YMMV / Mario Tennis

• Awesome Music: The Mario Tennis series has way better music than you'd probably expect from a Tennis game with some truly epic soundtracks thanks to being composed by Motoi Sakuraba. Some examples:
  • All of the match point and game point themes in all games are really epic and truly showcase the intense nature of the moment. Especially the ones from Mario Tennis Ultra Smash and Mario Tennis Aces.
  • The GBC version of Mario Tennis has some surprisingly elaborate music for a Game Boy Color game (even when you don't count the ports from 64). Especially great when you get to the Semifinals of the Island Open.
    • One could argue that the awesome music even starts in the Preliminaries.
  • The GBA version, Mario Tennis: Power Tour, is no slouch either and has amazing music from the very first match in the Story mode that rivals or maybe even surpasses Golden Sun.
• Breather Boss: In the GBC version, the varsity squad ranking match is literally just a Bob whom you've already faced before. It's different in Doubles, wherein you have Mark teaming up with the Bob.
• Broken Base:
  • For Aces, no one can decide whether or not Rosalina, Bowser Jr, and Chain Chomp are overpowered (Rosalina's trick shots, Bowser Jr with his long reach and little hinderance when charging a shot, and Chain Chomp's long reach). Patches have rebalanced the characters, fixing most of the issues.
  • Also in Aces, are zone and special shots a test of wits, skill, and strategy, or is it just a slugfest of flashy moves that either guarantees a point or perfectly blocks every shot? Trick shots are also under the same boat due to how much energy a player can regain if they do a trick shot correctly.
  • There's also a heavy divide in Aces on whether or not people should be allowed to refuse a match with an online opponent. For those against the option, they feel it lets people hand pick who they want to play against and avoid certain characters they perceive to be as broken. Those who are in favor of the feature feel it's a much needed feature to avoid playing with people that have a bad connection.
  • Aces also have fans divided on the direction of the game. Supporters feel it's one of the best Mario Tennis games that has deep strategy and complexity with the character balance and special/trick shot mechanics. For others, the game is incredibly lackluster in content and is completely unfriendly to newbie players online where, due to a declining player base and wonky matchmaking, only the best players are found playing.
• Casual-Competitive Conflict: Aces heavily divided the fan base on the game's direction. The competitive players feel the game going in the direction of more hardcore competition is good while casual players believe that the game shuns casuals through lack of gimmicks and bad balancing with the characters.
• Common Knowledge: Ultra Smash has a few:
  • No, gameplay-wise Ultra Smash is not "Open with Mega Mushrooms". The game added two nuanced mechanics that significantly altered the gameplay, making it more strategic: the Jump Shots and the titular Ultra Smash (which serves as a way to severely punish your opponent when they are unable to return the ball properly -akin to Aces Special Shots- negating the luck aspect of the Chance Shots, which was one of the most disliked things Open introduced). It also added a new Classic Tennis mode without Chance Shots/Power Shots for those who preferred the gameplay of the first two installments, which Open didn't have.
  • Ultra Smash doesn't have only one court, it has nine: Hard, Clay, Grass, Carpet, Mushroom, Sand, Ice, Rebound and Morph; all of the variations that were previously seen in the series. What it doesn't have is non stadium-themed courts.
• Contested Sequel:
  • Power Tennis ended up being this for 64. While the game adds more modes, characters, and courts, the actual tennis part of the game tends to split the fanbase. In particular the "Power Shots" tend to be either well-liked for introducing a new gameplay element and thus more strategic gameplay or very disliked for how cheap they can be on both offense and defense. Luckily they can be turned off. Another point of contention is the lack of connectivity with its GBA counterpart, especially given that Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour did connect with its GBA counterpart.
    • The Wii New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis port, besides sharing the same criticisms as the original GC version, introduced 16:9 widescreen presentation and mandatory motion controls. While the 16:9 presentation was seen as a welcome improvement, the mandatory motion controls received a nearly unanimous negative reception, as the game wasn't play tested properly and it couldn't properly detect the motions you had to make to perform a shot.^note Meaning that for example, you could have been trying to do a Topspin, only for the game to detect it as a Slice, or even worse, trying to do a Lob only for your character to perform a Drop Shot instead. They were seen as inaccurate at best, unnecessary Waggle at worst, with no option to switch back to the perfectly accurate controls from the original GC version. Thankfully, when they returned many years later in Aces, they were much more accurate in a properly tested and tailor made mode for them called "Swing mode".
