Mario Tennis: Power Tour

Mario Tennis: Power Tour
For alternate box art, see the game's gallery.
Developer	Camelot Software Planning Nintendo SPD Group No.4
Publisher	Nintendo
Platform(s)	Game Boy Advance, Virtual Console (Wii U)
Release date	Game Boy Advance: September 13, 2005[?] November 18, 2005[?] December 1, 2005[?] December 5, 2005[?] Virtual Console (Wii U): April 30, 2014[?] June 26, 2014[?] June 27, 2014[?] July 3, 2014[?]
Language(s)	English (United Kingdom) English (United States) French (France) German Spanish (Spain) Italian Japanese
Genre	Tennis
Rating(s)	ESRB: - Everyone PEGI: - Three years and older CERO: - All ages ACB: - General USK: - All ages
Mode(s)	Single-player and Multiplayer
Format	Wii U: Digital download Game Boy Advance: Game Pak
Input	Wii U: Wii U GamePad Wii Remote (horizontal) Classic Controller Wii U Pro Controller Game Boy Advance: Gamepad
Serial code(s)	AGB-BTMJ-JPN AGB-BTMP-EUR AGB-BTMU-AUS AGB-BTME-USA

Mario Tennis: Power Tour, known in Europe as Mario Power Tennis, is the fourth direct installment in the Mario Tennis series, and the Game Boy Advance counterpart of Mario Power Tennis for the Nintendo GameCube. This would ultimately be the final Super Mario release for the Game Boy Advance. It is very similar to Mario Tennis in gameplay and plot, though it has the addition of Power Shots. Although it is the counterpart of Mario Power Tennis, the two games cannot be connected in any way. The game was released on the 20th anniversary of Super Mario Bros. in Japan, and was released in anglophone regions shortly afterward.

The game is compatible with the Game Boy Advance Wireless Adapter. The game was rereleased for the Wii U's Virtual Console in Japan in April 2014, in Europe and Australia in June 2014, and in North America in July 2014.

Plot

The player, either Clay or Ace, is a student in the Royal Tennis Academy. During this time, masked challengers come to the academy and defeat the academy's champions, leaving everyone in disbelief as they have never lost before. Determined to find out who they are, Clay or Ace become a part of the Junior class, where they defeat everyone in it. They continue on to the Senior classes, and then to Varsity, where they learn that the top two ranking players or teams get to advance to the Island Open, where they would play against top students from the other three tennis schools.

Clay/Ace soon ensure their entry to the Island Open. They hear a rumor that the victors of the Open would get a chance to play against Mario. During the time at the Open, the player may wish to travel between the Academy and the area of the Open at any time. After winning the Open, Clay and Ace realize that they still have not discovered who the masked players are. However, the very next day Mario comes to the Academy, and gives Clay/Ace the honor of playing with them. Thus begins the Peach Tournament, with Clay/Ace as players. In doubles, both are a team. Clay and Ace travel to the Mushroom Kingdom by the Toad Express, where the games are being held in the Peach Dome, owned by Princess Peach. During their stay, Clay/Ace are told that it is Mario and company that were the masked players in the academy, and that it is also them that introduced the concept of power shots to Earth. Piantas, Toads, and Nokis are present at the dome as part of the audience. Beating the game will unlock technical difficulty, which increases the skill level of the characters in story mode. Beating this mode will reward the player with a screen with all the characters Ace or Clay beat in their journey.

Controls

Story

• - Confirm
• - Run/Back
• - Move
• - Menu

Menu

• - Confirm
• - Back
• - Select
• - Left-Handed Character
• - Star Character

Tennis

• / - Start swing
• + - Topspin
• + - Slice
• + - Lob
• + - Drop Shot
• - Move
• - Activate Power Shot
• - Cancel Charge
• + / - Jump Shot

Characters

Playable characters

The character select screen

Mario Tennis: Power Tour features 36 playable characters when excluding Clay and Ace (the largest number seen in any Mario Tennis game), although only six debuted in prior games, with the rest (barring the two playable characters Clay and Ace) being opponents in the game's story mode, all 30 of which have to be unlocked by the player. This also marks the only time Waluigi has appeared without Wario (although Wario's voice can be heard in the game's intro) and marks the only Mario Tennis game where Yoshi is not a playable character. It has also marked the only time the skill type Tactical has appeared in a Mario Tennis game. None of the unlockable characters debuted in prior games, although star versions of them can be unlocked. Playable characters are classed by play style, listed below.

