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Thursday, October 22, 2015

Who the Hell Wants to Use Amiibo in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash?

By LUDWIG VON KOOPA - You can write only to one game...

Remember Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash from E3 2015? We didn't, either. It was incredibly uninspiring and no one asked for it. Well, it turns out it hasn't been canceled yet, and it's actually coming out November 20! Developed by Camelot. Did you know that since the (pretty mediocre) Golden Sun: Dark Dawn in 2010, Camelot has only made Mario Tennis Open on 3DS and Mario Golf: World Tour on 3DS? So pretty much more mediocre sports games. Camelot just ain't like it used to be, and hasn't been part of the conversation since the GameCube days when they produced things like this:
 

It's not really that Mario Power Tennis was the best game ever or anything, but you can see that the game was dripping with personality. And it's not just cutscenes, but the actual gameplay mechanics too. Compare in-game Waluigi from Mario Power Tennis to the recently-revealed in-game Waluigi in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash in this new Nintendo trailer. 






Waluigi may be in high definition in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, but that's about it.

Waluigi without hat cap hair Mario Tennis Ultra Smash
I guess he learned how to take his hat off.

So it seems like Ultra Smash hasn't advanced the character lore or animation standards in the decade since Power Tennis (are we ever going to see Waluigi's affinity for water/swimming expanded?). To try to compensate by not having the things fans really care about, it has been revealed that Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash will feature online multiplayer (like the 3DS Mario Tennis Open did) and, for the first time in a plumber sporting game, amiibo support. Not counting Mario Kart 8, because this support goes far beyond measly Mii costumes.

According to Nintendo's mini-site:
"Partner up with amiibo
Train your amiibo to become the ultimate doubles partner! Earn stats in Knockout Challenge and team-up against online opponents in doubles matches.
Team up with a friend or even your amiibo™ figure against opponents in doubles [in online multiplayer]." 
This makes Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash one of the few games that use the amiibo's writing capabilities. Instead of just reading data off the amiibo to get costumes or whatever, data will be saved to the amiibo. We all know Super Smash Bros. 4 does this for the trainable amiibo AI opponent/partner. You can train them tactics and feed them equipment and they learn. Well, Ultra Smash is competing with that.

amiibo Mario Tennis Ultra Smash training partner stats doubles
That plumber is (fortunately) going to get a stroke with all of this Mega Mushroom consumption.
Who the hell thought that giving everyone Mega Mushrooms was better than every character having a unique Offensive and Defensive move?

Your amiibo can only have one "write" game. So if you trained your Yoshi amiibo in Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, then you can't simultaneously use that Yoshi amiibo in Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash without deleting all of your data associated with that Yoshi amiibo from Super Smash Bros. For Wii U.

So you have to choose which game you want your amiibo to be used for. Though, some people don't even open their amiibo from their box.

Some think that Waluigi is going to get an amiibo just for this game. (I guess Daisy and Boo would too?) In that case, since the guy is an Assist Trophy no matter how hard he tried, you don't have to choose since your decision is made for you. ...Though a Waluigi amiibo would probably be exclusive to some tiny store chain not in your area.

Now, my question is this: For the Yoshi amiibo, or let's say, a King Dad amiibo, would I want an awesome guy wrecking things in Super Smash Bros. For Wii U, or would I want a training partner in an underwhelming Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash game that we all forgot about? I think I'd obviously choose the former, especially since cockfighting tournaments featuring amiibo are an actual thing.

It may be an "ultra" smash vs. a "super" smash, but if we look past that naming scheme, I don't think you should be writing your amiibo to Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash. It's probably not worth it. I think most people would agree...

...The obvious problem that needs solving, if Nintendo doesn't want Super Smash Bros. to trump any other game's attempt to use the amiibo-write feature? Well, the problem is that amiibo can only write to one game. The solution is to obviously expand that. Which would require a change in how future amiibo are manufactured, and a price increase to compensate. Since amiibo should really have a higher MSRP anyway, that also takes care of the amiibo's underpricing problem, as well.

I think we know where Nintendo should go from here, then!


Ludwig actually wants to splurge on amiibo shopping next time he goes to his local games-selling retailer for his inevitable Yoshi's Woolly World purchase. He wants to fit Yoshi in as many snuggly woollen costumes as he can. Either encourage or dissuade Ludwig from this fate in the comments section below! Also, give your thoughts on if you remembered Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash existed or not.


Waluigi might not be interesting to most people, but he's attracted the very negative attention of a nation's top spy agency...
Ludwig dedicates a whole article to Camelot's old intro videos, because there's a new Tennis game: Mario Tennis Aces!

10 comments :

  1. Funny you should mention Golden Sun. I was obsessed with the GBA games back in the day and got frustrated each time a Mario Sports title was made by them rather than the next GS. Eventually Dark Dawn finally came out. I even have the official t-shirt from New York Comic Con. We all know how that game turned out.

    How obsessed was I with GS? In the GS: the Lost Age Gamefaqs forums there was a fad with [insert character here]. Another user decided to make the Kraden Fanclub to go with all the other fanclubs but got deleted because someone posted an inappropriate ACSII as this was before the Gamespot merger which allowed for images. Then before making Kraden Fanclub 2, I got into an AIM chat with the original poster of the first Kraden Fanclub. We decided to do silly things like "Not Worthy" when talking about Kraden and making him out to be a deity in that game. Part of the reason is that everyone kept making posts about killing Kraden and I was tired of the fictional elder abuse. Another user got inspired by our antics and eventually made a forum called "The Temple of Kraden" which is probably the most active, long lasting GS related forum to this day. I was one of the earlier members, member #8 to be exact.

    I recently left the place because I could not stand the atmosphere of the place anymore, I lost complete interest in Golden Sun, I interact with so few people and sometimes it is even barely that and I decided it was time for me to move on.

    Now you know a bit more about my internet past.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. How is Temple of Kraden still a thing? Because I remember that being talked about.

      OKAY I FOUND IT

      http://goldensunwiki.net/wiki/Wheat_Sword
      THAT'S WHAT GOT ME INTO WANTING TO TRY THE GOLDEN SUN SERIES

      Delete
    2. I was partners in crime with the person who submitted that to Gamefaqs. I barely had anything to do with writing the FAQ though. Just the cheerleader at the sideline.

      Delete
    3. Oooh, partners in crime. ♫

      I'm sure your cheerleadin' had an ipact on the final result. ♪

      Delete
  2. I have no interest in this game, but if they made a Boo amiibo, I might actually buy one.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Because he's a horror element or because you like him?

      I was okay with Boo until Mario Superstar Baseball and then I figured I really like him.

      Delete
  3. Haha, I was hoping you'd bring up the people saying Waluigi would get an amiibo! I'm one of those people too waiting for this guy to get something out of these sports games. Speaking of amiibo, I'm guessing Nintendo will make an amiibo line for this game as well, like they did with Mario Party 10. If this is the case, then I'm sure a Waluigi amiibo will be confirmed... along with yet ANOTHER Mario amiibo being made, except this time he's in a tennis pose or something dumb like that.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. This game damn needs its own amiibo line since it doesn't have anything else going for it.

      Delete

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