Mario Power Tennis

Mario Power Tennis
Tennis fun with Mario and friends!
Genre(s): Sports Platform(s): Nintendo GameCube Wii Release Date: November 8, 2004 (GameCube) March 9, 2009 (Wii) Developer(s): Camelot Software Planning Publisher(s): Nintendo Country: Japan Series: Mario Tennis Predecessor: Mario Tennis (2000) Successor: Mario Tennis: Power Tour

Mario Power Tennis is a sports game developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube and Wii. An entry in the Mario Tennis series, it was released for the GameCube on November 8, 2004, and for the Wii on March 9, 2009.

Why It Shots With Power

1. Great graphics for GameCube and Wii standards.
2. The opening scene was awesome, and the bloopers are funny and hilarious.
3. The soundtrack is amazing and memorable.
4. It still retains the same fast-paced and frantic gameplay from it's predecessor, but also majorly improves upon it by adding more variety and challenge for more depth as a Tennis game, and it still works overall. Also worth noting that some improvements in gameplay were implemented and the game feels better to control than the original N64 predecessor, making this game one of the most fun spin-off titles in the Mario franchise to date.
5. Loads of content, with the game modes being very fun, like the common exhibition and tournaments.
   • The new special games, Artist On the Court, Balloon Panic, Chain-Chomp Challenge, Gooper Blooper Volley, Mecha-Bowser Mayhem, Terror Tennis, Tic-Tac-Glow, and Coin Collectors are all great and fun to play.
6. The new selection of courts is awesome:
   • The Hard, Clay, and Grass versions of Peach Dome, a nice new location.
   • Luigi's Mansion, based off the location from the game of the same name.
   • Delfino Plaza and Gooper Blooper, based off the locations from Super Mario Sunshine.
   • Wario Factory, based off the location from WarioWare.
   • DK Jungle, based off the location from the Donkey Kong series.
   • Bowser's Castle, based off the location from the main Super Mario series.
   • Mario Classic, based off the location of the original stage from from Mario Bros. arcade game.
7. This game has interesting and creative new Power Shots from all the characters:
   • The Offensive Power Shot is powerful for anyone who wants to score a point, and opponents who actually send it back get's hindering effects.
   • The Defensive Power Shots are good defenders for anyone who wants to send the ball back in a tricky situation, especially when used against Offensive Power Shots, which will negate the effects of those shots.
8. Diddy Kong, Bowser Jr., Koopa Troopa, Fly Guy, Wiggler and Petey Piranha make their debut as playable characters.
9. Special Shots were added to prevent the game from being extremely difficult, and they work perfectly fine with them being able to used for the player to hit the ball when they're a distance away and almost gone over the player's or opponent's side, which can prove very helpful in a lot of situations and don't ruin the game's pacing in the slightest, making them a risk/reward mechanic that works very well in the game.

Bad Qualities

1. The Wii version is a lot weaker than the GCN version since it relies more on motion controls, however, since the game was built around the GameCube's analogue stick, it clashes poorly the game's fast paced engine and thus caused the game to feel a lot more stiffer and clunkier to control without the GameCube controller, and also adding salt to the wound, this version of the game cannot be played with a GameCube controller at all and has to be played with the Wii Remote, which can make people who are used to playing the game on the GameCube feel less attached to this port than they normally would with the original GameCube version, however, it isn't necessarily bad, just very flawed and not as good as the original version on the GameCube.
2. Some characters from the previous game were removed for unknown reasons, such as Birdo (a character that was reintroduced into the Mario franchise years after her debut) or Baby Mario that were fan-favorites and sadly didn't make the cut in this title. Thankfully, they did return in future titles though with the expection of Donkey Kong Jr (who was only playable in the first game and never returned in any of the sequels).

Reception

Mario Power Tennis received "generally favorable reviews", according to review aggregator Metacritic.

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