Nintendo’s Accidental Fighting Game - Mario Tennis Aces

Mario Tennis Aces is a sports game that plays remarkably like a fighting game.
It may look like tennis, but by all metrics - complex tech, RPS interactions, mind games, footsies - this is a fighting game. Today we’re going to talk about a title for the Nintendo Switch that has been taken to its limits by a small community of dedicated tennis lovers.
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#esports #gaming #nintendo

[@ZelcadiaGaming]

Hey all - this is Zelgodez from Zelcadia Gaming. Many thanks to Akshon Games for highlighting MTA (and also for featuring some of our VODs!) We'd like to invite newcomers and veterans to our community to enjoy high level MTA highlights, tournaments, a friendly community, and "Z Court" - a new way to play MTA 24/7 with a community sourced leaderboard and live matches with top players! Many thanks again to Akshon Esports for putting this wonderful piece together, and for some really great commentary by members of Mario Switch Sports Resort! Hope to play with some of you soon! 😀

[@johnmantis4595]

Hello! 👋🏻 Do you still host tournaments? Can you share your community link? Thank you!

[@pengwnbuster]

I can't believe no one told me that Aces was a fighting game. I've always love Mario Tennis 64 but wow, suddenly doubly want to try Aces out.

[@coachmcguirk6297]

Next do "why the Sims 4 is actually a fighting game"

[@ClownCollegeReject]

"On all levels except physical i am a fighting game."

[@DaniszAstronauta]

It would be funny to see this at EVO

[@MokonaModokiES]

so its lethal league blaze but with 3D movement and a score system

[@101Leafy]

This is one of the most underrated switch games! Such a huge victim of the Nintendo community’s toxicity. People claiming it’s dead when that just wasn’t true discouraged new players :/

[@theremix54]

I dont think the "Toxic nintendo community" were the ones claiming the game was dead...

[@HateSonneillon]

TBH anyone not considering smash a fighter but considering a tennis game a fighter needs to get psychological evaluation.

[@kairu_b]

As always, great video!

[@rimimimimimimimim4170]

I got this game a little late (a little after 3D all stars came out), I’m not even into tennis, but the mechanics looked fun and I really wanted to try it out… the different kind of shots you can use, the different formations you can use and if you want to go near the net or near the back line like real tennis, but also a lot of cool mechanics and tech the game has.. it’s really fun and surprisingly, it’s not a mashing buttons game, I think this is one of the best mario sports game there is, if not the best (it’s probably my favourite) and it surprised me by how much you can do in this game and that’s why it’s so much fun, you have to use your abilities at the right time and I really like the abilities, and the meter system. This game really gives you full control over what you are doing, not like other sports games where you press buttons and it will put you in the right place to press those buttons. The two player mode I think is really overlooked, it might be for me a place where the game is actually really good… in two player mode, you can be more defensive by having both players in the back, but I like to go in the back while my friend goes in the front, I think that’s a mode I like because one player gets the offensive end, one gets more on the defensive end and you both have to do your parts and work together, naturally it’s a lot of fun just to play with a friend which might be why I’m a little bit biased and the one player mode is definitely more fun if you aren’t playing with a close friend, but I like how both you and your friend have your own control and can play your own style. Sorry it’s really hard to explain I’m not a big tennis guy, but I know a bit… I think one problem with the game for me, is that a lot of the time I find myself only using flat hits because the others don’t do anything special enough and are slower, giving your opponent stronger attacks (time to charge and better position, also the upper hand) and you lose your pressure. I understand it’s different depending on your character, I play Mario so there isn’t any significant changes in a lot of places, he is more of a balanced character, but it’s a lot easier to keep pressuring with flat shots for points then to use a lob, drop shot or whatever. I think that the serves aren’t strong enough and don’t give you an advantage like they would in real tennis, I think they could give your opponent a tiny stun after they return it depending on how well they time the return, but features like that might be too much

[@armorbearer9702]

We have competitive Mario baseball, soccer and now tennis. If this keeps up, Nintendo may need their own Evo tournament.

