Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, review: Underneath familiar sheen there's a serious lack of personality

With Zelda and Starfox both failing to meet their initial 2015 dates, Nintendo's line-up for the holiday season suddenly looks rather slim, as 3DS owners looking forward to Mario & Luigi: Paper Jam Bros. while Wii U owners make do with an Amiibo-based slice of Animal Crossing and the latest incarnation of Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash.

Alongside the ubiquitous Mario and Luigi, the roster also includes Toad, Donkey Kong, Rosalina, Wario, Yoshi and other Nintendo favourites, with more characters to be unlocked by completing various tasks or accumulating coins. An initially plain selection of clay and grass courts soon give way to those with familiar Mario themes - ice, sand, carpet - which are also hidden behind coin collection targets.

Jumping into Mega Battle mode, initial impressions are favourable as the familiar figures move fluidly across the court, grabbing mega mushrooms which super-size your chosen racquet-bearer. Crowds of Shy Guys and Koopas bounce energetically, forming crowd mosaics that celebrate the winner of each match.

Bonus pads pop up around the court, each with a specific button instruction in order to perform various power moves, peaking with the titular Ultra Smash, a mighty shot that proves almost impossible to return. Other chance shots include the all-new jump shot, the lob, and a cheeky slice that leaves the ball with so little bounce that most opponents will have little chance of reaching it.

Several other play modes try to provide variation, including Classic Tennis which strips away the power-ups and super size characters, and Mega Ball Rally mode where players aim to rack up the longest number of consecutive shots using an oversized ball.

One of the more welcome features is accessed via Amiibo compatibility, using a similar implementation to Smash Bros., this time training a companion as your doubles partner. This is fun for a while as you level them up with skills by playing matches with your digital ally, until you realise that once the Amiibo reaches a certain level of competence, there’s not much left for you to do except stand there and watch as they confidently dispatch the other contestants.

Unfortunately, for all these diversions, there’s not much in the way of true variation, with no attempt at any kind of story mode. Usually this omission points to more focused efforts elsewhere, though in this case that rule doesn’t hold as all the content here is rather shallow.

There's not even a token attempt at contextualising the action in this edition, unlike the N64 equivalent or the Pixar-style bloopers reel at the end of Mario Power Tennis on the GameCube. The spectacular courts from Mario Tennis Open are absent as even the special courts are enclosed in the same generic stadium. Sound design is also uncharacteristically lacklustre with forgettable music and poor voiceovers.

It’s a shame because Nintendo titles are usually associated with a high standard of polish, but underneath the familiar sheen there's a serious lack of personality here. Not quite a double fault, but Lakitu still might want to check his Hawk-Eye next time Nintendo fail to hit an ace.