Mario tennis fever has received a new update mainly focused on balancing playable characters and selectable rackets, but also making a small change to shot behavior that will affect the vast majority of matches. Version 1.0.2 of Mario tennis fever aims to increase the fairness of the roster, not allowing any character to be overpowered or underpowered, while giving them a little extra personality to their individual playstyle.
The first Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive game in 2026, Mario tennis fever has been a moderate success for Nintendo since its launch on February 12th. It has generated generally positive reviews from gamers and professional critics alike, and it also fills a void in the series left by the nearly eight-year gap since the launch of Mario Tennis Aces on the original Nintendo Switch. While nostalgia certainly plays a part in that success, much of its appeal lies in the crazy specials that various fever rackets can produce and the stacked Mario lineup of close to 40 different characters.
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Many of the new changes to characters in Mario tennis fever are built around the issue of shot stability, and how close characters need to get to ensure the ball goes exactly where they want it to after a hit. An increase in this shot stability distance formula has been added for four characters – Baby Peach, Dry Bones, Shy Guy and Toad. Meanwhile, four others – Donkey Kong, Petey Piranha, Roslaina and Wiggler – are getting a little nervous about their chances of hitting the ball solidly from distance.
Petey Piranha and Donkey Kong also get a little less acceleration in their movement speed, as it will take them a little longer to start running after players first set them in motion. Donkey Kong fans will be the ones most affected by the new patch, as he is the only character with three different changes, and he also gets some movement tweaks that affect his hit detection when players move him left or right. Rounding out the list of character changes, Diddy Kong's stroke and serve strength sees some small increases in version 1.0.2, to an unspecified degree.
A similar set of balance changes has been applied to six of the fever rackets in Mario tennis fever. Many of these changes shorten the time their special skills are active, with the Metal and Star missiles losing two seconds, the Magic and Ghost missiles losing three, and the Golden Dash missile being the biggest change of them all, with its effect period reduced from 12 seconds to just eight. Most of these rackets also get a few extra bonuses as a trade-off, with the Metal and Star rackets able to deflect Spinies while their effects are active, and the Ghost Racket giving players an extra half-second to see the trajectory when setting up a lob. The screen drop effect for the Inky Racket has also been changed, as the ink now begins to drip down twice as fast after first hitting the screen.
In addition to these character- and racket-specific changes, there are also some general patch notes, including some basic bug fixes and a gameplay change that will affect most matches and game modes in Mario tennis fever. Performing a charge chancel, which is a double tap of the shot button that cancels a charged shot to allow the player to reach an incoming tennis ball, will no longer cause a player's controlled character to jump or slide, removing some visual flair to give players more control. The only situations where these new rules will not apply are when multiball is in effect, in which case, Mario tennis fever will follow the same behavior as it did after the addition of the 1.0.1 patch.
Mario Tennis Fever Version 1.0.2 Patch Notes
Character specification changes
Changed specs for some characters.
Diddy Kong
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Slightly increased the strength of shots and serves.
Dry legs
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The distance from which the ball can be hit back stably has been slightly increased.
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Slightly increased ability to aim towards the sideline.
Baby Peach
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The distance from which the ball can be hit back stably has been slightly increased.
Toad
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The distance from which the ball can be hit back stably has been slightly increased.
Shy guy
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The distance from which the ball can be hit back stably has been slightly increased.
Donkey Kong
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The distance from which the ball can be hit back stably has been slightly reduced.
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Made it so you start running a little later when you move.
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The movement extended significantly outside the hit detection range while moving left or right, so his movement has been adjusted.
Petey Piranha
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The distance from which the ball can be hit back stably has been slightly reduced.
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Made it so you start running a little later when you move.
Rosalina
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The distance from which the ball can be hit back stably has been slightly reduced.
Wiggling
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The distance from which the ball can be hit back stably has been slightly reduced.
Changes to fever racket specs
Changed specs for some fever rackets.
Golden Dash Racket
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Effect duration shortened from 12 seconds to 8 seconds.
The metal racket
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Effect duration shortened from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
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While the effect is active, you can now defeat Spinies from the Spiny Racket.
The star racket
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Effect duration shortened from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
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While the effect is active, you can now defeat Spinies from the Spiny Racket.
Magic racket
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Effect duration shortened from 15 seconds to 12 seconds.
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If the racket is already a frying pan, the motion of it turning into a frying pan will no longer occur. (You still damage your HP.)
The ghost racket
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Effect duration shortened from 15 seconds to 12 seconds.
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For lobs, the time to disappear has been increased by 0.5 seconds, giving you slightly more time to see the trajectory of the shot
Inky Racket
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The time from when ink appears on the screen until it starts to drip down has been cut in half.
Changes in shoot behavior
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Made an adjustment so that sliding and jumping do not occur when performing a charge break. (However, the behavior remains the same as Ver. 1.0.1 for multiball.)
Other changes
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Fixed a bug where grades were not adjusted on the last day of each month at 5:00 PM (Pacific Time).
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Fixed a bug where the event would not continue after the “In the Sky” battle in Adventure. Also tweaked it so that the event continues if you resume from saving data after the point where the event doesn't continue.
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Several other tweaks and fixes have been made to improve the gaming experience.
- Released
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February 12, 2026
- ESRB
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All / Mild Fantasy Violence
- Publisher
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Nintendo EPD