[@hr-g4640]

mario kart is also competitive, splatoon, arms, smash, they hve enough games for an evo

[@juanrodriguez9971]

Bro, Nintendo could turn almost all of their games into tournaments and somehow it would get players playing competitively unironically, wtf? Like, they get by accident what other companies simp for and still throw them into the trash.

[@maldymilkyboi4991]

This lol. All nintendo games seems to be either competitively viable for tournaments or popular for speedrunning.

[@Stroggoii]

It's not an accident when games that start with the core principle of "let's make a fun game" get more traction than games with the core principle of "let's monetize esports". It'd be cool if Nintento started adopting their competitive scenes, but it'd be even cooler if all the companies that have pushed failed MOBAs, shooters and fighting games with the intent of getting big esports bucks go back to the drawing board and start with making sure their game is something millions want to play even when there's no money on the line, then add the esports league support when the competitive community is already developing.

[@1wiz1]

@@Stroggoii facts ... And this why nintendo devs are geniuses ...

[@measlesplease1266]

Objectively a culture of esports and nerds is so lame and boring. The way they act is like parents kicking out a kid that is too old to live with them. They want to make games for kids. That's it.

[@apkhbmbgamlkbh1531]

@@measlesplease1266 can you elaborate?

[@Spleen2ween]

Tennis is a fighting game already so this makes sense

[@nekame]

True

[@theinktician]

"AARRGGH!" "UNNGHHHH!" ^Tennis SFX^

[@MrRondan28]

I've had the game since launch and I'm just starting to play. I really like it.. I feel stupid for not playing sooner. I won't make the same mistake with the soccer game.

[@lucastalo]

same here!

[@juanrodriguez9971]

So, did you enjoy the new Strikers?

[@JR_Donofrio]

Love this channel

[@raincastmusic]

I still play this game to this day Its so much fun

[@TM-sm9ze]

Would you recommend it to new players at this point? Four years after the original release, dedicated fans with years of experience... I want go give it a shot, but I am afraid it might have already lost it's thunder or that new players immediately hit a wall. Any advices or thoughts?

[@raincastmusic]

@@TM-sm9ze well for me its worth it I got it on the eshop for 50$ CAD and even though the online is rather quiet, the CPUs are still really fun If you can find a Discord group to play with people then thats even better The story mode was great im my opinion Overall i think its very worth it unless you want to only play online directly in the game And its not too hard to learn either so as a new player, you should be fine! Just learn the basics like what counters each shot (there’s in-game guides about that) and also that you can aim when hitting the ball (you have to tilt the left joystick to aim)

[@nekame]

Oh wow, now i feel the need to watch more streams of this game 👀

[@ThotBusterNo1]

Ayyyyy there’s my homie LilBiggestJake! Great video as always

[@zamza989]

i was offended by the title at first being a passionate fighting game lover, but no joke the parallels are all there!

[@EmrlsCommunity]

Damn I'm already subscribed 😫

[@Shakiahjprod]

I was SUPER competitive in this game over summer when it first came out. Only thing I think that was forgotten was how broken trick shotting was in the game. You could go to the front of the net then flick the right stick back and 90% of the time it'd follow the ball. Was hilarious

[@fhjunior6183]

Thanks for the vid

[@Moss_Dude]

I wish people still played it online, I got it just barely too late.

[@jk-pc1iv]

oh is it dead already? just thought about buying it after seeing the video pop up. I really loved to play 1v1 mario tennis on n64

[@ekubo954]

Its a shame. I was actually super interested in the demo when it released. I hope the new strikers doesnt die as fast as this game when that drops

[@King_Luigi]

@SharinganSakura Aces has solid gameplay but it still died out after a while. The bigger issue is how they handle the rest of the game and any post-launch stuff. If it ends up being really grindy to unlock stuff or has a similar "finish it later" approach/feel like Aces/Super Rush did, then it's gonna suffer as well.

