Nintendo recently gave us another look at Mario Tennis Aces, and it offers a pretty
good overview of the new mechanics coming to the game.
But for as comprehensive it is, we can always go deeper.
That's what the analysis machine is for, right?
But before we start, keep in mind that we already did a very comprehensive analysis
of the previous trailer--so make sure to give it a watch if you haven't already--as we'll
only be covering the new stuff here.
And with that, let's get started.
And let's begin with the characters.
Because along with the 5 we knew about previously, being Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, and DK,
we now know that they'll be joined by Peach, Daily, Yoshi, Rosalina,Toad, Bowser,Toadette,
Bowser Jr, Boo, and a Chain Chomp--even if we sadly only see him in action for a single
scene, bounding around with his chain dragging behind him.
So that makes for 15 characters total.
And there's more to come, as the announcer clarified that there are "More than 15 playable
characters," meaning there has to be at least 16 characters total--but could there
be even more, and if so how many could there be?
So who could they be?
Obviously, that's impossible to say--but that's not going to stop us from trying.
Okay, so trailer reveals the characters in groups of 3--which by itself, doesn't mean
a whole lot.
Except that the character selection screen of Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash was also laid
out in rows of 3--and we've already established that the two games share more than just a
few similarities.
So if Aces's Character Selection screen follows a similar layout consisting of rows
of 3, the 15 characters we currently know about will fit within 5 rows.
But since we know there are at least 16 characters, that would necessitate at least another row--making
room for 3 more slots.
Or 18 characters total.
Now I know what you're thinking--what about that giant "Random" button that arbitrarily
takes up 2 slots all by itself in Ultra Smash.
Couldn't that do the same thing in Aces?
And sure, it could.
But here's the thing--we already know Aces is getting additional unlockable characters
via the online tournaments--including this mysterious fellow, who certainly isn't a
Koopa Troopa.
Which means the character selection screen has to be designed to accommodate an ever-expanding
roster--which means that random button would be changing locations constantly if it works
like it did in Ultra--which is why we think it'll either be given its own permanent
slot outside of the roster, or relegated to a button press or something.
Basically, what we're getting at is we think any additional rows wouldn't have potential
character slots filled by the Random icon--which is why 6 rows could mean a potential 18 characters.
But that doesn't mean there still couldn't be gaps--especially since the future tournament
characters could be used to fill in those gaps right?
So maybe it's pointless to try and predict the roster size and I'm just wasting your
time,
But there's another reason why I expect more than just 1 more character.
Because while Ultra Smash did have 16 characters total itself, we didn't find out the final
4--all of which were unlockables--until the final few weeks before the game's release.
And since we're still 3 months out from Mario Tennis Aces, that suggests that the
15 characters we've seen are all available from the start.
And since we know there's at least 1 character left--they could be an unlockable one.
And probably not the only one, because Ultra Smash had 4, and I'd expect Aces to at least
match that--which could put us at a potential roster size of 19, including the 15 characters
we know about.
But if we go with our 3 characters per row theory, that would necessitate the addition
of a 7th row, making for a possible 21 character slots--it might sound like a lot, but it's
only 3 more characters than the series' previous record, being Power Tennis's 21.
But then again, it's possible any extra space in a row could be filled by downloadable
Tournament Characters.
Anyways, with a potential 4 to 7 characters left to be revealed--who could they be?
Well, we may already have some idea..
Because as you might have also noticed, the roster in Aces is incredibly similar to the
Ultra Smash...in that it's identical, except for the addition of Chain Chomp--and the absence
of two characters: Dry Bowser & Sprixie, both of which were unlockables in the original
game.
So we would be shocked if they both didn't return--and very likely as unlockable characters
again, like before, which explains why they haven't been revealed yet.
So that's 2 Unlockable slots filled, leaving a potential 2-5 left--going by our theories.
So who could be left?
Well, there's still the Petey Piranha idea from our past analysis--even if they'd have
to shrink him down for the main game.
But who else?
Well, we'll have a bit more on that later.
