Mario Tennis titles have always been very good, and come June 22 the latest iteration of the family-friendly sports franchise, starring Mario, Peach, Luigi and co: Mario Tennis Aces will land on Switch. However, ahead of that official date, Nintendo is giving eager beavers Advantage, with an online tournament. (Sorry.) (Not sorry.)



With Mario, Peach, Yoshi and Bowser all available to play as, the "Mario Tennis Aces – pre-launch online tournament" promises to setup Nintendo's recently revealed online service and to highlight the competitive lean of the game. Here's what Ninty had to tell us:

Tennis hopefuls will be able to pick from four playable characters – Mario, Peach, Yoshi, and Bowser – and take part in online multiplayer matches in a tournament format. As they advance through the tournament stages, they’ll earn points based on their performance, with five additional characters available to unlock in the demo by gaining enough points.

On top of the online tournaments, players can also get in some practice by playing one-off single-player tennis battles against a computer-controlled opponent*. Whether battling it out online against other players or polishing their skills against the CPU, all participants will be able to unlock a free additional costume of Mario in his traditional dungarees for use in the full game.

By downloading the free software from Nintendo eShop before the tournament starts, players can look forward to a weekend of fast and fun tennis action, as the tournament is open from 12:00am AEST on Saturday 2nd June until 9:00am AEST on Monday 4th June.

Watch a trailer highlighting all of the above, embedded below.