Mario Tennis Beta

I learned something tonight. I'm really, really bad at tennis.

I was super hyped to jump in and play some tennis Mario style. Things went well during my first game. Raul and I were neck and neck and even went into tie-breaking rounds. It was back and forth back and forth, each of us taking great shots. I finally pulled out a win!

Well... it was downhill from there. Every match after that I went up against savant players who kicked my trash. I was obliterated. One match went so fast that my wife watching was like, "Oh, it's over for you already?" 

Yikes.

My excitement definitely deflated.

They throw a lot of stuff at you to learn right away. I'm really shocked the people I'm playing against have such a grasp of the controls so quickly. Is this not the first beta test event?  There are several different shot types, a special shot, a trick move, etc. Executing all of those in real time is challenging.

I struggle with placement. I know that's the entire point of tennis -- right place, right now. 

I'm going to have to play a lot more to see if the game is right for me. Unfortunately, despite excitement and love for Mario, Mario Tennis Aces is definitely not a game you can just fall in love with right away. It's a "work to enjoy it" game. My patience for "working to get good and then enjoy" games has seriously shrunk over the years.

Do yourself a favor and play the beta before you buy.