friends without needing to deeply study the mechanics, it serves as a solid, relaxing choice despite its limited content compared to previous installments.