| Introduction
Golfer, Plumber, Doctor, Kart Driver. Mario has done
a lot in his life, and now he picks up a racquet and
tries his hand at tennis. Following the same format
as Mario Golf, Mario Tennis has a lot to live up to.
But how well can you combine a Tennis Game and a Role-Playing
Game?
GamePlay
There are four modes of play in Mario Tennis. They
are: Exhibition, Mario Mini-Games, Linked Play, and
Mario Tour.
Exhibition is a one off match. You get to choose
singles or doubles, your player/s, who you play against,
the number of sets and games per set, and what type
of court you play it on. This mode is great if you just
want to have a quick game without worrying about story.
You can set the opponent to whatever level of difficulty
you want, so it's good for beginner's and experts alike.
As an added bonus, you can use your character from the
Mario Tour mode in any exhibition match. This is a great
way to build up your character outside of the Mario
Tour mode.
There are nine Mario Mini-Games in total, although
you only start the game with three available. Other
Mini-Games become available by doing certain things
within the game, or by uploading characters from Mario
Tennis on the Nintendo 64 via the Transfer Pak. Each
Mini-Game has two difficulty levels and a challenge
mode. The individual Mini-Games focus on a particular
character and they're usually a variation on a game
or challenge found in Mario Tour mode. For example,
in the Donkey Kong Mini-Game, you have to bounce the
ball off a wall, hitting bananas for points. In the
Bowser mini-game, you play a handicap match against
both Wario and Waluigi at the same time!
Linked Play is exactly the same as Exhibition except
for the fact that you get to play against a friend by
using the Link Cable. The only problem I found with
linked play is that it can be very confusing if you're
both using your player characters (and you both chose
the same player character). There is no way to tell
between the two characters. A simple alternate clothing
color, even if only for linked play, would have made
the two player game a lot easier to play.
Mario Tour is the main mode of play. Mario tour begins
by letting you choose a boy or girl and give him/her
a name. You then get to name their older doubles partner.
After a rather long intro, you finally get to control
your character. From here there's virtually hundreds
of things to do. You can take coaching lessons, play
practice matches to increase your rank within the Academy,
test your skills in the Training Centre or even play
doubles with your partner. There always feels like there's
half a dozen things you can do at any one time.
Nothing is a waste of time either because everything
you do gains you more experience. This is where the
RPG element comes in. Whenever you gain enough experience,
you go up a level. You can then choose to improve one
of four main areas (each with sub-areas): Spin (Top,
Slice), Control (Angle, Placement), Power (Serve, Stroke,
Volley), and Speed (Speed, Dash, Reaction, Stop). How
you alter these areas can vastly affect the style of
game you play.
You start Mario Tour off being unranked in the Juniors
category. From there you work your way up through Seniors,
on to Varsity, and finally on to the Touring Team. Your
character has two ranks at any one time. A singles rank
and a doubles rank (with your partner). Both of these
have to be built up in the game until you're on the
Touring Team. Getting on the Touring Team is your first
goal in the game. Once you've reached that level, you
can then go on to represent the Royal Tennis Academy
in tournaments overseas.
When you get to the higher levels, you can rent equipment
that can alter your game. For instance, there are Iron
Shoes that will slow you down, but they'll also increase
how much experience you earn. Other equipment improves
your serve, accuracy or the like. No equipment comes
without disadvantages though. Where it'll increase some
stats, it will lower others.
Control
Mario Tennis is very easy to control, which is one
thing that makes it such a great game. The "A"
and "B" buttons are the two basic types of
shots, while pressing combinations of buttons can produce
more advanced shots. The Coaching Lessons help you learn
the controls if you're having trouble with doing the
advanced shots.
At first you may find that your character is sluggish
on the court, you can never hit the ball where you want
it to go, or that your shots simply always go out. This
isn't a fault of the controls. It's just that your character
may not be experienced enough to move quickly or hit
accurately.
Graphics
Mario Tennis features two levels of graphics: RPG
graphics and on-court graphics. The RPG portions of
the game are taken from the traditional top down view.
The backgrounds are awesome for the Game Boy Color.
You feel like you're roaming around on fully painted
backgrounds, rather than something produced by an 8-Bit
system. The on-court view shows a lot more detail on
the characters. One fear I had was that the Tennis Ball
was going to be hard to see. By making the ball slightly
larger than it should be, the makers of Mario Tennis
have ensured this is never a problem. The score is only
ever on the screen when a point is scored, preventing
the game-screen from ever feeling cluttered.
Sound & Music
Sound is of a pretty high standard for a Game Boy
game. The music changes throughout the game to suit
the occasion. For example, if you get to a Tie-Breaker,
the music will become more intense, while the music
that plays while you're walking around the academy is
a lot softer and pleasant. The sound effects are crisp
and clear. While they may not be digitised sound bites,
they really suit the game and the format. You don't
need high level sound for this type of game.
Final Comments
There is one major area where Mario Tennis excels
beyond expectations - that's with it's link capabilities
with the Nintendo 64 version of the game. Not only can
you transfer your Game Boy characters across to the
N64 like you could with Mario Golf, but you can now
transfer Nintendo 64 characters back to your Game Boy!
You can also use the Game Boy Game to unlock courts
on the N64 game. This is probably the best use of the
Transfer Pack I have ever seen. If you have both systems
but only have one of the games, it's really worth getting
the other because of this interactivity. If you don't
have a Nintendo 64 though, don't despair. There's still
plenty you can do without linking and the menu's are
designed in such a way that you'll never miss it.
Mario Tennis is definitely one of the premier titles
on the Game Boy Color. There is so much to do that it
will take you ages to finish. At times it can get a
little repetitive. I mean, there isn't really much difference
between individual matches if you look at it from a
variety point of view. The matches do get a lot tougher
as the game goes on though and you'll find yourself
continuing to play the game just so you can move on
to the next level. It's very addictive in that way.
If you like sports titles with that something extra,
or if you're after a game that will keep you occupied
for hours on end, then I'd definitely recommend Mario
Tennis.
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