IGN: Mario Tennis Review

January 24, 2001 - For every Nintendo system on the market, there has to be a top Nintendo-published tennis game. The NES and Super NES had the fantastic Tennis and Super Tennis, and the original Game Boy had an excellent portable game of Tennis at its launch back in 1989. Though it took a lengthy amount of time, the N64 finally received pure gold in the form of Mario Tennis last year -- and while it seemed like forever-and-a-half, the Game Boy Color conversion is finally available. And it was certainly worth the wait ¿ the game was a brilliant return to the courts on the Nintendo 64, and the Game Boy Color offers near-exact gameplay in its 2D-friendly environment. What a way to kick off 2001.

Features

More than 20 characters
Four court types
Three battery save slots
Mario Tour, Exhibition, and minigame modes
Link cable support for two players
Only for Game Boy Color

When Camelot does a pocket game, they go all out. Exactly like the Game Boy Color version of Mario Golf, Mario Tennis is not a mere console-to-handheld conversion of the design ¿ it's a stand-alone product that offers its own unique take on the overall game. Oh, the game plays nearly identically to the Nintendo 64 version of Mario Tennis, but the career mode and minigames are so deep and rewarding that folks who have blown through the N64 title will find a ton more things to uncover in the on-the-go edition.

For gamers who just want to get right in the action, Mario Tennis offers a jump-in-and-play Exhibition mode for one or two players (via the link cable). This exhibition mode is nothing more than a singles-or-doubles competition with or against the computer AI ¿ there's nothing to earn here, it's merely to allow folks to get on the court in a hurry. But it's here where you'll experience the tight tennis engine Camelot built for the handheld. The overhead perspective isn't much different from any of the other 8 or 16-bit tennis games ¿ but it's the control of the ball and player that give the game its edge.

At face value the game has great pick-up-and-play playability, but when you get down to the nuances of its control scheme you'll have more power over the ball than you know what to do with. Overhand smashes, forehands and backhands are always at the ready ¿ you just have to properly place your character in the proper position next to or under the ball. But lobs, drop shots, flat shots and topspins can only be pulled off by button two button combinations. That may sound intimidating, especially in a quick-paced game like this ¿ but there's plenty of opportunity to sucker your opponent with special moves. In fact, in later levels, that's the only way you're ever going to get through the game ¿ shot mastery. And characters themselves have their own strengths and weaknesses to deal with -- some may be slower than others, but they'll have better placement control. Some may slip around the court like it was ice, but watch out for their power shots.

But when you first boot-up the game, only a handful of Mario characters are available ¿ Luigi, Baby Mario, and Donkey Kong. It's a nice line-up, but it's not the full roster, and it's only when you actually get deeper into the game will you uncover all that the game has to offer. That's where the career mode comes into play. Much like the tour in Mario Golf, the Mario Tour in Mario Tennis is an extended RPG-like mode where you'll build up a novice character from the ground up and take him through the paces ¿ training and tournaments to get through the rankings. For every victory in both tennis matches and training minigames, your character will earn experience points that can be converted into abilities, both for your character and your doubles partner. As complete as the Mario Tour is, it doesn't seem as solid as the one offered in Mario Golf -- and in many cases it'll take much longer to complete simply because each match could last a half hour or more. That's a lot of tennis playing.

The integration of the N64 version of Mario Tennis is a little more essential when compared to Mario Golf -- it's more two-way this time. While I'm sure that several of the Mario characters can be obtained through the completion of the Mario Tour, you can get around that by simply copying your earned Mario characters in the Nintendo 64 edition to the GBC game through the use of the Transfer Pak. And your characters built-up in the Game Boy Color edition can be shot over into the world of 3D on the Nintendo 64 ¿ with all of their capabilities copied over. The Transfer Pak function isn't a throw-away option ¿ and I highly recommend taking advantage of it.

Once characters have been moved over (Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi, Mario, Bowser, and Princess Peach), a handful of excellently challenging minigames open up ¿ there are three to begin with, each one focusing on special shot capabilities as well as proper aim. In fact, these minigames are better implemented than the ring shot option in the N64 edition -- they don't deviate much from the tennis action, but it's the requirements of each that give these games their appeal. Hit targets, collect treasure -- even go two on one against the Wario and Waluigi pair.

Closing Comments
Mario Tennis is an extremely deep Game Boy Color game, but there's not as much variety to the game as there is in Mario Golf¿ and the only difference in challenge is how difficult the computer AI can get in higher levels. It's a brilliant game, absolutely ¿ just one ace shy of perfection on the handheld.

IGN Ratings for Mario Tennis (GBC)