The highly-anticipated return of the Adventure Mode has been by far the most welcomed new feature in Mario Tennis Aces so far, and with the game launching in about a month (June 22 to be precise), it's time to know more about this single-player portion.
Unlike in most Mario games, there's no princess to rescue this time, but Luigi is the one who needs to be saved, as he's been possessed by evil. The same happens to other characters such as Wario and Waluigi, who turn into mummies, and meanwhile Peach and Daisy will patiently wait for Mario's return, now with the Legendary Racket in hand.
The brief video below gives us an insight into this mode and goes beyond the story, showing us that there's a stop-based world map, with each stop seemingly corresponding with a tennis event. There are more or less regular matches, but the added touches here are the minigames and boss battles - ghost mirrors, snowball trains, fireballs in the forest, and the encounter with Petey Piranha make the difference.
These are the perfect excuse for a tutorial to get to grips with Mario Tennis Aces before going online*, as it's not only about moves and special shots, but also about strategic elements such as character stats, experience points, and special rackets (mirror or wooden for example).
The idea is actually reminiscent of the beloved Story Mode from the Game Boy Advance classic, and you can watch the new trailer down below. Is this one of your most-anticipated Switch titles of the year?
*Nintendo announced this week that there'll be a free downloadable Mario Tennis Aces demo for fans to test the online multiplayer. It'll be between Friday June 1 16:00 CEST and until Monday June 2 00:59 CEST), and will include playable Mario, Peach, Yoshi, and Bowser, but you'll be able to unlock up to five more, with the final game having 15+ characters.
