Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64 has proven to be a very difficult act to follow. Released in 2000, Nintendo found the sweet spot between simulation and arcade action that made that game a master-class title. To this day, if you play any of the Mario Tennis games released after this one in “Classic” or “Simple” mode, you’re essentially playing the same game that was conceived almost 20 years ago.

Later installments of the franchise would try really hard to make meaningful additions to its seemingly-iron-clad formula with little luck. Mario Power Tennis on the Gamecube undermined the skill-based action of the original with silly power shots and even sillier courts that were so cluttered with crap that it was hard to discern what was even happening. As for Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash – besides being an overall lackluster product – also failed to build on the core formula, as it simply made standard power shots more powerful through jumping and added a mega mushroom that essentially gave you power shots all the time.

It may have taken almost two decades to get here, but Nintendo has finally found a way to make Mario Tennis better.

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