"Good swing"

Are you ready to play tennis? I sure am, if you are one of those people who find tennis to technical or boring, this game is for you. Because it is not as technical nor serious as real tennis. For those looking for a fun game you can pick up and play easily, you found your target. If you have played the Nintendo 64 version, you are playing basically the same game, the only real differences are; smash shots are only smashes when over your head, there are more characters with better balance, and of course you can use power up moves.

Story 0
After watching a not so funny cut scene, you get right down to it, playing tennis, story, what story who cares its tennis, go play!

Gameplay 9
Lets see, using the A and B button you lob, smash, pop a shot, or slice the ball over the net to win. The game has three levels of controls, which allow you to choose if you want the computer to pick your power shot and decide when you lunge for the ball, or if you want to do it yourself. Its sorta like a game of chess while choosing shots, lob beats pop a shot, and pop a shot beats lob, while slice takes the power off of top spin shots, and top spin shots are made to throw you off balance if you use slices. The power shots, do one thing or a few things, they make your ball harder to hit by; making the shot strong, cloaking the ball, putting a curve on the ball, or if you do return the ball you are out of position or stunned longer. So everytime you use an offensive power shot or return one, you must think of the volley afterward, and not just the shot itself. And the defensive power shots, usually return the ball normally, but allow you to reach a shot you normally would not be able to get, the only problem or plus, is they pause the action slightly, so you can take a mental break, or you can be annoyed in a heated battle.

The game is easy to pick up, but not easy to master, the characters have their own ups and downs and are in categories. Technical, power, speed, and tricky. Technical is about being in the right spot and putting the ball in the right place, power is about being slow and hitting hard, speed is fast and usually your best choice. And tricky is very annoying to play against, and I recommend you practice playing as them. Their shots are well, tricky, and can bounce to the left or right after you hit it, which can turn the tide in any game at any moment. But most people just pick what character they like best, but oh yeah I forgot to mention. The courts, the courts in this game are better than every. The court you play on also effects the gameplay, it can make the ball travel slower, or bounce higher. And there are gimmick courts with a lot of crazy stuff going on, but thankfully, just like power ups, you can choose to turn them off or on. There is also an item mode, and other silly modes that have nothing to do with tennis, but are okay to play.

Music 8
I thought there would be more beats and better sounds in the game, but the music is well intense and you can just listen to it all day that is how well made it is. I was disappointed there was not that much Mario themed music in this game. It is also made by Camelot, they also made Mario Golf, and they make the music dramatic yet calm it is perfect tennis music trust me.

Multiplayer 10

This is where Mario Tennis turns into an ace. You can play with the computer, or with your friends, I think you can just watch the computer play also...but I doubt that. Anyway, yeah the game does not slow down with four characters the only thing that changes is the games strategy. Basically, you can not work the whole side of the net, so what you must do, is design a plan when playing doubles. You have to have someone cover the net and someone cover the opposite side and get the baseline. By switching up character types, you can be a pushover or you can be a brick wall the choice is yours and yours alone.

Buy/Rent

I would not buy this game until the price lowers, for 40 dollars this game is a lot of money, wait for the price drop to 20 or thirty or something. I do like Nintendo's strategy with the Revolution, which is, make games that are fun and cheap and easy to play, because many games are passed by simply because of time and price. This game however is fun and easy, the only problem is cheapness. In one player mode, you have to beat the game with every character, twice, which takes a while. So go ahead, and have fun with this tennis game it is another Mario sport title you should enjoy.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 12/07/05