When comparing DEEMO vs Mario Tennis Aces, the Slant community recommends Mario Tennis Aces for most people. In the question“What are the best games for the Nintendo Switch?” Mario Tennis Aces is ranked 81st while DEEMO is ranked 85th. The most important reason people chose Mario Tennis Aces is:
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.
Specs
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Pros
Pro Mysterious and heart-warming story
Deemo, a shadowy being is sitting alone in his castle when a girl named Alice mysteriously falls from a trapdoor in the sky. In order to help Alice get home, Deemo must play songs that will grow a magical tree tall enough to reach the sky. This opening is almost dreamlike, which helps set a mysterious tone and give the story a surreal edge.
However, the core of the story itself is a rather a heart-warming tale that focuses on the friendship that forms between Deemo and Alice. It takes some twists and turns through some melancholy and rather touching moments between the two protagonists, and has a heavy emphasis on the bond between the pair. As the two work together to help Alice get home, it's hard not to get attached to the characters and cheer for them along on their journey.
Pro Fun piano based gameplay
The rhythm based segments of Deemo are done incredibly well. Notes are falling from the top of the screen and you'll be tapping and sliding your fingers in rapid movements to catch them. Often times, the notes are falling in such a way so that your actions mirror the hand movements of a real piano player. Whether you're just tapping the basic chords or wildly waving your fingers around during chords and arpeggios trying to hit each and every note, it's quite fun to hear the songs play out knowing you're the one making it happen.
Pro Sense of accomplishment thanks to the difficulty scaling
You don't have to have lightning reflexes or be a piano virtuoso to feel like you're making progress. For the easiest of songs, you'll just be following along with the rhythm and hitting the basic anchor notes. As the difficulty slides up, more chords, parallel movements, and arpeggios are thrown into the mix. Regardless of the difficulty level you're playing on, there's a distinct sense of accomplishment every time you make your way to the end of a piece knowing you hit all the important notes (even if you don't nail every solo).
Pro Great song selection
Deemo features over 200 songs to learn and play along with. These songs cover a wide range of genres and styles including rock, jazz, lounge, dubstep, folk, ragtime, jpop, and more. From fast to slow, hard to soft, and everything in between - no matter what your musical tastes are, you'll be able to play along and enjoy a plethora of various songs.
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 Can get repetitive
In order to advance the story, sometimes you will have to play the same song over and over until you get it right.
Con Hard mode can be frustrating
Some of the hard mode songs contain certain piano solos with a lot of minor tempo variations. These don't translate well into the gameplay due to the way the notes fall. As a result, unless you can sightread music, it's an exercise in frustration.
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.