• All-Around characters have well-rounded stats. They can fit in any position but they do not excel at any stat in particular.
• Speedy characters have high agility and move around place to place quickly.
• Technique characters focus on accuracy and control.
• Defense characters have high reach that allow them to reach balls with greater ease.
• Power characters emphasize on strong shots that can shoot balls at higher top speeds.
• Tactical characters excel at putting spin on the ball.

Default

Character	Tennis affiliation	Skill type	Offensive Power Shot	Defensive Power Shot
Mario	Mario World	All-Around	Iron Hammer	Spin Jump Return
Peach	Mario World	Technique	Super Peach Spin	Sweet Kiss Return
Luigi	Mario World	All-Around	Squeaky Mallet	Poltergust Return
Waluigi	Mario World	Defense	Whirluigi	Swimming Return
Donkey Kong	Mario World	Power	Barrel Cannon Blast	Boomerang Banana Return
Bowser	Mario World	Power	Fire Breath	Spinning Shell Dash
Clay (new)	Royal Tennis Academy	Power	Player-determined	Player-determined
Ace (new)	Royal Tennis Academy	Technique	Player-determined	Player-determined

Unlockable

Character	Tennis affiliation	Skill type	Offensive Power Shot	Defensive Power Shot	Unlock condition
Sophia (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Junior Class	All-Around	None	None	Defeat this character in Junior Singles
Meg (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Junior Class	Technique	None	None	Defeat this character in Junior Doubles
Mason (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Junior Class	Power	None	None	Defeat this character in Junior Singles
Chad (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Junior Class	Power	None	None	Defeat this character in Junior Doubles
Sasha (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Junior Class	Technique	None	None	Defeat this character in Junior Singles
Sylvia (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Junior Class	Speedy	None	None	Defeat this character in Junior Doubles
Chris (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Junior/Senior Classes	Speedy	None	None	Defeat this character in Junior Singles
Kyle (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Junior/Senior Classes	All-Around	None	None	Defeat this character in Junior Doubles
Gary (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Senior Class	Power	None	None	Defeat this character in Senior Singles
Jet (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Senior Class	All-Around	None	None	Defeat this character in Senior Doubles
Linda (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Senior Class	Speedy	None	None	Defeat this character in Senior Doubles
Shawn (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Senior Class	Defense	None	None	Defeat this character in Senior Doubles
Kyoko (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Senior Class	Technique	None	None	Defeat this character in Senior Singles
Micki (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Senior Class	Technique	None	None	Defeat this character in Senior Doubles
Roy (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Senior/Varsity Classes	All-Around	Power Shot	Running Save	Defeat this character in Senior Singles
Emi (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Senior/Varsity Classes	Speedy	Curve Shot	Running Save	Defeat this character in Senior Singles
Skipper (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Varsity Class	Defense	Tackle Shot	Lunging Save	Defeat this character in Varsity Doubles
Flit (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Varsity Class	Tactical	Curve Shot	Quick Save	Defeat this character in Varsity Doubles
Paula (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Varsity Class	Speedy	Tackle Shot	Lunging Save	Defeat this character in Varsity Singles
Tori (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Varsity Class	Technique	Control Shot	Quick Save	Defeat this character in Varsity Singles
Whisker (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Varsity Class	Power	High-Power Shot	Running Save	Defeat this character in Varsity Singles
Elroy (new)	Royal Tennis Academy Varsity Class	All-Around	Blizzard Shot	Typhoon Save	Defeat this character in Varsity Singles
Barb (new)	Empire	All-Around	High-Power Shot	Bubble Save	Defeat this character in the Island Open Singles
Sass (new)	Factory	Power	Flying Shot	Running Save	Defeat this character in the Island Open Singles
Chas (new)	Union	Speedy	High-Power Shot	Superswift Save	Defeat this character in the Island Open Doubles
Mel (new)	Union	Speedy	Slider Shot	High-Jump Save	Defeat this character in the Island Open Doubles
Dweezil (new)	Empire	Defense	Stunner Shot	Superswift Save	Defeat this character in the Island Open Doubles
Mynx (new)	Empire	Technique	Flashflop Shot	Quick-Step Save	Defeat this character in the Island Open Doubles
Willy (new)	Factory	Tactical	Summoner Shot	Hand-Power Save	Defeat this character in the Island Open Singles
Sheri (new)	Factory	All-Around	Gyro Shot	Illusory Save	Defeat this character in the Island Open Doubles

Non-playable characters

• Shadow Swing King
• Shadow Swingstress
• Leon
• Peter
• Samantha
• Oscar
• Chet
• Alex
• Harry
• Nina
• Kate
• Mark
• Emily
• Kevin
• A. Coz
• B. Coz
• Headmaster
• Ball Bot
• Great Fairy of Victory
• Toads
• Toadsworth
• Piantas
• Nokis
• Yoshi (communication error screen cameo)
• Wario (opening voice cameo)

