When comparing Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition vs Mario Tennis Aces, the Slant community recommends Mario Tennis Aces for most people. In the question“What are the best couch/local co-op games for the Nintendo Switch?” Mario Tennis Aces is ranked 34th while Hyrule Warriors: Definitive Edition is ranked 36th. 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 Satisfying hack-and-slash combat against dense packs of enemies
Taking out huge packs of enemies in Hyrule Warriors is incredibly satisfying. Even though your foes outnumber you, you have powerful, flashy attacks to lift them in the air and take them down, dozens at a time. Slashing through everyone with spinning attacks with gigantic swords, for example, never gets old, especially while playing as one of your favorite characters from The Legend of Zelda games. Clearing out maps of all the enemies makes you feel powerful and gives you a great sense of accomplishment.
Pro You get to play as several characters from The Legend of Zelda series
Hyrule Warriors has a good roster of characters to play as, each of them from The Legend of Zelda games. Aside from the most well-known characters like Zelda and Link, fans of the series get to enjoy plenty of other familiar faces. You can play as Ganondorf, the main antagonist from the series, as well as other characters like Sheik, Princess Ruto, Yuga, Volga, and many more. Even if you're not a diehard fan of the series, you can still enjoy the sheer variety of characters and all their different fighting styles.
Pro Two players can co-op the whole game together
You can team up with a friend to play all of the story content and more. The splitscreen co-op is local only, but you get to play the whole game together, making some of the more challenging missions more manageable. Playing co-op on docked mode through the TV is probably best, since the handheld is a bit too small to see everything clearly with the screen cut in half.
Pro Upscaled visuals plus all DLC content from the original
As an upgrade from the existing Hyrule Warriors, the Definitive Edition has an improved resolution and framerate, plus all the bonus content. Everything runs smoothly at 1080p and 60 FPS, with brighter colors for maps, characters, and enemies. All the DLC content is here from the start as well, meaning you get the whole package from the original Hyrule Warriors along with the added characters, maps, and more. If you didn't get the chance to play Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U or 3DS, this is a great time to jump in.
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 Hardly any new content exclusive to this Definitive Edition
If you already played Hyrule Warriors on the Wii U or 3DS, there isn't much of a reason to pick up this new version. The upscaled visuals are nice, but there isn't much here compared to the existing game, especially if you shelled out money for all the DLC before. At most, characters like Zelda have new costumes from The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, which isn't much of an incentive by itself. So if you played the original and you're on the fence about buying this version, you might want to hold off for a price drop first.
Con Splitscreen for co-op makes it hard to see the map
The vertical split across the middle of the screen makes it hard to see what's going on during co-op play. Since there are tons of enemies on the screen at any one time, having that density packed into a smaller portion of your TV or handheld screen is inconvenient. You'll probably still have a great time with co-op, despite the setback.
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.