Do you like story mode in Mario sport games?

In earlier time, story mode seemed to be handheld's feature due to its raising system. But now since Switch era we've seen a couple of games that dedicates to story mode for both tutorials and unlockables. But I wonder, do fans find Mario sport stories enjoyable?

I think Mario sport stories' biggest problem is, they don't have own identity in order to stand out just like mainline or RPGs. Mario RPGs have richest story, while Mario platformer set the foundation of the franchise, which leave Mario sport stories to be the weakest link of all. Mario sport games just don't tend to have ambitious story subthemes like "Mario Golf : The Millennium Window". Tennis Aces seemed to have the ambition to write an epic story, but it didn't succeed simply due to the obviously low investment.

It's understandable that Mario sport games want to focus on the main gameplay and story is mere extra, but it could be more interesting if sport stories also get more development in order to be more unique and memorable so fans would not try to skip them.

I know the professional athletes and sport schools from earlier games are not general fans' cup of tea as they don't seem as interesting as the fantasy world characters, but their biggest merit is how they bring original contents to expand the games and give them some memorable features. Meanwhile recent Mario sport stories don't have the same investment to introduce new original contents in the same way Mario RPGs tend to do.

In fact, we've got a couple of original boss OCs like Snow King and Scuttlebug King, and it could had been better if the whole stories and themes totally dedicate to the OCs, and actually make OCs unlockable players as our prize for completing story mode. Or, it doesn't have to be an OC from this game, could work the same if it's a new playable character that just debuted in other earlier games (e.g. King KRool), and develop a story about this new entry.

As you've said, the priority for a sports game should be that the gameplay relating to the sport itself should be fun, so a story mode is more of a nice extra than the most important part. However, as sports movies have shown us, enjoyment can also come from the context surrounding the event, and the context of a sports can be an avenue for telling many stories about competition, teamwork, effort, and other interesting aspects of human character. I think that there is a lot of potential for story features in Mario Sports games, but in practice the story modes have often been bogged down by uninteresting and lengthy dialogue on top of gameplay that feels overly repetitive or unconnected to the story. I don't think that Mario stories need to be complex masterpieces by any means, but they should focus on the strengths of the franchise which is the potential for fantastic wonder and a little bit of comedy. I also agree that introducing original characters specific for the sports games with more dedicated stories in a similar manner to the RPGs is a great idea.

I feel like there has got to be some kind of Single Player offering in the current day that would be satisfying... These games will always be multiplayer focused of course, but just what has been done in modern games is just :////

Like if they were to make a Mario Baseball game, I think some kind of mode where you build up an actual baseball team and compete in a league could be a lot of fun... There's this game called Super Mega Baseball that has a really well done team builder mode despite being a very arcadey baseball game. I feel like something like this could be very fun and introduce people to the sport and how it works.... Like imagine how fun it could be to trade 5 goombas for another teams really good Boo. Like.... something like that could be really cool and fulfilling singleplayer experience.

eh i prefer that kind of stuff in actual adventures with focus on exploration, character interaction and standard combat over like sports tournaments, the dark foreboding cinematics are just kind of much for a tennis game. but to be fair i haven't much experience with these. i love the opening cutscenes where it's just wario and waluigi trying to sabotage everyone and it backfiring. but like, the mario tennis aces stuff with lucien, the cinematic stormy sky, the dark mummified possessed forms? i much prefer that kind of energy in the rpgs.

the original human characters should 100% return though. Plum, Maple, Neil, Ella, Alex, Kate, etc. They do a lot for worldbuilding by showing the mushroom kingdom actually does have a human population outside the main 8 (mario, luigi, wario, waluigi, peach, daisy, rosalina, pauline), while miis are completely divorced from mushroom kingdom lore and come from your system instead so they don't work as replacements imo. they should still be playable, just not in place of the mario-styled humans (and yes, some of them do lean more anime-styled but a lot do still 100% match the visual style of the Mario cast, especially in their 2D art. The Mario Golf 64 & GBC humans have 2D art that literally fits right in with the 2D art of the core Mario cast at the time. Later games moved them in a more stylistically distinct direction but not to the point they can't be redesigned back). And having them be involved in a traditional tournament-style story mode like in the old games would be the most thematically appropriate use of a story mode still imo.

I'm a huge fan of the over-the-top ridiculous stories in the recent titles that don't take themselves too seriously so please, give me more of the ancient evil tennis racket hell-bent on destroying the world (the one thing about Lucien that isn't perfect is that he's quiet, he honestly should be voiced like the toaster from Fallout: New Vegas) or threatening monsters from a remote island turning everyone into babies. I especially love the sheer absurdity that a snowman is the main villain of a Mario golf game. This makes these games much more fun than games before like Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Mario Power Tennis, etc. they didn't need a story because they're just fucking sports games but they had one anyway and they're well aware it's just a fucking tennis/golf game so I love how they went all out on the big stakes. It's awesome.

I like that they are there. I just wish they weren't glorified tutorials half the time.