Courts

Name	Image	Location	Ball Speed	Ball Bounce	Unlock Condition
Hard Court		Royal Tennis Academy Junior Courts	Normal	Strong	Initially Unlocked
Clay Court		Royal Tennis Academy Senior Courts	Slow	Weak	Initially Unlocked
Grass Court		Island Open	Fast	Weak	Initially Unlocked
Composition Court		Royal Tennis Academy Varsity Building	Fastest	Normal	Initially Unlocked
Peach Dome		Mario World	Normal	Normal	Beat the Peach Tournament

Minigames

Each minigame consists of three levels and a "challenge" level. The first three levels award a set amount of PS Points per completion, while the challenge level gives PS Points based on completion time or a different factor, depending on the individual minigame.

Additionally, the Tennis Machine and Wall Practice minigames award EXP instead of PS Points. Both minigames have four levels: Beginner, Standard, Expert, and Master.

Name	Image	Description	Points awarded	Unlock condition
Wall Practice		This game is played by rallying the tennis ball off the panels on the wall to gain points and reach the target amount.	EXP	Available initially.
Tennis Machine		This game is played by returning the tennis balls the Tennis Machine fires into the target area on the other side of the court to gain points and reach the target amount.	EXP	Available initially.
Treadmill		This game is played by rapidly pressing to run and pressing to jump over bananas and barrels to reach the target distance.	PS Speed	Beat Chris in Junior Singles or Chris and Kyle in Junior Doubles.
Bicep Pump		This game is played by using the and buttons to raise a spiky ball and pop balloons. Yellow balloons are worth one point, reds are two, and blue balloons are the most valuable at three points.	PS Muscle	Beat Gary in Senior Singles or Linda and Shawn in Senior Doubles.
Jump Gym		This game is played by using the Control Pad to move, and the button to jump and break the target amount of brick blocks.	PS Jump	Beat Kyoko in Senior Singles or Gary and Jet in Senior Doubles.
Swift Spin		This game is played by using the button to raise the screws and to lower them as the player collects the coins to reach the target number of points. Yellow coins are worth one point, red balloons are worth five and blue are worth ten.	PS Spin	Beat Roy in Senior Singles or Kyoko and Micki in Senior Doubles.
Duck Walk		This game is played by pressing the and buttons to hop over electrified panels on a strip composed of panels, and reach the target destination.	PS Speed	Beat Emi in Senior Singles or Emi and Roy in Senior Doubles.
Rope Climb		This game is played by alternating between the and buttons to climb up the ropes. The player must collect flags as they make their way to the platform at the top.	PS Muscle	Beat Paula in Varsity Singles or Roy and Skipper in Varsity Doubles.
Reflex Rally		This game is played by having the player choose either Rock, Paper or Scissors with the Control Pad depending on which one would beat the RPS Mech's choice of the three in a game of Rock, Paper, Scissors.	PS Response	Beat Tori in Varsity Singles or Emi and Flit in Varsity Doubles.
Tightrope		This game is played by using the Control Pad to balance the player as they make their way across a tightrope.	PS Balance	Beat Whisker in Varsity Singles or Paula and Whisker in Varsity Doubles.
Tacklebot		This game is played by rapidly pressing and to build momentum as the player charges toward the Tacklebot in order to defeat it, while holding left on the Control Pad to defend against its own attacks.	PS Body	Beat Barb in the Island Open Singles or Chas and Mel in the Island Open Doubles.
Instinct Drill		To win this game, the player must use ESP (pressing and holding the button) in order to see the symbols on the fronts of cards. Afterwards, the player must select and flip over pairs of cards using the button.	PS ESP	Win the Island Open in either Singles or Doubles.

Power Shots

There are 44 Power Shots in Mario Tennis: Power Tour, with half of them being Offensive and the other half being Defensive, although 12 of these are exclusive to the Mario characters. These first become first available after reaching Senior level, however only Varsity and Island Open opponents actually use them. To unlock a Power Shot, certain levels need to be reached in the PS Minigames. The Power Shots that Ace and Clay can use and the requirements for each are listed below. To use a Power Shot in the game, the Power Shot meter must be fully charged. When it is, a yellow-orange ring will appear around the players character. Hold and press for an Offensive Power Shot, and hold and press for a Defensive Power Shot.

