Mario's a versatile chap, isn't he? Why the gaming world has gotten behind the short, pudgy, moustachioed Italian plumber is anyone's guess, but they have, and he's everywhere. If he's not saving the Princess, he's racing against her, or, in Mario Power Tennis, smashing balls in her general direction.
And somehow it works.
Fun Times
I wasn't expecting much when I dove into Mario Power Tennis. I certainly wasn't expecting short film depicting the attempts of Wario and Luigi to become tennis doubles champions, but that's what we get.
Bowser has been watching and takes it upon himself to whip these idiots into shape in his gym. For what purpose, though? Why does he want Wario and Luigi to win? He looks like a competent enough tennis player himself...
The tournament enters the final contest, but Mario and Luigi's opponents have been replaced by the previously defeated Wario and Luigi! The crowd are rightly confused and concerned. And what's this? Wario isn't even in the mood to play tennis?
I'll not spoil the ending. Instead, I'll start the actual game.
Mario Power Tennis is, as you would expect, a tennis game. You can pick from a bunch of recognisable faces from the Mario series and get them onto several courts, either one on one or in doubles matches, serving up aces and backhanding returns across the court.
It is, underneath all the Nintendo stuff, a solid game of tennis. Not realistic, but not absurdly simple either. If this was the only tennis title you had, you'd be doing good. I think I actually had a tennis game on the PlayStation. I don't know why. I don't really care about tennis.
Anyway, as I was getting to grips with the controls (which seem to be move with the stick and return the ball with anything resembling a button), things started to get a little more arcadey.
Clearly nowhere near the ball, Luigi freezes it, chucking out his racket and equipping his vacuum to hoover the racket into the ball, saving the day and sending the ball my way.
It works. But with a charged up racket and/or a press of the X button (really not sure which, I need to read the instructions one of these days), two can play at that game.
These power shots set Mario Power Tennis apart from other tennis titles. Well, that and a few other things, as the Donkey Kong themed gimmick stage makes clear.
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| Spot the ball competition. I can't even find it myself. |
If you ever wanted to play a game of tennis as a chimpanzee against a turtle, Mario Power Tennis is probably your only option. You don't have to play on a gimmick court, however, but if you want lizards clinging to people to slow them down, for example, you can.
It can be a right pain in the arse to see what's going on sometimes, however. Characters blur into the stage, and while the ball does usually glow with some effect or other applied to it, you can lose track of it.
As powers pop off, the gameplay gets chopped up into chunks. I wonder if there is an option to skip the short cutscenes of DK powering up and jumping into a barrel, or Diddy posing as a banana - once you've seen them, you don't need to see them again. It's even worse when they almost inevitably lead to a replay, which then replays the entire cutscene too.
Still, for its minor quibbles, this is a fun game. Not outrageously fun, but fun enough to be entertaining while you're playing it, and there are more than a few game modes to try out if you want even wackier tennis matches.
Mario Kart style power-ups to give you extra speed or chuck bananas all over the court? There's a mode for that, as well as championships and tournaments, and a kind of target practice thing. There may even be more, in sections of the menu I've not even entered yet.
Final Word
I'm in no rush to find out what else Mario Power Tennis has to offer players, though. But, I am now aware of what it can offer, which is a silly but somewhat sophisticated game of tennis.
It's not a chore to get going, and you don't need to go through any tennis tutorials before you step onto the court. If you can move and react to something vaguely in your vicinity by jabbing a button, you're good to go.
Each character has their own power moves to pull off in an attempt to snatch a victory, but you'll probably get tired of seeing them after a while. They break up the flow of the game quite a bit, especially if they don't manage to get you a point for your troubles.
At the end of the day, Mario Power Tennis is another little game that you can pick up and play without much fuss, and be entertained with it while you do. It won't wow many people, but it might surprise some and is worth a game or two at least.
Fun Facts
Advertising for the game could be seen at Wimbledon. I'd watch more tennis if it was more like Mario Power Tennis than not.
Mario Power Tennis, developed by Camelot Software Planning, first released in 2004.
Version played: GameCube, 2004, via emulation.