As we enter February, the countdown begins to that special time of year. No, not Valentine’s Day or Pancake Day but Mario Day! Mario Day is an annual celebration to honour the family friendly moustached video game character. It is celebrated on 10 March (Mar10) every year. It is generally celebrated by dressing up as Mario, having a Mario-themed party, or simply levelling up your family game nights by playing Super Mario board games / tabletop games – so in anticipation, we have been playing some Super Mario themed games. Anyone for tennis?
Mario and his twin brother Luigi have been around for a long time and have leapt out from our screens and into the world of family tabletop games. We loved playing Super Mario Air Hockey and are delighted to be trying out Mario’s newest foray into the sporting world – Super Mario Rally Tennis.
In this action-packed tabletop tennis rally game players must slide their characters left and right to receive the ball and hit the button at the right time to serve and return! The scoreboard helps you keep track of the match in true tennis style to see who can defeat their opponent and become the Rally Tennis champion! The game comes with collectible Mario and Luigi figures that can be used interchangeably with other Super Mario games that are part of the Epoch Games Link System! And it requires no batteries to play!
In the box:
- Tennis Court Game Board
- 2 Flippers
- 1 Scoreboard
- 2 Tennis Rackets
- Ball
- Mario Character
- Luigi Character
- Card Insert for Scoreboard / Hoardings
- Instructions
Super Mario Rally Tennis is a tabletop game for 2 players aged 5+. There is very minimal setup to do before you can start playing – the playing arena is mostly intact when it comes out of the box. The Mario and Luigi characters with their tennis rackets need placing on the flippers and the flippers are then placed on each end of the board. The scoreboard with cardboard insert is slotted on to the board next to the net and the four advertising hoardings are placed around the court. The ball is added, and you are ready to play.
Playing the game is easy, just as in real tennis the ball must cross the opponents baseline to score points. Once it has been decided which player is going first, the “ball” (it has a flat bottom rather than being a round ball as it needs to glide over the court) is placed in front of that players flipper. You hit the ball by moving the flipper left and right and pressing the button.
Points scored are marked on the scoreboard and the first player to win six games is the winner!
Overall, Super Mario Rally Tennis is an excellent fun and fast game. It is so easy to play. There is a plastic cover over the court which allows the ball to easily and smoothly glide across the court, over the net and towards the other player.
There is very little assembly to do and it doesn’t even need batteries to play it.
Hitting the ball is fast and simple, by sliding the flipper left or right and hitting the ball with the flippers by pressing the button behind the Mario or Luigi character.
Keeping track of the score is nice and simple by using the scoreboard and entering points scores (0, 15, 30, 40 and Game) and entering how many games each player wins.
The components feel very good quality and the flippers feel like they should stand up to children’s play and constant pressing of the button.
The game is supplied with Mario and Luigi characters, but you can use characters from other Super Mario games that use the Link System.
We have loved playing Super Mario Rally Tennis, it is good fast fun regardless of age. It is simple to play, and it is surprising how involved and competitive you get whilst playing. Highly recommended to add some fast and competitive play to game nights, and of course Mario Day.
Rating: 5/5
RRP: £29.99
For more information visit supermario.epochtoys.com. Available to buy from Amazon here.
Disclosure: I received this item for free for the purposes of writing an honest and impartial review. All thoughts and opinions are my own. This review uses an affiliate link which I may receive a small commission from if you purchase through the link.