Name	Image	Type	Unlock Conditions	Description
Power Shot		Offensive	L1 Muscle	A powerful shot that sends opponents flying.
High-Power Shot		Offensive	L3 Muscle	An intense Power Shot with a little added oomph.
Curve Shot		Offensive	L1 Spin	A curving shot that sends opponents reeling.
Slider Shot		Offensive	L3 Spin	A powerful Curve Shot with an even tighter curve.
Control Shot		Offensive	L1 Balance	A commanding shot that sends the ball right into the corner.
Flashflop Shot		Offensive	L3 Balance	A drop shot that uses a bright light to blind opponents.
Tackle Shot		Offensive	L1 Body	An aggresive shot that tackles the ball and sends foes flying
Stunner Shot		Offensive	L3 Body	A shot that stuns foes with a ball masked as a giant fist.
Flying Shot		Offensive	L4 Muscle + L2 Jump	A powerful shot that blows foes away with a flame-cloaked ball.
Gyro Shot		Offensive	L5 Spin + L2 Balance	A speedy lob shot that spins fiercely, like a top.
Dragon Shot		Offensive	L5 Muscle + L2 Body	A powerful shot that pounds foes with a dragon-flame fueled ball.
Sonic Shot		Offensive	L6 Spin + L4 ESP	A shot that stuns opponents with a dazzling melody.
Blizzard Shot		Offensive	L6 Speed + L6 Response + L7 Spin	A shot that freezes opponents in a bitter-cold flurry.
Summoner Shot		Offensive	L7 Muscle + L7 Response + L5 Balance	A shot that confuses opponents with a magic circle.
Specter Shot		Offensive	L8 Spin + L6 Balance + L6 ESP	A spooky shot that will leave foes paralyzed with fear.
Volcano Shot		Offensive	L10 Jump + L10 Muscle + L10 Balance + L10 Body	The ultimate lob shot. Ride a pillar of fire!
Running Save		Defensive	L1 Speed	A save that can save the ball from a short distance away.
Superswift Save		Defensive	L3 Speed	An enhanced Running Save that can reach distant balls.
Lunging Save		Defensive	L1 Jump	A save that allows you to jump into the air to return high balls.
High-Jump Save		Defensive	L3 Jump	A powerful Lunging Save that can reach balls higher up.
Quick Save		Defensive	L1 Response	A save which increases response after returning the ball.
Quick-Step Save		Defensive	L3 Response	A powerful Quick Save that increases response even more.
Hand-Power Save		Defensive	L1 ESP	A save that brings in balls from far away using hand power.
Psychic Save		Defensive	L4 ESP	A powerful Hand Save that reaches even farther.
Typhoon Save		Defensive	L4 Jump + L2 Spin	A spinning save that creates a tornado to return the ball with.
Bubble Save		Defensive	L4 Spin + L3 Speed	Blow bubbles to bring the ball in close enough to save.
Illusory Save		Defensive	L5 Speed + L4 Response	Save the ball with an illusion that spreads out either side.
Spider Save		Defensive	L5 Response + L4 Balance	Use a spiderweb to bring the ball in.
Falcon-Dive Save		Defensive	L5 Response + L5 ESP	Move at high speed, and save the ball with your afterimage.
Shark-Bite Save		Defensive	L8 Speed + L8 Response + L4 Body	Turn into a shark and bite down on the ball.
Shooting-Star Save		Defensive	L10 Response + L10 Jump + L9 ESP	Ride a shooting star down from the sky to lob the ball back.
Rainbow Save		Defensive	L10 Speed + L10 ESP + L10 Spin + L8 Balance	Suck the ball in with a beam of light and return it with a drop.

Quotes

Main article: List of Mario Tennis: Power Tour quotes

Alex

• "I thought I'd never see them again, but they came back to see me..."
• "So you can't tell? Not even by watching them play?"

Headmaster

• "Playing in the Island Open proves you're the academy's best. That alone is worth it."
• "Just do your best. We're all with you out there!"

Reception

Critical reception

The game received generally positive reviews, receiving an average review score of 81 based on 21 reviews. IGN gave the game a 90/100, praising its gameplay, story mode and adaption from its GameCube predecessor, Mario Power Tennis. IGN found that the problems from the GameCube game also carried over, such as the disruptive Power Shots, and also criticized the recycled music and lack of connectivity to Mario Power Tennis. The game was largely compared to and viewed as slightly inferior to Mario Golf: Advance Tour.

