Tips and hard mode

Updated 2026-11-05

Hard mode exists. Both builds offer NORMAL and HARD before a 1-player match. No page says how much faster the computer gets, so this guide will not invent a percentage.

Pick the build before you pick a tactic. On 2020, player 1 hits with V and smashes with B. On 2026, player 1 hits with X and smashes with Z. A tip that says “press V” is wrong the moment you open the newer title. The control page keeps both maps.

Power-ups cross the middle of the court. TwoPlayerGames says they appear at random and that you activate one by sending the ball through the icon. Freeze, shrink and a speed boost are the three effects that page names. If you are playing 2026, those three are the ones I would plan around. Slow and grow are in the game file only, so I mention them as extra, not as a combo chart.

The cmug mirror tells you to choose a difficulty and then play a tournament or a friendly match. That matches the 2020 Championship label and the 2026 Tournament / Friendly split. A friendly match is the shorter way to learn the smash key. A tournament is the longer 1-player run. I have no round count for either, so I do not print one.

Local two-player is a positioning problem, not a ranking problem. You share one keyboard. On 2026 the left side of the keyboard is player 2 (WASD, L, K) and the right side is player 1 (arrows, X, Z). On 2020 it is the other way around. Sit accordingly.

I will not tell you a “best character”. No source gives speed or power. All 17 names are listed as selectable. Pick by the label you can remember, then spend the match on the power-up that is actually over the net.