Mario Power Tennis

"This game has made me relive the old days."

Back in the day all I played was super tennis. It was really fun rallying with my family but it was only 2 player Now my first time playing a mario tennis game.

Graphics
Nothing spectacular but they do look good and clear. The courts look like they should and some have a lot of life in them. The courts you unlock are really good at recreation of other environments. The tennis ball looks good and well detailed. Power shots look fine and colourful. I liked the addition to the somewhat anime style powershots. Like I said, nothing breaktaking but certainly not bad.

Sound
The sound is fine but it can certainly be annoying, i'll get to that later. The tennis ball when it hits an object sounds realistic and good. The music doesn't bother me in the least and it really adds to the tension to the game sometimes. The cons here is that the voices of the characters are very repetitive and extremley annoying. The constant yelps and screams can drive anybody crazy. Overall the sound is fine, but the sounds from the characters are horrible.

Gameplay
This game has surprisingly addictive and VERY intense fast paced gaming. First we will start with the characters.

Good selection of characters dispite the fact that for some reason Toad wasn't in the game. I doesn't mean anything to me since I never played the original Mario Tennis. There are different kinds of types for characters such as tricky, all-around, speed, technique and power. Tricky is characters that have more curves in there swings and the power shots can be somewhat intresting too. The rest are self explanatory.

This game has a good variety in courts and game modes. You have your three standard courts ranging with different ball bounces and speed. Other courts that are called "gimmick courts" which add a twist to the basics of tennis and offer more frantic and intresting gameplay. "Ring Shot" which is what is self explanatory which features a game mode that you hit the tennis ball through rings to earn points. There are other game modes included as well such as "special games" that is exactly what it is. Special Games include artist on the court which is a game mode when you and your friends can shoot paint balls onto an uncoloured picture and you must finish the picture in a specific amount of time to win. Skipping onto tournament mode. In Tournament Mode you play matches with characters in a tournnamet. Whoever is the last man standing wins. You can unlock new things by winning these. You have a choice of either singles or doubles. Once yu have chose that you can choose to play standard court tournament cups, or gimmick court tournament cups. There is much more to this game but I don't want to keep rambling!

Story
The story is lacking and weak. I don't really need to explain it. Lets just say that this is a mario game and it's not expected to have a good story.

Replay Value
This game has excellent replay value whether it's against cpu's or humans you will have a good time. The amount of tournaments and things to unlocks will keep anybody busy for a long time.

Difficulty
Whoa, is this game ever wicked hard! I've had matches that have went on for just 30 minutes alone. If you want something challenging this is it.

To buy or to rent?
This is all a matter of opinoin. If you despise sport games in any form then I do not recommend. If you have played the previous mario tennis then I recommend you buy it. If you are new to the series like I am then rent it first.

Overal this is a good game that nobody should have to miss.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 11/16/04