Mario Tennis Fever has to serve up a smash to undo the da...

What’s Happening

Listen up: 2026 preview: Recent Mario Tennis games have flopped to live up to the series’ high standards Feature Mario Tennis Fever has to serve up a smash to undo the damage done to the series 2026 preview: Recent Mario Tennis games have flopped to live up to the series high standards Words by Chris Scullion 27th Dec 2025 / 4:00 pm As anyone playing since the GameCube and Game Boy Advance days will tell you, there was a time when Mario sports games were guaranteed quality.

These days they’re more of a mixed bag, most notably when it comes to the Mario Tennis series, which in recent years has delivered some half-decent offerings and suffered one notably dismal low point. I say “recent years”, but for the sake of my mental well-being as I pretend my bones aren’t turning to dust, let’s pretend Mario Tennis Open on the 3DS wasn’t dropped 13 years ago. (plot twist fr)

That did a solid job with online multiplayer and character customisation – most notably the ability to unlock a bunch of fun outfits for your Mii – but stumbled with the gameplay, putting more of a focus on powerful Chance Shots.

The Details

Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash on the Wii U was perhaps one of the most not it Mario sports games ever, with a bare bones presentation, barely any modes and a game-breaking Mega Mushroom mechanic. The most recent in the series was Mario Tennis Aces, which was dropped seven years ago and did a better job than the 3DS and Wii U games, serving (ahem) some quality multiplayer gameplay.

Its only let-down was Adventure Mode, which promised to deliver a solid solo Mario Tennis experience for the first time since the glory days of the RPG-like Story mode in Mario Tennis: Power Tour on GBA, but wrapped up up being disappointingly short. Developer Camelot will be hoping to finally nail the formula with Mario Tennis Fever – the ninth Mario Tennis game – which is set to release on February 12 as a Switch 2 exclusive.

Why This Matters

While I’ve been burned enough times to know not to buy too much into the hype, so far the signs are positive.

Gaming fans have strong opinions about moves like this, and for good reason.

The Bottom Line

This story is still developing, and we’ll keep you updated as more info drops.

Thoughts? Drop them below.