Nintendo’s timeless plumber has been moonlighting on the tennis court ever since 1995’s Mario’s Virtual Tennis for the Virtual Boy. As technology has improved over the years, so has the fun factor. Three years after Nintendo and developer Camelot teamed up to create the Nintendo 64’s Mario Tennis, they’ve re-teamed to bring this updated and revamped rendition of the game to the Nintendo GameCube. Packed with new challenges, new playable characters, and a bunch of new power moves, Mario and friends are set to serve up the wildest, most intense tennis championship this side of the Mushroom Kingdom. Grab a racket and take to the courts, for you’re guaranteed to have a ball.

Features

• Nintendo and Camelot bring the sequel to the Nintendo 64 smash only for Nintendo GameCube
  
• Take to the tennis courts with Mario, Luigi, Wario, Bowser, and fourteen other residents of the Mushroom Kingdom and nearby Donkey Kong Country.
  
• Traditional tennis meets gimmick mayhem on a variety of madcap courts and play modes
  
• Special mini-games provide extra tennis-based challenges
  
• Unlock secret mini-games, hidden characters, and extra tennis courts
  
• Play alone or with up to four friends simultaneously
  

At Your Service
Hot off the heels of last year’s Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, Camelot has developed a top-notch tennis game that takes the traditional rules of the sport and injects some Mushroom Kingdom madcappery. The basic rules of tennis still apply: matches can be played as singles (one player versus another) or doubles (one team of two players versus another team of two players), with each match divided into one, three, or five sets with up to three games per set. One need not play all sets to win; winning three sets is all that’s needed to win a best-of-five set match. Traditional tennis matches (also known as the World Cup mode) take place at the Peach Dome on a standard issue tennis court. The Mushroom Kingdom influence on the game shows up on the Gimmick Courts – tennis courts based around a familiar theme from somewhere in the Super Mario Bros. or Donkey Kong universes. These courts feature moving floors that reconfigure the shape of the tennis court, troublesome ghosts that toss banana peels onto the court, hungry Klaptraps that take a bite out of players, and more. The most interesting Gimmick Court is based on the original arcade game Mario Bros. and featured pixelated graphics, Shellcreepers that wander across the tennis court, and a moving POW Block that serves as a handy target. Other games revisited on the Gimmick Courts include Luigi’s Mansion, Super Mario Sunshine, Donkey Kong Country, and even Wario Ware Inc. The next type of tennis match, Item Match, takes a page from Super Mario Kart and places now-familiar items such as turtle shells and super mushrooms on the court for use against the opponent. Rounding out the basic tennis mayhem is the Ring Shot in which players earn points for lobbing shots through rings that float above the net, with point totals determining the winner of the match.


Klaptraps slow Luigi down.

Aside from the wacky tennis courts, the main draw of Mario Power Tennis is the many Mushroom Kingdomites who are participating in the tennis tournament. As in past "Mario Sports" titles, characters are divided up into various skill classes. These classes include basic all-around skilled players (Mario and Luigi, as usual), speedy characters (Yoshi, Diddy Kong, and Koopa Troopa), powerful players with strong racket-swinging skills (Wario, Donkey Kong and Bowser), technical players with an eye towards accuracy (Princesses Peach and Daisy plus good ‘ol Shy Guy), tricky players who have a knack for curving their shots mysteriously (Boo and Bowser Jr.), and defensive players who can return almost any kind of short (Waluigi). There are also four hidden characters locked away, each of which comes from a Super Mario Bros. title, old and new. Watch for two characters gifted with flight, a leafy foe, and a certain caterpillar making a debut playable appearance.

Hmm, So They Finally Jazzed It Up
In addition to basic skill classes, each character has a unique defensive and offensive maneuver. As players hit the ball back and forth their tennis rackets light up and begin to glow. After several shots the racket becomes powered up and can be used to perform one of these maneuvers to either catch up to a ball about to land out of bounds or perform a power shot to propel the ball back at the opponent, stunning them momentarily. For instance, if Diddy Kong is out of range of a returning shot, he can use his defensive move to activate his jetpack from Donkey Kong 64 to catch up to the ball. If he’s in a position to take the advantage instead, he can toss his racket up in the air, catch it with his tail, and take a powerful swing at the ball with it, sending the returning shot back at his opponent in a banana-shaped arc. Other special maneuvers include Bowser setting the ball on fire with his mightly flaming breath, Wario using a spring-loaded tennis racket to extend his reach, Luigi using his trusty Poltergust vacuum cleaner to suck a wayward ball back into range, and Shy Guy’s use of tribal dance from Super Mario World 2: Yoshi’s Island to electrify the tennis ball.