Mario tennis fever received a new update focused mainly on balancing playable characters and optional missiles, but also on a small change in the behavior of the shot, which will affect the vast majority of matches. Version 1.0.2 Mario tennis fever it aims to increase fairness in the roster, not overpowering or undervaluing any character, while adding more idiosyncrasies to their individual playstyles.
The first Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive game of 2026, Mario tennis fever has been a moderate success for Nintendo since its release on February 12th. It received generally positive reviews from gamers and professional critics alike, and also filled a void in the series left by a nearly eight-year gap since its release Mario Tennis Aces on the original Nintendo Switch. While nostalgia certainly plays a part in this success, a large part of its appeal lies in the crazy special shots that can be created by the various Fever Rackets and the stacked Mario franchise roster of nearly 40 different characters.
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Many new character changes in Mario tennis fever they are built around shot stability and how close the characters need to get to ensure the ball goes exactly where they want it to go after hitting it. For four characters – Baby Peach, Dry Bones, Shy Guy, and Toad – an increase to this formula has been added for missile stability. Meanwhile, four others – Donkey Kong, Petey Piranha, Roslaina and Wiggler – are slightly nervous about their chances of hitting the ball steadily from afar.
Petey Piranha and Donkey Kong also gain a bit less acceleration in their movement speed, as they will take a bit longer to start running after players first set them in motion. Donkey Kong fans will be most affected by the new patch as he is the only character with three different changes and will also receive some movement adjustments that affect his hit detection when players move him left or right. Rounding out the list of character changes is that Diddy Kong's shot power and submission saw a slight increase in 1.0.2 by an unspecified amount.
A similar set of balance changes were applied to the six Fever Rackets v Mario tennis fever. Many of these changes reduce the amount of time their special skills are active, with Metal and Star Missiles losing two seconds, Magic and Ghost Missiles losing three, and the Golden Dash Missile being the biggest change of all, having its effect time reduced from 12 seconds to just eight. Most of these missiles also gain some additional bonuses as a trade-off, with Metal and Star missiles being able to knock back Spinies while their effects are active, and the Ghost missile giving players an extra half second to see the trajectory of the missile when setting up the lob. The drop effect of the ink rocket screen has also been changed, as the ink will now start to drip down twice as fast after the first impact on the screen.
In addition to these character- and missile-specific changes, there are also some general patch notes, including some basic bug fixes and one gameplay change that will affect most matches and game modes in Mario tennis fever. Performing a charge, which is a double-tap of the shot button that cancels a charged shot so the player can reach an incoming tennis ball, will no longer cause the player's controlled character to jump or slide, which takes away some of the visual flair to give players more control. The only situation in which these new rules will not apply is when multiball is in effect, in which case Mario tennis fever will follow the same behavior as after patch 1.0.1 was added.
Mario Tennis Fever Version 1.0.2 Patch Notes
Changes to character specs
Changed the specs of some characters.
Diddy Kong
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Slightly increased the power of shots and serves.
Dry bones
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The distance from which the ball can be hit stably has been slightly increased.
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Slightly increased ability to aim beyond the sidelines.
Baby Peach
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The distance from which the ball can be hit stably has been slightly increased.
Toad
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The distance from which the ball can be hit stably has been slightly increased.
Shy Guy
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The distance from which the ball can be hit stably has been slightly increased.
Donkey Kong
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The distance from which the ball can be hit stably has been slightly reduced.
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He made it so that you start running a little later when moving.
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The movement significantly exceeded the hit detection area when moving left or right, so its movement was modified.
Petey Piranha
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The distance from which the ball can be hit stably has been slightly reduced.
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He made it so that you start running a little later when moving.
Rosalina
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The distance from which the ball can be hit stably has been slightly reduced.
Wiggler
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The distance from which the ball can be hit stably has been slightly reduced.
Fever Racket specification changes
Changed the specs of some Fever Rackets.
Golden Dash Rocket
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Effect duration reduced from 12 seconds to 8 seconds.
A metal rocket
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Effect duration reduced from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
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While the effect is active, you can now defeat spikes from a spiked missile.
A star rocket
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Effect duration reduced from 10 seconds to 8 seconds.
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While the effect is active, you can now defeat spikes from a spiked missile.
Magic rocket
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Effect duration reduced from 15 seconds to 12 seconds.
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If the rocket is already a pan, it will no longer transform into a pan. (You will still deal damage to your HP.)
Ghost Rocket
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Effect duration reduced from 15 seconds to 12 seconds.
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For lobs, the time they disappear has been increased by 0.5 seconds, giving you a bit more time to see the trajectory of the shot.
Ink rocket
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The time from when ink hits the screen to when it starts dripping down has been cut in half.
Changes to shot behavior
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We have made an adjustment so that scrolling and skipping does not occur when canceling charging. (However, the behavior remains the same as version 1.0.1 for multiball.)
Other changes
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Fixed a bug where ratings were not being adjusted on the last day of each month at 5:00 PM Pacific Time.
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Fixed the event not continuing after the “In the Sky” battle in Adventure. Also modify it so that the event continues if you continue from saving data past the point where the event does not 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
- Publishers
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Nintendo EPD
