When comparing Dragon Ball FighterZ vs Mario Tennis Aces, the Slant community recommends Dragon Ball FighterZ for most people. In the question“What are the best games for the Nintendo Switch?” Dragon Ball FighterZ is ranked 18th while Mario Tennis Aces is ranked 81st. The most important reason people chose Dragon Ball FighterZ is:
Character models are recreated faithfully from the show, their expressions and animations all unique and reminiscent of their hand-drawn anime versions. They also have their arsenal of super dashes that surrounds their fighter with their ki aura as they zip forward, the dragon rush that throws out several punches and kicks in speedy succession, as well as super attacks and meteor attacks that recreate each fighter's iconic moves from the show, like Goku's enormous Super Saiyan 3 Kamehameha blast and Vegeta's Final Flash attack.
Specs
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Pros
Pro The game looks just like the anime
Character models are recreated faithfully from the show, their expressions and animations all unique and reminiscent of their hand-drawn anime versions. They also have their arsenal of super dashes that surrounds their fighter with their ki aura as they zip forward, the dragon rush that throws out several punches and kicks in speedy succession, as well as super attacks and meteor attacks that recreate each fighter's iconic moves from the show, like Goku's enormous Super Saiyan 3 Kamehameha blast and Vegeta's Final Flash attack.
Pro Combat is easy to learn and difficult to master
The control scheme among combatants is universal enough to work well for players who are new to the fighting genre, while veterans have access to more specialized combos and timings to perfect with individual fighters. Beginners can get away with starting off with auto-combos by pressing the face buttons. Simple button mashing is serviceable for the easy parts of the story and arcade modes. Those looking to improve their play can practice in the tutorial with the combo challenges for every character. Mastering these manual combos takes dedication, but adept use of these moves will undoubtedly pay off for harder story battles and online play.
Pro Healthy roster of characters
With classic characters like Goku, Vegeta, Gohan, Frieza, Captain Ginyu, Cell, and several more, as well as a new addition with Android 21, fans of the series will find at least a few of their favorites to play with. More powerful characters are unlockable through completing the story and arcade modes. The voice acting both in English and Japanese for every character are superb, sounding just like their anime versions. Players who aren't familiar with the Dragon Ball Z series are bound to find a few characters that they enjoy through gameplay alone, with each fighter boasting unique visuals with their special and ultimate attacks.
Pro Characters work well together in combat and in cutscenes
The three-on-three battles have you play one character at a time, with the ability to switch in another team member with the press of a button, or bring one in to combo your special attack with their flashy meteor attack. Characters typically work well together for these Ultimate Z Change combos, and it's fun to discover which ones work best for you: if you can master the timing of Android 16's brute force close-range attacks, then you can have another character, like Android 18, come in with an overhead beam for even more damage.
During the story, the banter between characters before battles are a fun way to see different fighters interact with one another. Watching Gotenks try to teach Nappa how to turn into a Super Saiyan as if it's the easiest thing in the world, or Vegeta and Piccolo grudgingly accepting their need to work together is entertaining in a way that makes the slog of the story mode tolerable.
Pro Couch co-op with a friend is tons of fun
Playing with a friend right beside you makes the game much more enjoyable. Reacting to each other in real-time is just better than playing against a computer opponent. There's no online co-op -- only multiplayer matches against random people -- meaning you'll have to be in the same room together to play.
Pro Solid roster of Nintendo characters to play as
There's a good variety of characters you can play as. If you're familiar with first party Nintendo games, then you'll see a lot of familiar faces here, like Yoshi, Bowser, Donkey Kong, Luigi, Peach, and of course Mario. Everyone has their own playing styles, with bigger characters like Bowser and Donkey Kong favoring hard-hitting power shots, and others like Yoshi and Mario that have a more balanced approach. You can go with whichever style or character you prefer, practicing with them until you master everything. Getting to see all of these characters together in one game is great for fanservice as well.
