When I bought Mario Tennis Aces, I mentally matched up the characters with real-life tennis players based on their technique. Mario had a Federer vibe to him but Whitney McIntosh had other ideas when she tweeted about the same topic in 2018:
She then extended the idea for an SBNation article. Federer paired up with Rosalina. Nadal paired up with Daisy. Serena paired up with Mario. Monfils paired up with Boo. My favourite entry was for Djokovic and Toad:
Toad and Djokovic are similar in styles of play — they both sport impressive speed and acceleration around the court that thwarts opponent shot location strategy — but also in their private lives. What does Toad do when he’s not escorting you around Adventure Mode? Where does he go? What are his motivations? What is his head actually made out of?
Similarly, we don’t really know what Djokovic does during his mysterious treatments throughout the season. He’s out here hanging out in hyperbaric chambers to improve his game, which is exactly the kind of competitive shenanigans Toad would pull. Give us the medical receipts, you two.
Would you describe Djokovic’s anti-vaxx nonsense as “competitive shenanigans” during the Australian Open? Who’s to say?
Also: what if we did the same for Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64? Now there’s a challenge!