I pre-ordered and got it yesterday. Sadly I didn't get my tennis ball pre-order bonus, but I will be getting it next week apparently. Anybody else have a problem like that?
Anyway, I've put about 8 hours in so far. As many have mentioned, solo play is very disappointing. The Knockout mode is the closest thing to an actual tournament mode of any kind (at a stretch) but it is really quite boring. There is pretty much no point in playing it as all the unlocks you can get from it can be bought with coins that you earn quite easily. I've unlocked about 90% of everything so far by buying them with coins.
Playing with a friend is nice. My brother and I played 2 player VS with one using the Wii-u gamepad+screen and the other using the Pro controller with their view on the TV. It's really nice to have the option to play like that and have each player play at the bottom of their own screen.
It must be said too that it looks amazing. Super colourful with great animations.
I've probably spent half my game tame playing online. Unless you have a friend or family member, this is where you will have to look to get the most mileage out of the game. So far connectivity seems good. One problem I had were a lot of players quitting on Match point. At least you are awarded points towards your ranking score for being ahead when the connection drops or someone quits. Astonishingly, though, there are no leaderboards or stats and I couldn't see a way to play with specific people. There is just an "online" button where you choose some filters and play with random people. I couldn't see a way to rematch someone either. Very strange. Still, I had quite a lot of fun here.
I'll probably be playing some more online for a while, but unless there are some upgrades (free updates too, mind you) I can see myself losing interest pretty soon.
My score: 7/10
PS: I've haven't played any previous Mario tennis games, but the key combos for Drop Shot and Lob are not great. B then A and A then B... It seems they did this just so it is possible to play with the 2 buttoned old school Wiimote. I am used to Top Spin controls too much I guess.
