Mario Tennis Aces updates bring in new game mode, Yoshi’s Ring Shot

The newest update for the popular Switch sports crossover, Mario Tennis Aces, is out. The new update brings the game to version 3.0 and adds some pretty substantial changes and new features. The big new addition in the 3.0 patch is the Yoshi’s Ring Shot mode. The Ring Shot has multiple modes for both Singles and Doubles play, it can also be played cooperatively.

The general goal is to hit rings that spawn on the court while maintaining a rally and keeping the game going. It’s deceptively simple and a lot of fun. Check out some gameplay footage from Nintendo down below.

The patch also tweaks a bunch of character abilities. Boo, Mario, Wario and others have gotten a slight buff to the power of their shots. Movement has also been tweaked for a handful of characters. A handful of UI tweaks on the games shot system should make things about the gameplay easier to understand too. The final major batch of changes concerns adjustments to maps across multiple types.

Mario Tennis Aces is out now for the Nintendo Switch, Since releasing in June 2018, the game has been a massive hit. With the sports title selling nearly 3 million copies since launch, players have been clamoring for more content and characters. The game has gotten previous updates which added Birdo and Boom Boom as characters, while also introducing more balance tweaks and the like.

You can find the full patch notes for the update down below.

Version 3.0.0

• New Mode: “Ring Shot”
  • Added Ring Shot, a new mode in which you compete for a high score by aiming for rings that appear on the court while maintaining a rally.
  • This includes three game modes: Ring Shot Singles, Ring Shot Doubles, and Yoshi’s Ring Shot, which can be played by up to four people on one Nintendo Switch console at the same time. Each game mode features a co-op mode that allows you to cooperate with another player to maintain a rally as you aim for a high score. They also include Beginner Co-op Challenge through Advanced Co-op Challenge, in which you compete for a high score by hitting more balls through rings than your opponent in order to clear the level.
  • Ring Shot Singles and Ring Shot Doubles can be played on all courts with hazards. Furthermore, hazard effects have been added to Ring Shot gameplay to create a wider variety of ways to play.
  • When you clear Advanced VS Challenge in Yoshi’s Ring Shot, you can get a purple Yoshi to use in regular matches. This is the only way to get this purple Yoshi.
• Co-op Challenge: Yoshi’s Ring Shot
  • This Co-op Challenge will be available again from the distribution of version 3.0.0 until 09:00 on 1 June 2019. Co-op Challenge is a mode for online play available only for a certain period of time.
    • A Nintendo Switch Online membership is required to play Co-op Challenge.
  • Yoshi’s Ring Shot adds a twist to the regular Ring Shot rules – you’ll earn four times as many points if you hit a ball through a ring that’s the same colour as the Yoshi you’re controlling.
  • A four-player team is formed among friends or players online to achieve an objective together.
    • If each player has a controller, up to four players can play on a single Nintendo Switch console.
    • If there aren’t four total players, the necessary number of COM players will be added after a certain amount of time has passed.
  • You can acquire three Yoshis of different colours (pink, light blue and orange) by completing objectives.
• Added Opening Movie to Adventure Mode
  • Added an opening movie to Adventure Mode.
  • A new opening movie will play when starting a new match for the first time. Even if you’ve already started up Adventure Mode, you can see this opening movie any time by selecting Bonus from the Adventure Mode menu and then selecting Opening (Ver. 3) for the new movie, or Opening (Ver. 2) for the previous movie.
    • To see bonus content other than the opening movies, you must clear Adventure Mode.
• Changes to Character Abilities
  • The abilities of certain characters have been changed.

    Character Name	Change
    Pauline	Increased her ability to aim for the edges of the sideline.
    Bowser Jr.	Slightly increased his ability to aim for the edges of the sideline. Made it a little harder to slip when moving.
    Kamek	Made it a little harder to slip when moving.
    Birdo	Slightly increased Birdo’s ability to aim for the edges of the sideline.
    Boo	Slightly increased how long time is frozen for after leaping for a ball.
    Mario	Slightly increased the power of his volley shots.
    Spike	Slightly increased the power of his volley shots.
    Wario	Slightly decreased the how long time is frozen for after leaping for a ball.
    Chain Chomp	Slightly decreased his ability to aim for the edges of the sideline. Slightly decreased the strength of his slice return.

• Added New Rank, “Ace”, to Online Tournament
  • Added the new rank “Ace” to the existing D- to A+ scale, with Ace being the highest. The Ace rank is for players with a rating of 5,000 or greater.
  • Ace players will be matched against opponents with the same rating as A+.
• Added Settings
  • When playing with two or more players in Free Play or Swing Mode, you can now choose the option Service (which side will serve first). You can choose from Random, P1 Side Serves, or P1 Side Receives whether you’re playing in Singles or Doubles.
    • However, this setting is only possible when people are playing against each other. A team with two COM players will always start receiving. When only one person is playing, the Service settings menu will not appear.
  • Before character selection in Free Play or Swing Mode, you can now select the same character as your opponent when your doubles partner has been decided. This is under Doubles Partner when selecting P1 and P2, or when selecting Team in Local Play and Online Play.
    • In a future update, we plan to add a “Select every time” menu option for Doubles Partners, so that you can select the same character as your opponent when your partner has been decided even before character selection.
• Adjustments to the Shot System
  • Added a visual effect when players use Zone Speed. Also made the Zone Speed motion effect only appear for the character that initiated Zone Speed.
    • The player who is not showing the motion effect can still recover half of their energy by successfully completing a block without using Zone Speed.
  • Changed smash point colour from yellow to turquoise when Zone Shot can be activated (when energy is 1/3 or greater and the character is in a rotating star).
  • When a Special Shot becomes available to play during a match, the character’s icon will switch to the L Button icon.
  • Text guide for shot controls will be displayed for Adventure Mode Pipe Gripe, Adventure Mode Battle Boat, and COM Tournament Mushroom Cup Round 1 (only when Toad’s commentary is disabled).
• Other Changes
  • Inferno Island: The Mechakoopas that appear when hazards are turned on will increase their numbers at a slower rate in Doubles.
  • Savage Sea: A fault will occur when a serve hits the base of the post which is present when hazards are turned on.
  • An Ancient Trial: The smash point will appear by way of a contraption where a flat shot is necessary.
  • Swing Mode: The ball will get smaller after every 10 shots instead of every 30 shots when playing in Swing Mode Rally Challenge.
  • Online Tournament: Changed sound effects when your rank improves.
  • Main Menu: The main menu’s background will not change from a normal background even when a Co-op Challenge is being held.
  • Other adjustments have been made to improve gameplay and fix issues.