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Mario
Power Tennis is the
latest in the Mario franchise, a follow-up to the Nintendo64 hit, Mario
Tennis. Mario Power Tennis has the sport of tennis
drenched with typical Nintendo flavour, with its solid control and
typical match set up.
Play
is constructed in an easy-to-grasp fashion. In order to hit the
ball, all that is needed is the press of the A Button or the B
Button. The A Button will harness the commonly used Top-Spin Shot,
which will quickly fly and bounce with a high trajectory.  The Slice
Shot, used with the B Button, will fly and bounce with a low
trajectory at a slower speed. If the button used is tapped twice, a
more powerful shot will occur. A Lob Shot can be used by pressing
the A Button then the B Button, a handy move to trick those net
players. The opposite, a Drop Shot, can be used with the pressing
of the B Button then the A Button. This kind of shot will stay near
the net. Finally, a Smash Shot can be used by pressing the A and B
Button at the same time. This is especially useful in an overhead
shot while in a Smash Point; a star on the court made when a ball
is high in the air. Any shot's path can be changed by pressing left
or right on the Control Stick right as the ball is hit. Characters
will lunge at the ball automatically, unless the most complex
control set-up is used. Even a beginner can pick up the controls
quickly even if all they know is A and how to direct it then you
can still have a pretty decent game.
The
other rules of tennis are also nailed down with ease in developer
Camelot's latest. Serving, the beginning of every point, is easy to
learn, but difficult to master. Where the serving player stands can
be altered with the Control Stick. Next, the ball is tossed into
the air with either the A Button or the B Button. Then, once the
ball is at its peak, whack the ball with the press of the button
again!(If you time it just right “NICE” will come up in the
corner of your screen.) The character receiving the serve can taunt
with the A or B Button to help charge a Power Shot and make the
serve less powerful.
While
these tennis basics are fine and good, Mario Power Tennis
sets a distinction from other games through Power Shots.  Through
the course of play, a player's activity will cause their racquet to
glow extremely brightly. The fine art consists of both Offensive
Power Shots and Defensive Power Shots. The Offensive Power Shot
will usually have great force behind it that can knock a character
out silly! A Defensive Power Shot will allow for the ball to be
hit, even if it is behind the character! Both of these variations
are unique to each character, but still revolve around this general
idea. Donkey Kong may barrel cannon the shot, Peach may kiss the
ball to her, Luigi may use the Poltergust 3000, and other
characters have their own wacky ideas. The Power Shot will use a
short animation, which freezes everything else. Since each Power
Shot has its good points and bad, these do nothing to taint the
strategy of this experience.
These
Mario-theme Gimmick Courts are perhaps the best feature of the
entire game.
A Gimmick Court
is a feature-rich arena that adds a
new degree of action to the sport.  The environment can be used in
your favour and is often necessary for victory. For example, a
court located in Super Mario Sunshine's
Delfino
Island
has three large circles located on
each side of the net. When the ball lands in one of these circles,
it will fill with mud. If a character steps into the mud, they slow
down. The mud can be cleared if a FLUDD switch is stood upon for a
long enough time. Another example is Wario's factory court. It is
covered with conveyor belts that will change direction when arrows
lined up along the net are hit. These are not cosmetic changes; any
match can be swayed by proper use of the court. The entire design
maintains the sport of tennis, but allows for the feel of Mario
action.
The
tournament mode is the biggest let down in the game. As you can’t
do a two-player doubles tournament you have to be with an AI
player. But the singles tournament mode is quite cool, with a
steady learning curve it’s quite easy to get to grips with the
game. With the selection of
either Gimmick Courts or the basic World Cup, this mode can either
be experienced in Singles or Doubles.
The
Mini-Game Mode,  which runs alongside Gimmick Courts, has a nice
variety foe when the main game tires a little. Each Mini-Game
offers a unique challenge. Artist on the Court shoots paint balls
at the characters. By hitting them against a wall, a painting must
be filled with the proper colours. Terror Tennis forces players to
hit various Luigi's Mansion ghosts back into their portraits. Chain
Chomp Challenge makes the contenders feed their chain chomps tennis
balls while managing Bob-bombs and water balls, which affect point
value. Even though these are just the beginning, every Special Game
offers a fun and unique challenge (except for one of the hidden
ones). Up to four players can participate in most of these exciting
challenges. For the lonely gamer, there are three ranks of
difficulty to unlock for each game.
While
Mario Power Tennis may not shake the Tennis genre to it’s
roots, much like it’s sister titles Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
and the forthcoming Mario Strikers I’d find it hard to
believe that was ever the intention. The title plays as any
arcade-style Tennis game should, but adds a defining characteristic
by lending it’s stylings to the Mushroom
Kingdom.
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