Mario Power Tennis

"This game is tennis-tic! Okay, that was bad...I promise the review will be good!"

Intro:

Nintendo can pretty much give themselves the crown for the Award of “Best. Multi-player Gaming Company. Ever”. Every year, they release games that will make us sit on our couch for hours during Christmas and we wouldn't complain. Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64 was one of those games where a simple “one more game” phrase means many more hours of swearing, controller throwing and beating. Good times, they were. Now, 4 years later, Nintendo have unleash this monster of a game on us. It's deeper, better looking and have more mini-games than ever before. It will rival Mario Party 6 as the most insane four-player action you will have on the GCN in the year 2004.

Graphics: 7

You are awesome Nintendo, no offense, but YOU HAVE TO STOP BEING SO DAMN LAZY WITH THE GRAPHICS DEPARTMENT. I'm sorry, but every year you release excellent multi-player games that are a step back in technology when compared to games released that year. It's not like you guys aren't capable of using the GCN *points at SSBM* you guys are just too lazy. Character models are only slightly better than those of Mario Party games and are light-years behind the likes of Super Smash Brothers: Melee. The background of the game is clean and polished, but really nothing special. The worst part would have to be the fact that crowds are simply repeated sprites of Dolphinoes and the tennis ball model ISN'T EVEN DETAILED. When I first saw the screen shots for Mario Tennis, the ball had actual fuzz on it and everything looked awesome. I thought to myself “Wow, this game could actually be awesome in more ways than just the multi-player”. I was wrong. This game's graphics is just another piece of evidence that Nintendo is getting lazier every year.

All complaints aside though, the game doesn't look too bad. It is cleaned, polished and the frame-rates are top-notched at a fairly consistent 60 frames. The opening scene is plenty of fun to look at and it's even pretty funny at times too. To be honest, it is just a tennis game; I shouldn't be too hard on Nintendo since they sure got the “important” parts of the game right.

Sound/Music: 7

Alright, before I get to good stuff, I will just complain a bit more here. Let's see, sub-par music, atrocious sound effects and Mario's voice is as annoying as ever. The whole game simply doesn't shine in this category.

On the bright side, the character's lines are actually fairly witty and funny. The fact that it runs in Dolby Pro Logic II doesn't hurt either.

Gameplay: 9

Oh boy, oh boy. The good stuff at last. After the first two sections, you must be thinking that this game is hideous. The answer is FAR from that. This game is a gem and has already claimed many hours of my life. It is one of the most entertaining tennis games on the Gamecube, bar-none.

The basics in tennis are still here. You can slice with B and top-spin with A. Press them together and you will perform a smash, but more on that later. The game of tennis is very much like a game of chess. Every shot has to be well thought of before you make it. You have to consider where you stand, how you will hit the ball, where you opponents are and if he or she will be able to figure you out before you make a move.

Every shot has its advantages and disadvantages. For example, slicing the ball is recommended when you are trying to recover since the ball will travel slowly and go farther than a top-spin. Top-spins are recommended when you are trying to make your opponent move his feet around because it is fast and doesn't go very far at all. A smash is simply a shot that should finish your opponent off, but it is very much returnable unlike Mario Tennis on Nintendo 64. Last, but not least, when you press A, B or both of them twice in succession, the slice, top-spin or smash will have colors trailing the tennis ball and it is generally more powerful.

Another key to success it to be able to know how to make your opponent move up and down the court. Press A and then B to lob the ball WAY over their heads into the backcourt when you see that they are net-playing you. If you see that your opponent is playing it safe by standing WAY back on the baseline, press B and then A to drop your shot right next to the net. It is a very strategic game in real life, and it isn't any different here.

Last, but not least, the innovative and unique part of Mario Power Tennis: the Power Shots. There are two types of Power Shots: the Offensive Power Shots (we'll call it OP from now on) and the Defensive Power Shots (we'll call it DP from now on). An OP's mission is exactly what it sounds like: to attack your opponent mercilessly, while the DP is to give you a chance to stop them from scoring on you by pulling off amazing maneuvers and keep the ball in play. To activate them, you simply run around the court until your racket shines. When it does, press R+A to activate an OP and R+B for a DP. While they might sound simple to use; they add a TON of strategic elements to the game. I will talk about that later. All you need to know now is that OP is certainly returnable without using DP. That should give you something to think about before you go off using OP all the time.