Reviews
Release	Reviewer, Publication	Score	Comment
Game Boy Advance	Craig Harris, IGN	9/10	"Mario Tennis Power Tour does for tennis what Mario Golf Advance Tour did for its sport: It's the best representation of the sport on the handheld, and it offers up the same amount of depth and playability. Though I prefer the casual challenge of Mario Golf over this game, the fact remains that you won't find a better game of tennis on the handheld. Even without the RPG elements Mario Tennis Power Tour would have rocked our socks. But the extensive adventure mode really gives the portable experience far more legs than the console design."
Game Boy Advance	Frank Provo, GameSpot	8.2/10	"There is no doubt going to be a minor debate over which of the two games, Mario Tennis or Virtua Tennis, is better. Thanks to quality gameplay and Nintendo's rich stable of character designs, Mario Tennis goes toe-to-toe with Sega's game in every conceivable way. To discuss which is better is a moot point. Nintendo comes at you with familiar faces and more unique modes, while Sega's game counters with real tennis pros and slightly more accurate gameplay. Don't let its happy looks and age-appropriate gameplay fool you. Mario Tennis hits hard and fast."
Game Boy Advance	Patrick Klepek, Gamespy	4/5	"There are other nit-picky aspects to Power Tour, such as the use of ugly rendered models for all of the characters during actual tennis matches instead of the great 2D sprites featured in the academy portion of the game (when you're roaming around looking for your next match). This pre-rendered nonsense ultimately turns characters like Donkey Kong and Bowser into pixilated messes. You'll hardly notice the visual discrepancies when playing, but it's a bizarre choice that hopes to maintain the visual consistency between the console and handheld games that doesn't really work. In all other respects, Power Tour stands as a perfect example of how to bring a fleshed-out console sport onto a handheld, and all of the seemingly frivolous extras only help to enhance the experience when you're tired of battling the A.I. For Mario and arcade tennis fans alike, this is a must buy."
Aggregators
Compiler		Platform / Score
Metacritic		81
GameRankings		80.76%

Staff

Main article: List of Mario Tennis: Power Tour staff

The game's executive producer was Satoru Iwata, and other producers include Shinji Hatano, Hiroyuki Takahashi and Shugo Takahashi. This game's music was made by Motoi Sakuraba. Shigeru Miyamoto, Shin Yamanouchi and Fumihide Aoki all worked on the character design. This game was the first game to be localized by video game localization company 8-4 (which was incidentally named after World 8-4 of Super Mario Bros.) and it is one of two games in the Super Mario franchise that was localized into English by the company, the other being the Wii U version of Mario & Sonic at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.

Glitches

In Instinct Drill, if the player were to complete a level at the same time that the time runs out, everything will act like the player failed, except that the results screen will have a "Cleared," instead of "Failed."

References to other games

• Super Mario Bros. - The main theme plays in the ending.
• Super Mario 64 - The music that would play inside Peach's Castle in Super Mario 64 plays inside the Peach Dome, and during matches on the dome's respective court.
• Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64) - Alex, Nina, and Kate's voice clips are reused from this game.
• Mario Tennis (Game Boy Color) - Alex, Harry, Nina, Kate, Mark, Emily, and Kevin appear as coaches in the Academy. Also, the story mode and academy is nearly identical to this game.
• Mario Golf: Advance Tour - Many of the jingles are reused from this game. Neil, Ella, Putts, Joe, Grace, Tiny, Gene, and Kid's voice clips are reused from this game.
• Mario Power Tennis - Power Shots, the Game and Match point music and overall structure of Mario Tennis: Power Tour are similar to this game.

Regional differences

Skipper and Sass's icons in the U.S. (top) and Japanese (bottom) versions

• Skipper and Sass have different character select screen and scoreboard icons in the Japanese version.
• Clay and Ace have different default names in the European and Japanese versions. In the European version, Clay is named Max by default and Ace is named Tina by default. In the Japanese version, Clay is named Norty by default and Ace is named Tabby by default.

Gallery

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Mario Tennis: Power Tour.

• 

  North American box art

• 

  European box art

• 

  Artwork of Mario holding a tennis racket at a tennis court

Media

For a complete list of media for this subject, see List of Mario Tennis: Power Tour media.

Junior Class Rank 4 & 3 Match

File infoMedia:MTPT Junior Class Rank 4 & 3 Match.oga 0:30

Junior Class Rank 2 & 1 Match

File infoMedia:MTPT Junior Class Rank 2 & 1 Match.oga 0:30

Senior Class Rank 4 & 3 Match

File infoMedia:MTPT Senior Class Rank 4 & 3 Match.oga 0:30

Help:Media • Having trouble playing?

Names in other languages

Language	Name	Meaning	Notes
Japanese	マリオテニスアドバンス[?] Mario Tenisu Adobansu	Mario Tennis Advance
Chinese (traditional)	瑪利歐網球Advance Mǎlì'ōu Wǎngqiú Advance	Mario Tennis Advance