But there's one more interesting thing to note about the roster--because while most
of characters are confirmed to be back, they're not all quite the same as before.
Because Rosalina, Toadette, and Bowser Jr have all been reclassified.
In Ultra Smash, Rosalina was a Power player, but she's now Tricky.
Toadette used to be Tricky, but is now Technical, and Bowser Jr used to be Tricky but is now
defensive.
But the changes kind of makes sense when you consider that Ultra Smash already had 4 Power
players--the most of any category--and Chain Chomp would have made it 5.
So they changed Rosalina to Tricky in order to keep the amount of Power players at 4,
but since that would have then made for 4 Tricky Players including Boo, Toadette & Bowser
Jr were changed to fill in the gaps elsewhere.
Whew, that's quite enough about characters for now, so let's talk about those new mechanics!
Now the trailer already did a pretty good job of going over the basics of the four main
new maneuvers--but there's a few intricacies it didn't quite delve into.
Now as you probably already know, the new maneuvers all revolve around the Energy Gauge,
with each of these four maneuvers either using up some of that energy, or adding to it!
Now you probably knew that much from the trailer--but we went the extra mile by pulling out our
protractor in order to figure out exactly how much energy is either added or taken away
for each one.
Now as the narrator in the trailer revealed, the energy gauge automatically fills up during
a rally, with each hit adding a small amount.
And we measured that amount to be about 3% each time, meaning you'll have to hit the
ball roughly 37 times to fill your gauge with basic returns.
However, what the narrator didn't reveal is that using Charged Shots will fill it even
faster--in this case, a charge 2/3 of a second long added 15% to the gauge--or 12% more than
a normal shot!
But it does seem like it'll have to be a fully charged shot to get this benefit, as
we can see Mario attempt several partial charges with no apparent energy boost.
But there's an even faster way to build energy: Trick Shots.
These fancy moves allow you to leap across the court right to the ball--if you time it
right and gauge the distance correctly, that is.
If you pull it off correctly, a yellow glow will appear around your character as they
one of several cool moves on their way to the ball--Both Mario and Peach demonstrate
the Vault, whereas Mario also demonstrates the hand spin, and Peach shows off the Ribbon
Fling and Twirl--but no matter which you use, they all seem to restore the same amount of
energy.
33%--as long as you nail it.
But what happens if you don't?
Well, we have Wario here to demonstrate just that, where the circle doesn't appear and
he helplessly slides toward the ball--and even though he still hits it,.
He burned up 10% of his energy doing so.
And when Wario tries it again, he misses the ball entirely--so yeah, timing and placement
are important!
And speaking of placement, let's move onto the next new ability: Zone Shots.
These allow you to completely freeze the action while you aim the ball exactly where you want
it to go with motion controls before unleashing it.
A black border appears around the screen whenever one's in use.
But in order to use a Zone Shot, you're going to have to use up a fair chunk of your
energy gauge--at the least.
You see, the moment you activate it, you'll instantly lose 25% of your energy.
You then have exactly one second to aim your shot before even you start to burn through
more of your energy at a rate of 25% every second.
Which means, with a full power meter, you'll have 4 seconds max to fire off your shot.
Unfortunately, the trailer doesn't show what happens if you run out of energy while
aiming--perhaps it'll just shoot the ball at the spot you aimed at last, or perhaps
you'll fail to do a Zone Shot at all--it's hard to say.
Now Zone Shots aren't just difficult for your opponent to get to, but also pretty dangerous
if they do.
Because unless they block it with a perfectly-timed swing, their racket's going to take some
damage.
Each racket can take 3 hits before it breaks, automatically losing you the point.
And even worse, you only have a set amount of racquets too, and once you run out, it's
Game Over.
So think of it this way: if the racket's meter is your health bar then the amount of
racquets remaining are your lives.
But as I mentioned, defenders can Block a Zone Shot with a perfectly timed swing--which
will be essential if your racket's on its last legs.
However, because of this, it seems unlikely that you'll be able to return the shot with
a Charged hit, which makes it even easier for your opponent to return it.