[@bjgray7954]

​@@ekubo954this didn't age well lmao

[@roborocket]

Same

[@Corentinbes]

First line in the vid is already great

[@JonRobTom]

Regardless of how I really feel about the game and its meta since I've played it online for years, it's accurate to say that Mario Tennis Aces is an indirect fighting game.

[@fredericabernkastel8354]

once again a great video! I always loved mario tennis games from a very casual local multiplayer-stand point. Kind of but not really surprised to see such an enthusiastic player base behind it.

[@PostProteusKitten]

Akshon Esports: Super Mario's first true fighting game Smash Bros: Am I a joke to you?

[@OmniFluxX]

i love videos like these, so many competitve games i never knew about its insane

[@alexgarcia8365]

It’s funny because I taught my wife how to play this game before smash and it was almost seamless to her

[@alexgarcia8365]

When she had no prior video game knowledge

[@ASwagPecan]

underrated game but I also didn’t get it on launch, to be fair

[@jk-pc1iv]

these videos are so cool - we need more of it. thank you

[@firstnamelastname3414]

I’m glad you guys ventured out of primarily being for overwatch, I like where things are going.

[@yeti4269]

Filling the meter to get a special shot is very reminiscent of the Gamebreaker meter from the NFL and NBA Street series back in the day.

[@kylespevak6781]

This is definitely strikingly similar to a fighting game but considering a fighting game has absolutely nothing to do with fighting I would say that it's just good competitive game design. Make things balanced, add some kind of RPS mechanic, and a meter for super moves is always good

[@jk-pc1iv]

question with these things is always: does it make sense to pick it up if you are not going to go super hardcore on it. I expect a super small hardcore playerbase at this point with a super steep learning curve and many hours of practice to even win a match (like it is the case with many fighting games and such). please correct me if I'm wrong - would love to see games like this thriving in the world of online multiplayer games :)

[@rabidrat8774]

Unless it's on a discount not really. The game really revolves around its competitive scene since it's the main draw of the game and the singleplayer modes are pretty pathetic in comparison. If it's on a discount it's probably worth it but for the full $60 it is not really worth it.

[@brianh7684]

I think it is still fun and worth buying on sale. If you can find it, like 33% off or more, it would be worth picking up.

[@rabidrat8774]

@@brianh7684 I think it depends on what you value in a game. Personally I feel like it's a multilayer game that has singleplayer thrown in but people expecting a quality single player will be disappointed in my opinion. Not to say that it can't be enjoyable, it's just not worth $60 for what the games singleplayer offers

[@brianh7684]

@@rabidrat8774 , I think it is still fun for single player if you got it 50% or 33% off.

[@nekame]

Man I really hope Nintendo takes their gaming esports landscape to the next level, these amazing players and communities deserve all the love in the world.

[@MekaniQ]

New video, yay!

[@MadaoAU]

When i first played this game, i thought it was a fighting game as well. Wish the online experience was better, but outside of that this game is so fun, i wish more people woiuld play it.

[@Sensei5am]

I played fighting games for a long time. One day, a friend of mine suggested I play Mario Tennis Aces since I liked playing fighting games and I thought "sure, it looks like a fun game" After that, I realized why he suggested the game to me and opened my eyes to a new world. I then got schooled by his friends that turned out to be competitive players and it was fun lol Side note: Mario Tennis players are REALLY NICE (from my experience). None of them are toxic and they teach you really well. If you need a break from the usual fighting games but still want the feel of something similar, Mario Tennis is the way to go.

[@plainkapp]

What fighting games you played?