  • Open, like Power Tennis, also added various new modes and courts (to a lesser extent than Power Tennis and Power Tour, however), but the addition of the Chance Shots, replacing the Power Shots from the previous game(s), was divisive given that, while they added a whole new layer of depth to the gameplay, they were seen as much more luck based than their predecessors. And there's no way to turn them off in this game. Also, while the game also introduced a few new playable characters (namely Dry Bowser, Baby Mario, and Baby Peach) while keeping the most of the previously playable ones, its roaster was criticized for featuring several Yoshi clones and Metal Mario (which is also seen as a clone by a number of people) instead of all prior veterans and featuring only Luma instead of Rosalina. Its focus on the Miis was also divisive, as the customization options gave it the potential to be a High-Tier Scrappy, with better stats than even the Star characters, leaving the Mario characters underused in a Mario game and were also seen as a Replacement Scrappy for the Original Generation characters in the GB/GBA Story modes (which Open ditched). Finally, its online also received its fair share of criticisms, as while it was the first online Mario Tennis/Golf game and was touted as one of its main features, it was region locked, and in spite of that, it still had the potential to be extremely laggy thanks to a shoddy netcode.
  • Ultra Smash was this to Open and Power Tennis due to being bare-bones. The game was a massive leap in the graphical department, featuring the best graphics in the series so far (which were reused in Aces for returning characters/courts) and the soundtrack was just as great as the rest of the series if not even better, but it wasn't content-rich, and didn't include any kind of story mode, minigames or side content (other than Mega Battle —which was divisive due to the Mega Mushrooms being a Game-Breaker— and Mega Ball Rally —which is a short high score rally mode—). The core gameplay, however, was seen as a significant improvement over Open, as it improved on the divisive Chance Shots with the addition of two nuanced mechanics that allowed significantly more strategic gameplay in the Jump Shots and Ultra Smashes^note The latter of which serves as a way to severely punish your opponent when they are unable to return the ball properly, negating the luck aspect the Chance shots introduced.; and even prior games, as it brought back a Classic Tennis mode without Chance Shots/Power Shots for those who preferred the gameplay of the first two installments (this mode returns in Aces). Also, it is the only game in the series with amiibo support, working similarly to the Super Smash Bros. series: the player's amiibo partner can be trained and its stats can be customized, and the online mode is now truly Worldwide instead of being Region Locked and the netcode used was a far cry from the one Open, featuring minimal, if any, lag. Whether you like it or not entirely depends on whether you mind it being bare-bones or think it makes up for it with its improvements in other areas.
• Complaining About Shows You Don't Watch: Make no mistake, while Ultra Smash certainly also was criticized by series fans due to being bare-bones, a good portion of its complaints were because it was seen as a replacement for The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Star Fox Zero —which were delayed until 2017 and 2016 respectively— for the 2015 holiday season from various fans that don't care about Mario Tennis otherwise.
• Ensemble Dark Horse: A Chain-Chomp being playable for the first time in Aces has been received very well, with many people actually claiming the metallic dog-like ball to be adorable. That said, there are several people who wish other characters like Pauline (prior to her reveal) and Cappy had made their playable debut in the roster before it did, but overall the Chain-Chomp is considered a pleasant surprise and a nice addition to the roster.
• Fan Nickname:
  • Yoshi Tennis Open to the 3DS game because of the overabundance of many Yoshi colors as singular characters.
  • The Wii U game is often called Mario Tennis: Ultra Trash by its detractors, due to its bare-bones content.
  • Lucien, the racket in Adventure Mode, has been called "Infinity Racket" due to its golden color scheme and five slots where its "Power Stones" are placed making it eerily similar to the Infinity Gauntlet.
  • Spike, introduced in Aces, is more frequently referred to by his fan nickname, Fishy Boopkins.
• Fan-Preferred Cut Content: The unveiling◊ of the scrapped character Wapeach has many Mario fans wishing she was added to Power Tennis due to her cute design and concept being a child who bosses around Wario and Waluigi.^note Considering that Shigeru Miyamoto rejected the character due to wanting to avoid being seen as an Expy of Doronjo from Yatterman, had she came to fruition, this concept would have predated Yatterman Night!
• Franchise Original Sin: The original Virtual Boy game, Mario's Tennis, was way more bare-bones than Ultra Smash; truly only having only one court, the only modes available being singles and doubles match play, and completely lacking any unlockables, side modes, and entire multiplayer functionality; but it never got any flak due to being a much more obscure game on a platform that flopped even harder.
