Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash should’ve just stuck to tennis
Welcome to our weekly open thread for the discussion of gaming plans, nagging questions, and whatever else we feel like talking about. No matter what the topic, we invite everyone in the comments to tell us: What Are You Playing This Weekend?
I’ve told you all about my love of Mario Tennis before. It’s a game that’s near and dear to me, as much as any other release in Nintendo’s vast, unparalleled oeuvre. I’ve also devoted plenty of internet ink to Super Smash Bros., particularly how that series has tried to manage the fact that it means drastically different things to different people. Some players love Smash at its most manic, an anarchic spectacle where the tide of battle can change at any moment. Others, like myself, prefer to strip all the randomness and noise away and play it as something that resembles a pure skill-based fighting game. It wasn’t until playing the new Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash for the Wii U that I realized Mario Tennis suffers from a similar internal debate between choosing to follow either chaos or skill. The difference is Super Smash Bros. knows both directives are worth pursuing and confidently stands at the intersection between the two. Mario Tennis just comes off as confused and misguided.