Nintendo continues to introduce characters in Mario Tennis Aces with Boom Boom, one of Bowser’s most notable minions. A new trailer has been released, showcasing the spiky boy’s skills and his defensive playstyle. Check it out below.

Boom Boom will be available to earn for those who participate in an online tournament for the game. You’ll have to do this from February 1st to 28th. For those who don’t want to participate, Boom Boom will be available for all on March 1st. The problem is having to wait till then.

Mario Tennis Aces has had a pretty solid line-up of post-launch characters thus far. It kicked off with Koopa Paratroopa, followed by Shy Guy and Petey Piranha joining the party. Nintendo confirmed last November that we’d see three new characters in Q1 2019 – Boom Boom, Pauline from Super Mario Odyssey, and Luma from Super Mario Galaxy. Stay tuned for more information on other characters in the coming months.

Nintendo’s DLC strategy with the Switch has actually been very interesting. Most titles, such as Splatoon 2, Mario Tennis Aces, and ARMS, have received a bevy of free updates. Games such as The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Pokken Tournament DX, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and, yes, Splatoon 2 as well, have also received paid expansions.

The company doesn’t intend on stopping with that strategy either. Speaking to investors in a financial call on the heels of their latest financial release, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa stated that the company plans on releasing more DLC and content for its existing big games, citing it as a way to continue to achieve growth and player engagement.

“We need continuous growth. We must keep releasing new software,” he said (reported by Bloomberg Tech reporter Yuji Nakamura—you can see his transcription below). “That includes DLC and other content for big titles that are already out.”

As you can see, he doesn’t specify which games will receive content, but I think we can make some guesses. Xenoblade Chronicles 2 apparently got its final bit of content with Torna- The Golden Country, so we can rule that one out. The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild also received its final post launch content with The Champion’s Ballad, so presumably that one is done, too.

Two prominent Switch games that haven’t received any major paid expansions are Super Mario Odyssey and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. It is entirely possible those will receive something new—then again, for all I know, Nintendo just throws a curveball, and announces another major expansion for Breath of the Wild or something.

Full DLC quote: "We need continuous growth. We must keep releasing new software. That includes DLCs and other contents for big titles that are already out. And more focus on online play. Lastly, more genres and diverse games to draw in people who don't currently play on Switch."

— Yuji Nakamura (@ynakamura56) October 30, 2018

Mario Tennis Aces, while mechanically fantastic, launched with a paucity and dearth of content. However, Nintendo and Camelot have since been adding more and more new stuff to it. The latest addition will be a brand new playable character, Koopa Paratroopa.

And the newest trailer for Mario Tennis Aces, which you can see for yourself below, shows us the technical chop he brings to the metagame. It seems like players who rely more on technique and speed will find a lot to love about Koopa Paratroopa and his playing style, while even more casual players should be able to enjoy his agility, if nothing else.

As is always the case with these sorts of post launch updates for Nintendo games, Koopa Paratroopa will be available to everyone for absolutely free, as part of a universal update. He should be out some time in November, so if you’ve been meaning to get back into the game, now’s the perfect time to pick it back up.

Nintendo’s Mario Tennis Aces has seen generally decent reviews since launch, though fans aren’t exactly happy over the amount of content in the Story mode, or the lack of traditional, six set tennis matches. However, one of the biggest complaints against the game has been its balancing, especially when it comes to Bowser Jr.

When it comes to performing Trick Shots (special moves that allow for hitting balls out of reach), Bowser Jr. has been pretty unstoppable. His wide range allows for returning shots and building up energy easily. This can then be used to pull off Signature Shots or slow down time with impunity.

Recognizing this, a patch due on July 19th will adjust how fast Bowser Jr. can move when charging up a shot. It will also “lower the angle at which he hits the ball back.” More changes to the character will be coming before the August tournament, where players can participate and earn enough points to unlock Blooper as a free character early.

The full patch notes can be gleaned below, as provided by Nintendo. All characters are receiving a chance to the range at which they can return a ball. The amount of energy used when a Trick Shot is late will also be adjusted.

Version 1.1.2

Game Balance Updates

For All Characters:

• We have adjusted the range within which a character is able to return a ball, as well as how much energy is used when doing a Trick Shot to hit a ball that goes behind them.
  – We made the distance you can move and the scope between left and right shorter. We also shortened the time it takes to successfully recover energy and increased how much energy is used when a Trick Shot is late.
• We have made it so that, when returning a serve, a ball cannot inflict a Body Shot until it bounces once.

For Bowser Jr.:

• We have adjusted how fast Bowser Jr. can move when charging a shot and lowered the angle at which he hits the ball back.
  *We plan to adjust the balance of this character further in time for the August tournament

Other Changes

Revised errors with text display.

Notice about the Rating system in Online Tournament

• A ranking display based on Rating will be added to the ranking board starting with the August 2018 tournament. Along with this change, the Rating will not be shown on the Total Points Ranking board. If you want to check your Ratings for July, please check the Tournament chart.
• Your Rating will change on a monthly basis based on the results of the previous month’s play. (This will be reflected starting with the switch from July to August.)
  – Ratings of 2,000 or less -> Start at 2,000
  – Ratings from 2,000-2,500 -> Same rating will be maintained
  – Rating of 2,500 or more -> 1/10 of the value will be added to 2,500
  – Value will be reset to 2,000 if the player did not play the previous month or if any questionable data is present.