The new Mario Tennis has a Classic Mode for that N64 nostalgia

Nintendo is aware that, despite all the gimmicks they're adding into Mario Tennis Ultra Smash, some of us just wanted to play regular tennis. Not all of us will find giant grow-mushrooms fun, and a good volley is perfectly intense without a lot of frills. That's why Ultra Smash is now getting a Classic Mode reminiscent of Mario Tennis' good ol' days, so now players can have as much or as little magic in their Mario sports as they want.

A companion mode to standard play and the amiibo-based Knock-Out Challenge, Classic Mode mimic the feel of Mario Tennis for the N64 by removing most of the magical additions and letting you go racket-to-racket in a good ol' fashion back-and-forth. Emphasis on most - the glowing Chance Shot circles (which lets you perform powerful returns by giving you an extra hit of magic juice) show up in Classic Mode and don't look to be going anywhere. However, since they don't stop the game to show your character doing something else in the middle of a volley, that seems forgivable.

Swinging for a November 2015 release date, Ultra Smash looks to be where Nintendo's past and future collide. Boasting N64-style gameplay alongside amiibo support and online connectivity, this is a whole new court for Mario, but at least there's old-school action there to make it all feel a little homier.