[@twaggytheatricks4960]

I would also like to know what fighting games you played. Also, thanks a ton for the info; it's a very nice anecdote ^_^

[@Sensei5am]

@@twaggytheatricks4960 @plainkapp I started taking fighting games seriously on SF4, everything before that I was just casually playing. After learning how to really play fighting games I just started exploring so I played blazblue, guilty gear, mvc3, basically, almost any fighting game that came out after SF4, I just wanted to play because after I learned how to really play fighting games, it became a passion. If you are Mario Tennis players and are passionate about that, try your hand at a fighting game or two, who knows, it might open up a new world for you.

[@Undertaker93]

Who asked?

[@freehk426]

Thanks for the great video !! You can also mention about the online Doubles mode which is a lot of fun !!

[@GG-ed5ty]

That's awesome!

[@Mugenman88]

I still do remember my time in the pro scene fondly. It really felt like the best playing mario sports game of all time, even dethroning nostalgic gems like mario baseball on GC or N64 mario tennis for me. Great video!

[@Zoular]

I joke about it being a Fighting game all the time, just didn't expect to see it on this channel

[@agt1190]

so glad this game got a video, i put alot of time into aces especially when it first came out. it was a blast grinding online and engaging with the community. new characters and balances patches were always hype. here hopes that strikers battle league will get the same if not better support than aces got. thank you for taking the time to make this!

[@RanaRandom]

This is not the only Tennis based fighting game. The one I remember playing was *Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis 1* on *PSX* There was a game mode called *SMASH MODE* , where instead of a tennis ball you *shoot a timed hand grenade* 🤣. So many memories **

[@moonkoto]

this game looks fun af, I think imma try it

[@jasonlobo2350]

Dude tennis as a whole is a fighting game not only the Mario ones

[@lordtraxroy]

Me: How many Nintendo sports titels want you cover/make a doku Akshon esports: Yes

[@PixelShiftss]

I picked up this game for Christmas 2021 and I don’t regret it!

[@MetalSam25]

Lol so it was true Bowser Jr was the meta back in the day

[@doctorawesomeness1997]

This game turned Tennis into a combat sport.

[@chickrepelant]

amazing! totally wanna make some kinda drinkin' game outta this

[@RGozz]

What was the rationale behind moving to infinite rackets? As a casual player looking in I preferred the extra tension that this added to countering zone and special shots. Was it meant to preserve the standard tennis win condition over balancing 2 separate ones?

[@rabidrat8774]

It was mostly done because it made specials overpowered. This is because once you missed 1 block you pretty much had to play incredibly safe allowing your opponent to walk all over you. I think another reason was because Quick Play is the mode used in tournaments (Because it removes the first serve bias) which has rackets set to only 1 which means you get no chances to miss any blocks if you have rackets not set to infinite.

[@saburo6042]

@Ryan as @Rabid Rat aka Natrop said, we play Quickplay in our Community tournaments. Cause for one Games between two top players allready take pretty Long even with the Shortest game mode (That beeing Quick play), And Second of all Infinite Racket still makes specials viable, Characters that Rely on Specials are even with infinite rackets, mid to High tier on our Tierlist. Gaining Meter is not that hard for Waluigi, DK or whatever, they just barely can score without using Specials. So if theyre Specials would be a threat to an Instawin everytime, then it's not gonna be fun for the receiver. Actually tho if we would have the option to increase the Racket Limit then we would probably switch to 2 or 3 rackets instead of Infinite... But we can only make it 1 or infinite.

[@4GRJ]

It's also more akin to irl tennis where breaking rackets can also happen (tho highly unlikely) and they're free to grab a spare one.

[@vizcaa]

My girlfriend and I played this game so much got to A+ in doubles...it definitely feels like a fighting game I love it.

[@thoast519]

this makes me wanna play mario tennis aces

[@ButlersTraining]

Cant believe how amazing the quality of every single video has been, ever since i stumbled across this channel 2 years ago. And it just kept improving over time. You are doing a great job!