Yeah, Zone Shots aren't something to be taken lightly!
And that goes double for Special Shots--which is what happens if you unleash a Zone Shot
with a full energy gauge.
They're so special in fact that every character has a unique animation for it.
Mario flips through the air, Yoshi grows the wings from Mario World to fly around with
a Rainbow tail, Peach grows a big heart, Rosalina fires off some Lumas, and Waluigi...does the
Tango?
Yeah, that's my boy.
Now despite the theatrics, Special Shots work almost identically to Zone Shots, except for
two things.
For one, they're much more powerful, and can potentially destroy an opponent's racket
in a single hit--even if they're at full health.
However, they can still be blocked with a perfectly timed swing--but check out how far
back it knocks Wario!
But that extra power doesn't come free, they also use a lot more energy!
It still consumes 25% instantly for that first second of grace period, followed by another
25% every second thereafter--but on top of it all, it consume another 35% as soon as
you fire it off.
So given this, we're not quite sure what happens if you hold on off firing your shot
until it's lower than 35% --maybe it'll force you to take the shot whether you're
ready or not, or maybe it'll end up weaker, like a standard Zone Shot?
We think that might be the case, otherwise why wouldn't it just take off the entire
60% at once ?
Okay, so we've covered 3 of the 4 main new mechanics--but there's one more left: Zone
Speed.
It's basically bullet time, slowing down the action making it easier for you to get
to ball in time--but it'll use up 10% of your energy gauge for every second you use
it.
And that pretty much covers it for all the new moves--but what if you don't want to
play with them at all?
Well, as Nintendo revealed, you can use Simple Rules to focus on the core tennis action--which
means there's no more energy meter either
But interestingly, as part of this, we can see what appears to be the same stadium shown
before--but now, during the day time.
Which loandbehold, is practically identical to the one from Ultra Smash, as we pointed
out in our previous analysis--only now with a few small tweaks, like a few additional
banners.
Also, as in Ultra Smash, we can see the stadium will support a variety of surface types including
Grass, Hard, and Clay--and we'd be surprised if most of the others didn't return too
Furthermore, since the trailer also shows the Forest Court being played in this mode,
it seems all of the courts should be available regardless of which mode you choose.
Alright, now let's move onto Story Mode, because even though the trailer didn't focus
on it too much, it did provide a few additional glimpses of what to expect for it.
And let's start off what our first look at a new Ruins Stage--which is actually called
Bask Ruins based on the introductory cutscene that plays before the challenge there.
If we take a close look at the picture here, we can see a pair of vultures that apparently
live here--which seems to be a common setting for them in Mario games.
And based on the background, we can tell exactly where it'll take place on the World Map
from on the previous trailer--right here, making it the 2nd main stop on your journey.
Here, the Ant Trooper enemies from Super Mario 3D World act as the Line Umpires and a Conkdor
as the Chair Umpire--despite the notable lack of chair.
The court itself is made of sand with ropes filling acting as the line markings.
And the net has a neat Sand Dune-like shape at the base with what appears to be a decorative
snake on the posts to either side.
Shortly after, we're introduced to ANOTHER brand new court, but this time in a cold,
snowy region in what appears to be the courtyard of a small town, based on the brick surface,
the fences surrounding the court, the fact that the Toad Umpire is using a mailbox as
his chair, and even some of the spectators are sitting on park benches or around a picnic
table.
It's a pretty quaint setting.
Oh, and we can see Toads acting as the line umpires--including some that appear to be...Snow
Toads?
But the poor one back here looks like it got destroyed at some point--so maybe, they're
interactive and will fall apart if the ball hits them?
As for where this course takes place--well, we're not entirely sure, although based
on the fact we can see snow around parts of the giant mountain here makes us think it'll
probably take place somewhere on or near it--perhaps in the recessed center?
And that might be it for new courts for now--but we do another look at the forest court from
the previous trailer, which reveals that the trees actually move in the wind.