• Game-Breaker:
  • Waluigi in 64. He's a "technique" player like Peach and Daisy, but with much better reach, making it almost impossible to get a shot past him if he's at the net. Your best hope is to try to lob a ball over his head and hope he doesn't get into position to smash it.
  • The Mii in Open also qualifies. With the right set-up, the Mii can become a Master of All, with better stats than even the Star characters.
    • The original custom characters back in the GBC/N64 games could up similarly overpowered... Albeit at the risk of getting TOO overpowered that they barely become playable from constant "outs".
  • The Mega Mushrooms in Ultra Smash give you improved reach, speed, power, and improve your resistance to flinching. A battle against a Mega foe is tough. Tellingly, the final boss of the Knockout Challenge mode Bowser/Dry Bowser, is in permanent Mega status.
  • Trick shots in Aces, a high risk high reward move that lets you reach the ball from almost anywhere on the court. If timed improperly, you'll lose some energy. If you time it right, you can regain quite a bit of energy for your zone and special shots. A decently skilled player can pull off trick shots nearly every time and build up energy very quickly.
• High-Tier Scrappy:
  • The Mii in Open, as with the right set-up, the Mii can become a Master of All, with better stats than even the Star characters, leaving the Mario characters underused in a Mario game.
  • Due to Aces more streamlined nature, characters' strengths were easily found and as such resulted in the series' most notable set of scrappy moments, starting even at the demo's launch.
  • Chain Chomp gained notoriety for being one of the best characters in the Online Demo for Aces thanks to being a power character with fast shots, surprisingly good speed, and incredible reach due to its sheer size, making it extremely difficult to get the ball past it. This notoriety died down after the game's launch, as players identified his susceptibility to being pushed back as a weakness, but his strong strengths are still a pain to some today.
  • Rosalina became one in the Online Demo for Aces as a good player could completely shut out an unwary opponent with ease, as well as having great mobility while charging a shot (an advantage to the Tricky-type characters). It got to the point that Rosalina players couldn't find anyone willing to play against them. As the game continued during the course of launch, however, Rosalina was soon recognized as a strong character, but not as annoying to fight as other characters. In a case of irony, as the game neared the end of its cycle, Rosalina found herself to be regarded by competitive Aces players to be one of the worst characters in the game, most notably because of her reach and how "Tricky" characters were overall underwhelming in the game.
  • Waluigi and especially Bowser Jr. at launch were perhaps the biggest examples of the trope throughout Aces history. With incredible cross-court reach that allowed them to charge shots and build up meter quickly without fear, their solid shots that rivalled even Technique-type characters to open up characters, and their massive Trick Shots that allow them to return from anywhere on the court while also receiving less stun and knockback from Zone and Special Shots, the two characters were considered to be the best characters "leagues" above the rest of the cast. It only escalated as Complacent Gaming Syndrome kicked in, leading to a horde of players using these characters and a horde of players that would actively avoid playing against them, being one of the very reasons the developers placed a restriction on players after backing out from an opponent after seeing their character to not see which character the next one would use as to prevent players from "avoiding" certain characters. However, balance patches rolled in and massacred Bowser Jr., as all of his stats were immensely nerfed to the point where he is considered one of the worst characters in the game, while Waluigi still held his strong volley game and massive reach to compensate for the nerfs.
  • Peach was this from the very start and only gained infamy as Aces went on. While not as strong as Bowser Jr. and Waluigi at launch, Peach's incredible technique, solid shot speed, and movement/reach allowed her to send shots at angles that were very difficult for even the strongest characters to compete with. Once Bowser Jr. and Waluigi were promptly nerfed, Peach rose to become one of the best, if not THE best character in the game by a definitive margin. As such, Complacent Gaming Syndrome occurred again, this time with players picking Peach. While more patches came in and gave Peach nerfs, her incredible shot-placement is her identity and is still regarded and loathed as one of the game's best characters.
  • Toadette is a Technique character that has Speedy-type characteristics, namely fast speed and had good placement to boot, but lacked the range needed to make a statement at launch. However, during patch 2.0 and 2.0.1's drops, Toadette became the strongest character in the game with only her height being a weakness. Toadette's buffed reach now coupled in with her speed allowed her to return shots with great ease. By far her biggest asset was that she possessed the best volley shots in the entire game, allowing her to hug the net and let shots fly by opponents at speeds and angles that were straight up impossible to catch, even with Trick Shots at times. She was re-adjusted in future patches and as a result became much more tame, but still a strong character.
