Mario Tennis Aces has certainly delivered aces all across the board. We showed it a ton of love in our review, and we’re not in the minority. There’s just something about the multiplayer modes, the beautiful models, and the Avengers-style plot that’s charming. There’s also a ton of comedic opportunities – Waluigi going balls to the wall against Bowser is downright hilarious. However, no game (with the exception of NieR: Automata) is perfect. Mario Tennis Aces has one fatal flaw – Toad. Here’s why we think he’s a life-ruiner.
Toad is Terrible at Rallying in Mario Tennis Aces
Let’s set the scene. You’ve booted up Mario Tennis Aces and breezed through the tutorial. Donkey Kong’s plants were annoying at first, but you put that angry monkey to bed. In an almost celebratory fashion, Toad asks you to practice rallying with him. “Yeah! Let’s try to keep a rally going until we reach a certain number of points,” he says. Naively, you agree.
You both take your places on the court, and he chirps unthreateningly. A couple of trades back and forth, and suddenly Toad sends a cracker of a Zone Shot out of your reach. No big deal, just AI tricks. You resume trading balls until Toad delivers back to back Zone Shots, then bam. Another star-shaped kick to the balls. Now it’s starting to get annoying. However, the little shroom doesn’t let up. Soon, you learn that your friendship with him has been a lie. He doesn’t want to rally with you. He only wants you to suffer.
We’d forgive Mario Tennis Aces if the Toad rally was a one-time thing. Unfortunately, that would just be too fair on us players.
Toad’s Voice is Annoying
One of the grating things about Mario Tennis Aces is how intro dialogue for each stage works. It’s inescapable. If you want to replay a stage, you have to listen to the intro dialogue each time. If you’re losing a lot, you’ll be replaying stages often. Yes, you can skip this intro. But I can’t quite spam the button quick enough to avoid hearing Toad’s trademark “Ya-hah!”.
Losing to someone multiple times in a row is bad enough. Sure, it’ll make you feel like you have the hand-eye coordination of a Ditto. Yes, Dittos don’t have hands. However, the worst part is when you develop a Pavlovian response to Toad’s voice and the feeling of defeat. Soon, the depression that accompanies a series of broken rackets rears its head when you see Toad’s form on the screen. It’s downright diabolical, and the little fungus knows it.
Toad Thinks You’re Incompetent
Even after you give an enemy a good thrashing, you can’t get rid of Toad. He’s possibly the worst companion ever. Take the first time you encounter Donkey Kong, for example. You stride into the forest, and the first thing Toad asks if you can handle it. Toad treats you like you’re incompetent; he even warns you off the tutorial. No matter how many successes you have, you can’t shake the feeling that Toad believes you’re trash.
That feeling is compounded by the disrespect that he heaps on you in those rally matches. Before you can get too big for your boots, he’s right there to cut you back down to size. Heard of the phrase “if you haven’t got something nice to say, don’t say anything at all?” Toad hasn’t. The fact that you’ve got Toads commenting matches said it all; bloody backseat drivers, the lot of them.
There may be a ton of other more unpopular characters out there. Everyone seems to hate Waluigi for some reason even though he’s the Prince of People. Others just hate Yoshi on principle, which is unfair. Heck, people only seem to like Chain Chomp because their behavior triggers the affectionate response that we have to dogs. It’s absolutely unacceptable that Toad gets away with his unsportsmanlike behavior. Someone’s got to show put him in his place, preferably by destroying any Toad that you come across in multiplayer.
Got any other characters that grind your gears? Maybe Mario’s constant vocal affectations wear you down more than Toad’s yelling. Maybe you think we’re being a little harsh on the ugliest mushroom in a kingdom absolutely packed with them. Either way, let us know in the comments section below. Toad sympathizers, you better watch out on the court.
