Thanks to a beta this past weekend, Nintendo gave Switch owners the first taste of its upcoming sports title, Mario Tennis Aces . Since it was supposed to be part demo and part test of the game's network code, players only had access to a portion of the single-player and online multiplayer action...

Tight and well executed mechanics make up for a less than stellar story mode. A robust online system ensures this Mario sports game will have life for some time.

A tennis game with a narrative doesn't seem all that unusual, but when that tale involves a forgotten kingdom and a tennis racket called Lucien that controls people via its possessed grip tape, you know this is probably isn't quite the brand of tennis you see on the ATP tour.

Bright; solid visuals; Cohesive controls; Good array of game modes

Punishingly hard at times; Some courts are downright unfair; Too complicated to pick up and play

Nintendo put in charge of Wimbledon Sounds like an entertaining idea. Cliff Richard imprisoned in a lava-filled dungeon. Andy Murray out in the second round after being devoured by a Piranha Plant.

Playing a preview build of Mario Tennis a few weeks ago and then getting deep into the online beta, I was excited to get my hands on the final version of the game and it hasn't disappointed.

It goes without saying that Nintendo would bank on the success of Mario and the Switch to rake in some new fans of their Mario Tennis series. I have never been a massive fan of the series as I do not like the sport and tennis games just never appealed to me.

a fully-featured if mildly frustrating return to form for Camelot