When comparing Battle Chef Brigade vs Mario Tennis Aces, the Slant community recommends Mario Tennis Aces for most people. In the question“What are the best single-player games for the Nintendo Switch?” Mario Tennis Aces is ranked 17th while Battle Chef Brigade is ranked 33rd. 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 An enjoyable blend of puzzle solving and action gaming
Battle Chef Brigade combines action gaming and puzzles in an enjoyable way. It makes cooking up your perfect dish a little more interactive than just slapping together ingredients, as you'll be actively hunting and gathering them all yourself.
At the beginning of each timed cooking challenge, the featured ingredient and the judges' culinary preferences are announced. It will be different every match, meaning you'll have to stay on your toes.
From the kitchen, you step out into the world to hunt animals for their meat and gather ingredients in an action platforming setup. At first you'll just be using your dagger, but as the game progresses you'll unlock more moves, magic spells, and even a few combos to beef up the action.
When all your ingredients are collected, you'll rush back into the kitchen and mix and match everything you've gathered in a frantic match 3 puzzle setup to prepare your ultimate dish.
Pro Good difficulty progression pacing
The game has a very steady difficulty ramp, meaning you'll never be overly frustrated or bogged down by too many mechanics at once. At the start, it's your typical match three game where you'll be preparing simple dishes. It's easy to learn the basics. As you progress, modifiers are added such as tighter time limits and being required to cook multiple dishes. Some ingredients are also poisonous, requiring you to carefully avoid the poison gems so you don't spoil the food. The end result is a difficulty level that feels natural since the game becomes gradually harder as you go.
Pro A new in-game challenge every day
Even if you've beaten the game, there is still an exciting reason to keep coming back for more. Every (real time) day, the game gives you a randomized set of gear and ingredients, and sends you into the kitchen for a cook-off. Since this daily challenge is completely random, it provides a fun challenge by requiring you to think and react quickly. While there is no multiplayer mode, it is still a fun way to put your skills to the test and race your friends to the highest score on the leaderboard.
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 Too much guesswork in the cook-offs
You choose your cooking equipment, such as pans, prior to each cook-off. However, until the cook-off actually begins, you aren't given any information on each judge's culinary preferences. Some judges may prefer their food cooked in a fire or earth pan, whereas you brought a water pan. Due to this, having to replay cook-offs happens often.
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.