Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash - more gameplay details, discussion

This information comes from an impressions article over on NWR...

- after booting up the game from the Wii U Menu, the splash screen is just a wall of white with the game's logo
- no intro video
- main menu are six panels with options and they aren't split in some clever menus
- big mode that they are promoting here are the Mega Battles
- follows the same gameplay set-up as Mario Tennis Open with the added bonus of Mega Mushrooms being thrown on the court
- character will grow to gigantic proportions for a limited time. It will make balls easier to hit and attacks will charge way faster than without them
- mostly just forces the other player to defend a bit harder and wait until his chance comes
-  time between items seems to depend on the way the match is progressing
- when your opponent does a weak shot, you can perform an Ultra Smash if you are quick enough
- will blast the ball at an extremely high speed and that is certainly harder to react to
- Ultra Smash shot is no guarantee to gain points
- there is less of indicator if you are doing the Charge Shots correctly
- regular tennis allows for the discussed system in Standard, but Simple makes it barebones with only the Y-button charge shots
- leaves the rest up to the player and lets them freely use any of the moves
- Mario, Luigi and the standard crew are there
- Rosalina floats in the air very elegantly and uses her magic to let the ball float before throwing it up
- Bowser Jr. is actually in the clown car and the robot arms are doing all the work for him
- just one stadium with nine different courts
- courts there like Mushroom, Carpet and Ice
- the one sole minigame on offer is called Mega Ball Rally
- goal is to just keep hitting a ball back and forth and reach the highest score possible while doing so
- four people can play together in the same room with Wii Remote sideways, Wii U Pro Controllers, Wii Classic Controllers and the Wii U GamePad
- game has no support for lobbies or communities, which pretty much means that you can't play with friends
- only options on entering are Singles and Doubles
-  there are some limited stuff available before entering a match
- Relaxed and Serious options, with the latter allowing you to play some ranked battles and grow your standing in the world
- free to choose any of the standard modes, but unlike local multiplayer, you don't have any control about the length of the match
- choose for a tiebreaker or a two-game, one-set match
- in Doubles, you can play together with a local friend or an Amiibo of your choosing, but that is only freedom you are going to get
- Amiibo character helps you battle online or in the single-player mode called Knockout Challenge
- Knockout Challenge is a long string of random computer opponents, which will become increasingly harder over time
- with every battle you complete you will get coins and these coins can be spent on buying out of the unlockables
- the 25 unlockables, which are mostly star characters and courses, tells you the way to unlock it naturally through the game
- thanks to playing the mode Knockout Challenge mode twice, unlocked 23 of them already crazy fast
- all Mega Battles and tiebreakers, with the first 15 matches all being on the most basic courts
- random CPUs are chosen in the worst way possible
- at one point, three Toads in a row
- Amiibo doesn't really seem to change all that much
- from the very start, the character already helps you out and makes your life so much easier
- after every five matches, he/she will get a single stat boost and the Amiibo can get ten in total
- these stats are chosen at random, so no skills of your own actually influences your character
- can change them up in your favour by going to the Amiibo training menu and pay 5000 coins to change a single slot