Today's big Nintendo Direct event included the announcement of Mario Tennis Fever, the tenth game in this specific Mario-branded sports series. The last one was 2018's Mario Tennis Aces, which launched for the original Nintendo Switch with a fairly positive reception from critics and fans. Back then, the game got an 8 out of 10 score from Wccftech reviewer Dave Aubrey, who wrote:
Mario Tennis Aces is one of the best Mario Tennis games, and well worth it for gamers that love to sit back with groups of friends. If you appreciate a good game of tennis with some whacky rules to spice it all up, you'll surely enjoy this.
The new one, Mario Tennis Fever, will be released on February 12, 2026 for the Nintendo Switch 2, priced at $69.99. Based on Nintendo's description, fans will find new defensive maneuvers and a brand-new Fever Gauge that will allow players to unleash powerful Fever Shots. These shots can be further enhanced with special effects by equipping Fever Rackets: the Ice Racket freezes the court, the Mini Mushroom Racket shrinks opponents, and the Shadow Racket duplicates yourself. In the final game, there will be a total of thirty different Fever Rackets and thirty-eight playable characters.
In Tournament mode, players will get play-by-play commentary from a Talking Flower. Trial Towers Mode lets players test their skills while they complete various objectives in Trial Towers mode, and Mix It Up Mode will introduce unexpected rules to spice up the formula.
Online multiplayer is supported for casual matches with customizable rules in an Online Room, or in the competitive Ranked Matches. Mario Tennis Fever also supports a special Swing Mode for the Joy-Con 2 controller to enhance the feeling of actually playing tennis.
Lastly, the developers promised a story-driven Adventure Mode in which Mario and his friends encounter monsters on a remote island and find themselves transformed into babies. Players will have to help them relearn their tennis skills and defeat the monsters to return to normal.
About the author: With over two decades of experience in gaming journalism, Alessio Palumbo has led the gaming vertical at Wccftech since August 2015. He started working at a young age for Italian websites like Everyeye.it, Gamestar.it, Nextgame.it, and Multiplayer.it before kickstarting the indie English-language publication Worlds Factory as its founder and Editor in Chief. In the last decade, he has coordinated the overall output of Wccftech's gaming section, managed PR relations, assigned reviews, produced daily news coverage, edited gaming content as needed, and delivered game reviews. Arguably, his trademark content is the long series of exclusive developer interviews that have been cited by Wikipedia and by the biggest news media and gaming publications. His passion for technology also makes him knowledgeable when it comes to gaming hardware and tech. His favorite genres include RPGs, MMORPGs, and action/adventure games.
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