  • Koopa Troopa is the longest-standing example of this for Aces. As the first of many free bonus characters released after Aces launch, Koopa's incredible traits were made known very quickly and even exacerbated on with patches. Koopa is the fastest character in the entire game and despite that, has surprisingly good shot placement and power to his shots. Patches after his launch only cemented his standing as the best character by a sizeable margin thanks to ridding his "blind spots" and giving him more range to boot. He also has a special trait where he can make "full-charged" drop shots with a quicker charge, which causes drop shots to drop instantly after they bounce. Paired with Koopa's lightning speed, and he can immediately rush the net and lob shot over the opponent's head repeatedly until they get the point or force meter loss on the opponent. As an accumulative result, Koopa is near-unanimously regarded as the best character in the game.
• I Knew It!: Many people expected Pauline to make her playable debut in Mario Tennis Aces, given that the game was announced following her greatly expanded role in Super Mario Odyssey. Although she wasn't one of the playable characters at release, she was among the additional characters that were added after release, becoming available in March 2019.
• It's the Same, Now It Sucks!: Many write Ultra Smash off as "Open with Mega Mushrooms" due to keeping the Chance Shots though it has some significant gameplay differences compared to it besides that such as the addition of Jump Shots and the titular Ultra Smash. It doesn't help that the game reuses both character icons and voice clips from previous games.
• It's Short, So It Sucks!: The reason why many where disappointed with Ultra Smash and it got so much flak, it's an OK Mario Tennis game with the gameplay^note as it improved on the Chance Shots from Open with the addition nuanced mechanics in the Jump Shots and Ultra Smashes, and added a well-received Classic Tennis mode without the divisive Chance Shots from Open, graphics, and soundtrack expected from the series but it was bare-bones and didn't include any kind of story mode or side content and due to that it got a mixed reception, making people suspect it's been Christmas Rushed after The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Star Fox Zero were delayed to get in a holiday release. Aces seems to have been made entirely in response to these complaints, if the general reaction to the game is anything to go by.
• Just Here for Godzilla: If someone's picking up the original N64 game, chances are it's to see Waluigi's first appearance.
• Memetic Mutation:
  • "Mario Tennis Aces is a fighting game." / "Mario Tennis Aces for EVO."^ExplanationThe addition of the Energy Gauge and the new mechanics that involve it (Zone Shots, Zone Speed, and Special Shots) have drawn comparisons to super moves in fighting games. Players needing to judge when to use their abilities and when to conserve them, and the need to read the opponent's strategy and movements to win, are also staples of fighting games.
  • Mario Tennis: Infinity War / "Luigi found the Infinity Racket"^ExplanationThe trailer for Aces Adventure Mode has Luigi obtain a golden tennis rack with five slots in it, making fans joke that it's the Mario Tennis equivalent of the Infinity Gauntlet and essentially quote various memes from Avengers: Infinity War but with Mario references. It didn't help that the five slots of the racket are filled by something known as the "Power Stones", which shared its name with one of the six Infinity Stones that is placed in the Infinity Gauntlet.
• Moment of Awesome: The "Match of the Century" trailer. Mario takes on tennis star Rafael Nadal... and loses, due to getting an out at match point. The score at the beginning of the commercial shows that Mario and Nadal really went toe to toe and down to the wire, they're just that good.
  • Here's a little detail at the end of the trailer: When Mario signs his name on the screen along with Mr. Nadal, the squeaks from the marker play the iconic first few notes of the overworld theme from the first game. Nintendo really stepped up with their marketing.
  • In the intro for the GC version, when Wario, Waluigi and Bowser crash the tournament and the duo start launching Bob-Ombs from their launcher, Mario and Luigi hit the Bob-Ombs back with their rackets and a brief scene shows Koopa Troopa and Diddy Kong helping with their rackets as well! Followed Mario launching a Bullet Bill back at the blimp!
  • In Koopa Paratroopa's win cutscene in the GC version, Wario and Waluigi try to stop him by holding the trophy back and keeping him back with a fishing rod. Cue Toad showing up with a gigantic pair of scissors and snipping the line on the rod, freeing Paratroopa and allowing him to grab the trophy to Peach's happiness.