[@MCyahhhhha]

Ahhh yes a new Akshon esports video, my favorite

[@bananawaver]

This game was super fun and more technically interesting than other mario sports titles. I haven't played it in a while but I might have to go back and give it another shot

[@user-xu3bg7zh9c]

Fighting is a sport, so actually its the other way around. Every sport or competition can be seen as a fight, sports animes are based around this concept. Grat video!

[@DrCakenstein]

LETS GOOOOOO WE LOVE MARIO TENNIS ACES HERE

[@matthewmorrison3745]

That's a title hook if I've ever seen one

[@shaneens1547]

This is a bit off topic, but what's your main in Aces? Mine's a tie between Chain Chomp and Fire Piranha Plant.

[@saburo6042]

Koopa Troopa ever since he released.

[@galvsparks6295]

Yoshi but shy guy as a secondary

[@suraangel6956]

It's funny because as I went through the tutorials I was like "...this is basically a fighting game with tennis rackets"

[@worldsboss]

Wow, ok. I might actually buy this now!

[@ShootYourShin]

Now I want Koopa in Guilty Gear, shouting "Volcanic VIPER!"

[@randomshit6539]

especially with your conclusion, I think I'll get the game. I've only played guilty gear until now and I've got no idea what to do most of the time

[@Hydroelectirc]

Now im thinking abt buying this game

[@thunderjolt69]

mario sport games go crazy

[@Veralos]

I'm Imaging a Venn diagram with Tennis Games on one side, Fighting Games on the other side, and this in the middle next to Lethal League.

[@kylespevak6781]

I really liked the Mario tennis on GameCube and follow the series since but somehow I have never heard about this broken racket mechanic until now

[@BowserandLover1]

This is a great video! I am curious to see what your opinions are with the gamecube Mario Tennis game called Mario Power Tennis and making an analysis video about it. :)

[@coffeebird2857]

Wii Sports The OG

[@Game_Hero]

I wonder if there's competitive Wii Sports or Wii Sports Resort

[@larryzona6666]

It's so joyful that people ACTUALLY still talk about this game & actively play it despite Nintendo & Camelot's lack of interest in it. I recently got back into it after quitting the switch in general for 3 years, I literally forgot how amazingly fleshed out the gameplay is. It plays like no other tennis game and more like a fighting game indeed. Kindest regards to the competitive community!

[@NickMario1]

Why did you quit the switch? Just asking

[@NickMario1]

I wouldn’t be surprised if there’s a competitive scene for the Mario golf games

[@grinbrothers]

Gosh, you're making me regret passing up on this game (I got burned by Ultra Smash; made me hesitate and ultimately not purchase Aces). It's quite interesting how the racket breaking mechanic leads to players not always trying to bat the ball away from the opponent, adding a surprising new element of strategy to a match.

[@brianh7684]

It is worth buying on sale.

[@grinbrothers]

@@brianh7684 I shall keep that in mind; thanks!

[@revimfadli4666]

I wonder if this series inspired lethal league

[@StoryTeller796]

Honestly, using Zone Speed should only be used in my opinion to catch up to far away balls. And I might check out the Esports side of this bare-bones content game, might get me more interested in the game.

[@elleCX01]

So was Mario Tennis Power Tour TBH

[@CrossfacePanda]

Mario Tennis Aces on the Dustloop wiki when? I’m only halfway joking too lol. Would actually be cool to see it on there or the Supercombo wiki

[@UltimateTS64]

I really liked it when I played the open beta, but none of my friends wanted to play it so I never got it

[@stanfordchang8978]

Mario Power Tennis was my jam back on the gamecube. I would get this game if it wasn't for the fact I hardly use my switch now. Not for the competitive aspect either necessarily, cuz that seems intimidating-- I just enjoy playing against CPUs, friends, or the funky game modes they have. Does this game also have a tournament feature? That was one of my favorite things.

