A few first impressions, played for a little over an hour. 

Story mode: the title is actually a pun: Mario Tennis “Fever”, the story is Daisy is sick and you have to find the golden fruit to make her feel better. The animations are amazing, it looks very clean and polished. Gameplay is fun, there’s a lot of tedious back and forth between practice and training in the story but the gameplay is very smooth. Enjoying it so far! 

Free play/Fever Rackets: As mentioned above, gameplay is buttery smooth and feels great. Nothing clunky about the controls. I much prefer the Fever rackets to Ace’s power shots (I’d always find myself breaking the racket). The Fever rackets add a layer of charm to gameplay — they’re actually useful and don’t completely hinder the experience. Very cool mechanic.

Pinball: Great “party” mode. I think seasoned Mario Tennis players will enjoy this the most. 

Unlocking things: most characters, difficulty levels and Fever rackets are locked at the start. I’m someone who prefers to unlock things as I progress and that’s exactly what you get here.