• Nightmare Fuel: Luigi being corrupted by Lucien in Aces. He clearly seems to be in some sort of pain as he's turned into a rocky, evil golem of sorts like Wario and Waluigi.
• Older Than They Think:
  • While Waluigi made his first appearance in the N64 game, the concept of a Wario-ized Luigi dates as far back as 1994 in manga form◊.
  • Many believe (or choose to believe) that the first game in the series was the Nintendo 64 entry, but the first Mario Tennis game was in fact Mario's Tennis on the ill-fated Virtual Boy.
• Platonic Writing, Romantic Reading: Elroy and Tori are supposed to just be doubles partners, but behave and interact like a couple. At a few points you almost expect them to smooch. The GBA version also has this with whoever your doubles partner is, but a milder version. Another notable mention is Dweezil and Mynx.
• Sequel Displacement: Given the commercial failure of the Virtual Boy, many ignore that the series started on that platform and not on the Nintendo 64. Mario Tennis 64 is the first game developed by Camelot however, as Mario's Tennis was developed by Nintendo themselves.
• Scrappy Mechanic:
  • The primary way to earn coins in Open is to play the Special Games... and that's it, unless the player wants to replay the tutorial for 200 coins each when it takes 155,000 to purchase everything in the shop.
  • The power shots are this for players of the game who actually play tennis in real life. Mainly because if you can pull off a good one it's an instant win for whoever launches it (player or NPC).
  • The charge shot in the N64 and GBC versions. If your timing is off, you'll accidentally activate it (you have to hit the button slightly BEFORE the ball gets to you), and then you're stuck moving at the speed of molasses, which can very easily give your opponent(s) the point. There's a way to cancel it (by pressing L, or Select on GBC) but by the time you realize it's happening, it's probably too late to react that fast, ESPECIALLY in the later cups. (Not to mention that the L button is hard enough to access with the way you need to hold the N64 controller anyway.)
  • Ultra Smash's power-up, the Mega Mushroom, can become this in the Knockout Challenge mode, which is essentially a "Survival Mode" where you take on progressively smarter opponents until you lose. The Mega 'Shrooms cause the players they affect to grow giant, and after a while (or upon being hit by the ball), your character will shrink to their normal size. Shrinking at the wrong time can seriously mess up your ability to return the ball; oftentimes, you'll shrink right when you're in the middle of a tricky shot (like a Jump Shot or Ultra Smash) and end up missing the ball entirely because the game doesn't compensate for you shrinking while swinging your racket.^note As opposed to growing, which is delayed if you're in the middle of a swinging animation when you pick up a Mega 'Shroom. While the AI can also encounter this problem, it doesn't happen often, and during the Challenge Mode, you'll occasionally end up facing a permanently Mega 'Shroomed Bowser, who'll never have this issue because of that fact.
  • The Mario Tennis games on the Nintendo 64 and Game Boy Color also had 'Lets' (where serving a ball that hits the top of the net before bouncing into the correct service box made you repeat your serve, similar to a fault). The mechanic wasn't exactly necessary in a video game as it felt repetitive and apparently the developers thought so too and removed from all installments going forward.
• So Okay, It's Average: General consensus is that Ultra Smash is an okay Mario Tennis game that functions and plays well, has great graphics and soundtrack, and improved on the Chance Shots introduced in the prior game with the addition of nuanced mechanics in the Jump Shots and Ultra Smashes, and brought back a Classic Tennis mode for those who preferred the gameplay of the first two installments (which returns in Aces), significantly improved online, and is the only game in the series with amiibo support, working similarly to the Super Smash Bros. series; and can be pretty fun, but it's also been criticized for being very bare bones compared to past entries. Most feel that the game was rushed out just so Nintendo would have one extra Wii U game for the 2015 holiday season, in light of the delays of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Star Fox Zero.
• Stock Footage Failure: The intro in Aces tends to use recycled lines from previous games that don't fit with what's happening onscreen. Waluigi says "he walks funny" to Wario with nobody else present (he was originally talking about Bowser), and when Mario calls Luigi's name, the tone doesn't match his expression or mouth movements. He is clearly shown to be very worried, since he just saw his brother get possessed and disappear in front of him, but the voice clip that was used doesn't work because it sounds too casual for the scene's context. It would have been more fitting if Mario murmured Luigi's name with a newer voice clip or said something in a sad and somber tone.