And this time, we can see what the Warp Pipes actually do--and as expected, Piranha Plants
will pop out to interfere, spitting the ball back at whoever hit it at them.
And speaking of those Piranha Plant warp pipes--we've only seen them appear on this court within
the context of the story mode, as every other time we've seen them, it's been just a
normal net.
Which could mean one of two things: Either that the courts in Story Mode feature additional
gimmicks--or more likely, that you'll be able to toggle the gimmicks on and off, as
in Mario Power Tennis
Next up, we also get another look at the Forest Ruins court--but this time without the Petey
Piranha boss fight, confirming, unsurprisingly, that it can be used in exhibition matches.
In which case, the net is held up by a pair of vines, a piranha plant acts as the Chair
Umpire, and the Muncher plants are the line ones.
Finally, we get a look at what appears to be another Story Mode challenge or mini game,
similar to the Piranha Plant one from the previous trailer.
This time the setting appears to be an a dimly lit interior of some kind of building with
a giant mirror ahead, that features two blue orbs that slowly move around.
When Mario hits a ball at it, it bounces back with a high arch--but what's the goal here?
Well, we can see that the game counts the hit as a rally, and adds energy to Mario's
meter--so maybe the goal involves filling it up and using Zone Shots for something--maybe
smash through the mirror or something?
Or maybe it's just to keep the ball in play until the timer runs out.
Now based on the fact that this is only half a court, we doubt it'll be used in exhibition
play--especially since there aren't any line markings on the floor either.
However, we'd be shocked if there isn't a very similar court in a similar setting--just
like how the Piranha Plant minigame's arena is also a half-court, but has the similar
forest and forest ruins stages.
And as for where on the World Map it takes place--well, we're pretty sure it'll be
in this creepy mansion that we noted on the World Map in our previous analysis.
And that covers it for the new areas--but there's another important feature I haven't
mentioned yet.
Because normally, Mario's racquet looks like this, whereas in Story Mode, we can also
see him using a couple more, such as this one with a green shell replacing the head--and
it features 4 Hit Points instead of the usual 3, or this Snowflake one that has 6--and Snowflakes
even pop out after hitting the ball.
And based on that, we can't help but wonder if these rackets might have some kind of elemental
attributes as well--like maybe freezing opponents?
Or perhaps the rackets tie just tie into the theme of the area you got them from, with
this one potentially being from that cold town?
So it seems that you'll be able to switch or upgrade rackets throughout the story mode!
Maybe you can buy them with coins you might earn between matches or something?
Oh, and while we're here--we can see that the Petey Piranha Boss Battle has a timer,
whereas it didn't in the previous trailer.
So it seems you'll have to beat him within the time limit--unless the goal is just to
last until the timer runs out.
Okay, we're just about done here, but there's just a couple more things I wanted to point
out.
Now in our previous analysis, we did a pretty thorough breakdown of the audience members--including
the fact they wear gear to support their player of choice, such as the Chain Chomp signs.
And as part of that, we can now see they even react to whether the player they're rooting
for wins or loses.
Check out how sad the Penguins get, or how the Sledge Bro just slowly stomps his feet.
Neat.
Finally, we promised we've circle back to what other secret characters we think could
be waiting.
Well, do you remember the Dry Bones--you know, the guy who introduces the Ruins court.
Well, What's his deal anyway?
Well, since he doesn't appear on the court itself, we wouldn't be shocked if he ends
up as an unlockable character--perhaps once you clear out whatever challenges awaits there?
Oh, and you know how Koopa Troopa is clearly coming as a future tournament character?
Well, he also appears in the audience as a fan--so maaaybe some of the others will be
playable too.
Like Shy Guys, or penguins, or maybe even Sledge Brothers?
Who knows!
And with that, we're finally done covering everything we could dig up on Mario Tennis
Aces.
But as usual, let us know if we missed anything by posting in the comments below.
And with that, thanks for watching and make sure to subscribe to gameXplain for more on
Mario Tennis Aces and everything Nintendo Switch.
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