Pro You can compete against others online in multiplayer
When you run out of single-player content to enjoy, you can hop online to play against random opponents. The main game mode is the tournaments you can play, which rewards you with special characters if you score well. Online connectivity is good too, especially with the choice to drop out of matches beforehand against players who have bad connections. Playing online is a really great way to test your skills and improve your play, since anyone you get matched with is an actual player who has their own strengths and weaknesses.
Pro Intense and engaging tennis matches
Mario Tennis Aces is incredibly addicting to play. Matches are fast-paced and exciting, with one particular mechanic that keeps things unpredictable. Every time you successfully hit the tennis ball to your opponent's end of the court, you build up a power meter that you can use in a couple of different ways.
When you want to quickly finish off a match, you can slow down time and take aim at a vulnerable corner of your opponent's court for an instant win. Or, if they try to do that to you, you can instead expend some of your power meter to quickly reach the ball and hit it back. Things can get pretty tricky when you both use up your power meters at the same time, leading to some satisfying wins.
Cons
Con Story mode is padded and repetitive
The three arcs in FighterZ's story mode feature campaigns from three different points of view: Goku and his allies, Frieza and the Ginyu Force, and the Androids and their struggles, but the story can be distilled down to the player "linking" with the fighters as well as battling endless numbers of clones.
There are clever knocks on the fourth wall as the characters acknowledge the player who has taken control of their body via linking, and there are also plot reasons for this phenomenon, but the cutscenes waste a lot of time explaining this mechanic to every new fighter who joins the team. The third arc picks up as the cast learns more about Android 21, yet the slog to get to that point is a repetitive series of fights against the clones.
Con Online lobbies are a mess
Unfortunately, the game automatically forces the player to connect to a lobby right from the start. This can sometimes take a while if lobbies are full, or if the connection drops for whatever reason. Sometimes, even after successfully entering a lobby, there will be frustrating disconnects, forcing another round of going through the same loop of trying to connect and possibly dropping back out again. Thankfully, there's an offline lobby for those only looking to do the story or arcade modes.
Con No honor in online matches
This is more of an issue among the playerbase than in the game itself, but don't be surprised if you're about to win a ranked World match and your opponent suddenly "disconnects". When that happens, you will also lose connection to your lobby, forcing you to connect to another one. Disconnects don't count as a loss or a win for either party involved, so there's no penalty that punishes quitters.
Con Very wide skill gap between experienced and inexperienced players
Mario Tennis Aces can be unwelcoming to new players. While playing co-op or online, it's tough to catch up with everyone else who knows how to time their power shots with the meter. If you don't pick up on this mechanic fairly quickly, you may feel like you're getting left behind. You don't necessarily have to use the mechanic if you and a friend agree not to, but this sadly makes matches pretty dull. Running against computer opponents is a good way to get your feet wet before moving up to other levels of play.
Con Limited gameplay options for solo players
If you're the type who prefers to game alone, then Mario Tennis Aces might not be for you. There's only one single-player mode, while the rest of the game is mostly dedicated to co-op and online play. The solo mode is also extremely short, clocking in at around four hours. Aside from that, there really isn't much else for you to do.
Con Certain characters are locked behind online tournaments
The primary way to unlock new characters is to win tournaments, but this isn't entirely fair. They're only available for a limited amount of time, with the rewards changing from tournament to tournament. Even though some of these characters are in the actual game as opponents in the single-player adventure mode, you can't get access to them unless you unlock them through these tournaments. If you don't like playing online, or if you don't have the means to pay for Nintendo's online service once it's implemented later on in 2018, then you're basically out of luck.
Con Single-player adventure mode is pretty difficult
The game's adventure mode makes up for its short length with some real difficulty. It's a rough introduction to the gameplay, as some of the matches and bosses are really hard. There's plenty of variety to things, like courts that have certain hazards in your way and uneven terrain such as tall grass, as well as inventive boss designs like a giant squid that shoots out tennis ball-shaped blobs of ink. But all of these things can get quite overwhelming, especially if you're using the single-player mode to get better at the game.