• Surprisingly Improved Sequel: After the massively disappointed reception to Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash content-wise, the next title, Mario Tennis Aces, was hailed as an enjoyable return to form for the series, with it having plenty of single-player content unlike Ultra Smash, including the return of a proper story mode for the first time since the GBA game, a more expansive character roster, and plenty of free post-launch updates that added even more new content.
• That One Boss:
  • All of the bosses in Mario Tennis Aces are pretty tough, but BOWCIEN is insane. You have to be a master at blocking in this game, since you will have to pull off a chain of five consecutive blocks in a row to defeat him, three times. His attacks are also very difficult to avoid, making it quite easy to run out of time.
• That One Sidequest:
  • Getting a perfect score in the Piranha Challenge to unlock the exclusive court is one of the hardest challenges in the series. You have to get 50 tennis balls past your opponent without making a single mistake, which means that there is little to no room for error. It doesn't help that your opponent is relatively smart.
  • The Reaction Training Minigame in Mario Tennis: Power Tour. It is a Rock–Paper–Scissors game against a robot where you have to win x number of times before a timer hits zero. The second level alone is tough, but the third level requires godly reaction speed and massive amounts off guesswork and pure luck. Reaction is needed to get some of the more powerful and useful Power Shots. Most likely, you will be stuck doing Level 1 over and over again, tediously grinding until it hits level 10.
  • Galaxy Rally in Open. It's a constant volley where you have to return the ball to a Luma while avoiding the holes the ball leaves when it hits one of the four sections of the court. As the game progresses, there will be more holes, so you have to aim at the only parts of the court where there's still solid ground. Worst part? You need to clear the level 3 version of the minigame (volley 100 shots) to unlock Luma.
  • Unlocking the Sprixie Princess in Ultra Smash without using Coins is sort of this. You need to make sure you get a 100 or more ball rally in Mega Ball mode in one play. This can be quite hard to do especially if the computer does a fast chance shot that needs expert timing or if they miss hitting the ball which cause a Game Over and make you go back to the start of the mode. The fact the ball shrinks every 30 hits does not help matters either.
  • The rallying challenges in Aces can be quite infuriating. The easiest of them requires you to earn 200 points, and you earn 1 point for each hit, and bonus points at certain milestones streaks. You can only miss three times before you fail the challenge. This type of challenge can be quite demanding on the reflexes and concentration, even with Zone Speed to help out. The hardest is Kamek where you have to make 400 rallies without missing 3 times. The court takes place on a ship with a mast in the middle of the net and if the ball hits the mast, it will bounce off on an unpredictable path. While you don't have to beat Kamek to complete the story mode, you will have to beat him if you want to earn a new racket.
  • The Sure-Shot Challenge can be a massive pain, since you will need to get 30 balls past an incredibly smart CPU, but can only make three mistakes. It's like the aforementioned Piranha Challenge but even worse, since you'll also have to block several shots as well.
• Underused Game Mechanic: The Tournament mode in 64, Power, and Open is available in Singles and Doubles. Don't bring a friend over for this though, as Doubles can only be played with a computer partner.
• Unexpected Character:
  • Donkey Kong Jr. in the original N64 game after Diddy Kong had already been established as DK's true sidekick, marking the only time he and the current Donkey Kong have appeared together as separate characters.
  • The Baby Luma in Open, as he had never appeared without Rosalina beforehand. Rosalina was planned to appear but was cut and would make her series debut in Ultra Smash, also eventually appearing on the 3DS in the Tennis portion of Mario Sports Superstars.
  • The Sprixie Princess in Ultra Smash, who had never been playable previously and mostly served as a replacement Damsel in Distress for Peach in her debut game.
  • The Chain-Chomp in Aces, since not only is it a generic Mook that also never had a previous playable role, but it doesn't even have any limbs, forcing it to hold its racquet in its mouth.
  • Blooper was an unexpected playable character in Mario Party 8 and Mario Super Sluggers, and the aquatic enemy makes another playable appearance in Aces.
  • Aces threw yet another curveball with one of its final characters: Fire Piranha Plant. It's similar to how Piranha Plant was infamously included in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, but the announcement of Fire Piranha Plant in particular had fans scratching their heads like never before.
• Win Back the Crowd: Ultra Smash left a bad taste in many fans' mouths for seemingly being rushed for the holidays and feeling rather barren and lacking in content. Aces seems to have been made almost entirely in response to these complaints, with many features that Ultra Smash lacked most notably having the first Story Mode in the series since Power Tour. Most fans seem to agree it's an improvement.

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