[@saburo6042]

This games Singleplayer is actually pretty barebone. Not comparable at all with Mario Power tennis, or especially the Handheld Mario Tennis games. Theres an Adventure mode which is OK, but really Short. Theres Offline and Online Tournaments, Online beeing the obvious ranked mode, offline is not as good as Power tennis and you can't do Offline Doubles Tourneys. As fun modes Aces has: - Swing Mode where you use motion Controlls to hit the ball as if you would swing the racket (Joycons) - 3 Rotating Minigames, each Month they switch and theyre online but your lobby fills up with Bots. - Yoshi's Ringshot so you can play Ringshot with multiple Yoshis offline. That's about it, Multiplayer is for most the main fun you can have out of this game, Offline/Singleplayer content is not the best.

[@jenningbernard]

I always enjoy these kind of videos. You're doing a great job Akshon Esports

[@kefgeru_de_kalos]

Next week Nintendo Switch Sports will be released, I can't wait for see the Esport scene create by the community. 🤣

[@TheBlueArcher]

I do remember when this game came out, it was at my local fighting game weeklies for a bit and people were saying it was a fighting game... I didn't get a chance to play it though...

[@JanusIIV]

More good-ass content from Akshon Esports.

[@chameleonfps]

I never would have known about this scene, dope vid akshon as always 👍🏾

[@thevarietypacksnaxx405]

I knew aces was gonna be the most lit mario tennis game ever. So glad with the very unique competitive angle the devs went for

[@Frozzenbuzz]

Shell Koop-guy 0:08

[@allzofeel]

It's a battle shounen!

[@cron1807]

"Marios true first fighting game" Melee: what am I? Chopped liver?

[@saltyportman]

Just say you like tennis guys

[@chaotixspark7934]

Isnt this actually all tennis games? Like didn't you also make a Windjammers video? I feel it would have been a more interesting vid to comment on all tennis games and spot the differences between each. Also, there's that book a lot of fgc players recommend "The inner Game of tennis" for how to improve your play in fgs.

[@pokvirus5705]

I can see people asking “Why don’t you watch the actual tennis?” Question from a mile away, and it would be hilarious to give them answer.

[@battlericky17]

Watched this video again because it slaps, but the real mario fighting game is actually Mario Karate in Mario and Sonic at the 2020 tokyo games

[@zigaudrey]

The game has been over-shadowed and forgotten for being one of these "finish later" games. I thought there wouldn't be a competitive scene on it but players can make games competitive on pretty much everything. It shouldn't have been a surprise. It's a fighting game about racket fighting each others. What a concept.

[@D3Vlicious]

It's basically 3D Windjammers, and considering that gets traction within the FGC, it shouldn't be surprising that something like this can also be fighting game-like.

[@BlahNetworkBro]

This is not the fighting game content I expected….

[@phredbookley183]

You can play as a Chain Chomp? Holy crap....yeah now I need to play this game.

[@StalinkTz]

god. this made me think how cool would a traditional fighting mario game would be...

[@juanrodriguez9971]

Not really, something characteristic of Mario games is that the base is what you expect but the development is completely different, for example, the RPGs are skill based rather than strategy+luck based, the sports play more around the items than the sports themselves, and the platformers have a major emphasis over movility than anything else (story, characters, combat, etc). So yeah, an actual Mario fighting game could be anything but traditional, and I guess that's how we get Smash.

[@PipPanoma]

Something I missed in this video is a discussion on what distinguishes this tennis game from the others. Why did the other games not have a competitive community like this?

[@revimfadli4666]

The fighting game mechanics such as super meter & racket breaks?

[@PipPanoma]

@@revimfadli4666 Other mario tennis games definitely had super meters. Surely the racket break isn't the only thing that makes it like a fighting game?

[@J05Youtube]

@@PipPanoma The only multiplayer-oriented Mario Tennis game to have a meter is Power Tennis, and the unique mechanics in that game don't have as much depth as Aces' do. You can't use your meter until it's full and all you can do with it is a single defensive or offensive shot before it's mostly depleted.