Before I get into the characters attributes, Gimmick Courts and the new Special Games, I will dissect the differences between this game and Mario Tennis on Nintendo 64. This section is for experts only, so skip it if you don't care about reading deep strategies. My biggest gripe with Mario Power Tennis is simply the fact that they took out a big factor from the original Mario Tennis: accuracy. While it sounds like it will be harder to keep the ball in-play, it is actually the opposite. You will almost never hit the ball into the net or out when you are playing Mario Power Tennis. You will have to run up the court and hit a fully powered up slicing shot to hit it out. In the original game, the only character that can hit the baseline with extreme accuracy was Peach. If any other character tried to lob the ball far into the backcourt, it will either go out or fall short. But in Mario Power Tennis, everyone is hitting the ball right down the baseline as if it is nothing. To summarize all that up, Nintendo have really toned-down the difficulty in this game in an effort to make everyone feel like Wimbledon masters when they are playing the game. While it can be good and bad for different people, it certainly didn't make me very happy that a shot that should have gone out stayed in because it was RIGHT on the sideline. That just doesn't happen very often in real life at all.

Mario Power Tennis features a fairly wide selection of playable characters such as Mario, Peach, Wario, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Boo, Bowser, Luigi, Daisy, Waluigi, Koopa Troopa, Diddy Kong, Shy Guy and Bowser Jr. for starters. You can unlock four more characters as you play the game. Every character has different styles with hitting the ball and the way they execute DP and OP. They also have different strengths and weaknesses from one another so if you like to pound the ball, you would go with Bowser or DK while you would go with Yoshi if you prefer running around the court.

New to Mario Power Tennis are the Gimmick Courts and a number of cool modes to play. For starters, you get your basic exhibition mode where you just choose your characters, pick a court and play with no strings attached. Then you have your single-player mode, the Tournament. You'll unlock most of your characters and courts by going through the 3 Cups and advancing through them. After that, you will unlock a Star Tournament with a pretty high difficulty. It might be too hard for some new players, but I killed everyone without much of a challenge.

Then you got your Gimmick Courts where pure chaoses are happening in these courts and it varies with every court. Some of the courts will have ghosts popping out of nowhere while others will change the stage depending on where you hit your ball. The Gimmick Courts are great to fool around with, but they will bore you after a while. I find that after experiencing with each of them, I will rarely play them in the Gimmick mode much. They are nice to look at though, since they are certainly a lot more interesting than the boring standard courts.

Finally, there is the Special Games where you play through different levels which challenge you to do different things. For Artist on the Floor, you will have to paint a picture of Mario by using colored tennis balls. In another Special Game, you have to fight a Mecha-Bowser by firing tennis balls at him to reduce his health. They can be played with four-players and might be prove to be entertaining for a while since they are just so wacky and entertaining. Sadly, they will bore you after playing it through a couple of times and the novelty wears off.

So, after all that, you must be thinking to yourself “So the two new additions to this game will bore me after awhile…this game must suck!” That is where you are wrong. While single-player experience can be fun, but repetitive, multi-player mode will keep this game in your Gamecube until the cows come home. If you have two-three friends to play with daily, be prepare to buy some beer and lock the door because this game will rock your world. Playing this game with three of your friends is nothing less of an orgy with hot girls. Trash talk and cussing will be roaming the room frequently and fights might even occur because you had a truce *rolls eyes*. This is why Mario Power Tennis deserves a 9 in Gameplay. While the game tried to give you as much as possible in single-player, it is in multi-player this game REALLY shines. Without a doubt the most fun you'll have with your pants still on. Unless you happen to live in Las Vegas.

Lasting Appeal: 10

You'll be playing this game for a LONG, LONG time if you got three friends. If you plan on playing game alone, drop the score down to a 6. Yeah, big difference.

Conclusion:

Mario Power Tennis, although with some laziness in the graphics, sound department, and the toned-down difficulty, is exactly what I've been waiting for the whole year. This game rocked my world and reminded me of what gaming is all about: pure, unfiltered fun.

Must-buy if you:
- Like tennis at all
- Like Mario games
- Enjoys a good multi-player game without worrying about if it is Mature or not

Rent first if you:
- Have no friends…
- Isn't sure if tennis is your cup of tea

Stay Away if you:
- Can't stand tennis games that allows a hammer or a jet-pack on the court
- Is too used to games like Top Spin to convert now
- Hate playing with friends.

Reviewer's Score: 9/10, Originally Posted: 12/21/04, Updated 12/21/04