Mario Power Tennis
Template:Infobox Mario Power Tennis is a sports game for the Nintendo GameCube and a re-release for the Wii (via the New Play Control! series). It is the follow-up to Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64. In this game, Mario and his various friends and enemies meet up to play tennis. Like previous Mario sports titles, all the playable characters have special Power Shots to make the game more interesting. Additionally, there are courts in the game that have special effects and events during the game. Also, there are special games for each court to play with.
The Game's Opening
The game's opening begins with Mario and Luigi playing a match against Wario and Waluigi. The Mario Bros. win the match and celebrate as Wario and Waluigi complain about their loss. The next day, Wario & Waluigi see a picture of the Mario/Luigi team on the "Peach Dome Tournament" board and are furious to see that their opponents have knocked them out of the running. Wario & Waluigi vandalize the Mario/Luigi team picture, but the Buckethead police catch them in the act and pursue a chase to arrest them. Wario & Waluigi attempt to run for cover and try to hide in what they think is a janitor's closet, but the closet has no floor, and the two fall into a training room. As Wario wonders, "What's this dump?", Bowser approaches them and offers an alliance to get revenge against the Mario Bros.. After hours of training and seeing others playing their tennis matches, they carry out their plot to crash the "finals tournament" later that evening at the Peach Dome.
As Mario and Luigi are about to play a match against Yoshi and Donkey Kong during that time, Bowser takes the picture of Yoshi and DK and replaces it with Wario and Waluigi. Bowser shows up behind the picture. Peach, Toadsworth, and all the attendees are baffled as to why Wario, Waluigi, and Bowser invaded the Peach Dome to crash the tournament without warning. But Wario and Waluigi wasted no time catapulting Bob-ombs at the Mario Bros. However, Mario & Luigi reflect the same Bob-Ombs back at them with their tennis rackets. Bowser launches a Bullet Bill from his airship at them, and Mario knocks it back with his racket, causing a giant explosion. This revealed that the airship had an enormous amount of Bob-Ombs, and everyone couldn't believe the painful result to come - especially Peach who noticed the "massive Bob-Omb explosion threat" firsthand.
Bowser's airship starts to descend out of control, and unfortunately has Wario and Waluigi in its crosshairs. Wario and Waluigi try to get out of the way, but to no avail. The airship crashes down and creates the massive explosion with Bowser, Wario, and Waluigi being the "victims", as a result of their Peach Dome invasion attempt completely foiled.
Additional screenshots
Toadsworth and Peach presiding over the "finals tournament" at the Peach Dome.
Peach in shock after seeing that Bowser's downed airship contains a massive amount of Bob-Ombs.
Gameplay
Players participate in a tennis game, just as its precedents in the Mario Tennis series. To win, the player must score points by hitting the ball into the other side of the court and not making the opponent rebound the ball, just as the traditional way of playing tennis. Players earn 15 points for every shot that is successful and can win the game by earning set, game, and match points by earning 60 points on each game. The amount of set and game points can be set by the player in exhibition mode, but not in tournament mode.
Skill Types
- All Around: A character that is a above average in all categories.
- Speedy: A character that can get to the ball in time, but lacks raw strength.
- Power: A character that can hit the ball with great force, but lacks speed.
- Technique: A character that can place the ball on the corners of the net.
- Tricky: A character that can curve the ball, which can confuse the opponent on where it's going.
- Defense: A character that can easily hit the ball from any position.
Controls
Menu Screen Controls
: The players can use the Analog Stick to scroll through menu items.
: The players can select menu items
: The players can cancel any action they took
: The players can return to game they were playing
: Pressing the button once makes a selected character left-handed. Pressing it again makes the character right-handed.
: Pressing the button once makes a star for the character. Pressing it again removes the star. Stars are only obtained by beating the Star Cup.
Game Controls
The controls here are assumed the normal control style. The control options are changed in the options menu and before the start of a match.
- : The players can move around and also aim direction of ball they just hit.
- : The players execute a topspin shot (if the players hit the button twice, they will execute a strong shot). Topspin shots are stronger than slice shots and the ball's trail will be colored red when a topspin shot has been taken.
- when ball is on the other side of the court: The player will taunt at the opponent. If the animation finishes, the glow around the opponent's racket grows smaller.
- : The players execute a slice shots (if the players hit the button twice, they will execute a strong shot). Slices are weaker than topspin shots and the ball's trail is colored blue when a slice shot has been taken.
- then : The player can lob, which can send the ball flying up in the air. It can fly over the opponents' heads.
- then : The player can perform a drop shot which is a very weak shot that goes barely past the net. It is performed to deter players who like to go far away from the net.
- and : The player can perform a flat shot. When the ball is lobbed, a smash point appears and the player can perform a smash shot instead of a flat shot. Flat shots' trails are colored green while smash shots' trails are colored purple.
- and either or
: The player performs a powerful Offensive Power Shot if power shots are turned on and if the player's racket glows to a certain amount of intensity. The power shot depends on the character. The players also must be in a certain distance or they will perform a defensive power shot instead. Note that any offensive power shots that occur before this still has an effect on the player who will use the power shot. - and either or
: The player performs a Defensive Power Shot, which can cover the ball to great distances if power shots are turned on and if the players' racket glows to a certain intensity. This power shot also depends on the characters, but not as much as offensive power shots. Any offensive power shot that has been execute before this will not have any effect on the players if they use the defensive power shot. - : The players can cancel charge shots.
- and either or : The players can jump towards the ball.
: The players can change the camera view. The options are stationary, player, and dynamic.
Game Modes
Exhibition
Up to four players can participate in this versus mode. The players can choose their characters, a court, and what type of game that they can play. The player can also adjust rules in versus match, such as turning power shots on and off, setting the numbers of games and sets, and choose which character to pair with when playing in doubles. Computer levels can also be set by the player, and they range from easiest to hardest: novice, intermediate, expert, pro, and the unlockable ace difficulty. There are three types of games that the player can play.
- Standard Court: The player and the opponent participates in a chosen course with no gimmicks of any kind. The only gimmicks present are the bounce intensity, speed of the ball, and the power shots, if turned on.
- Gimmick Court: The player participates in the same game as in the court, but with gimmicks that can help or hinder the player, unique to each court. The Peach Dome is the only court that cannot have gimmicks of any sort whatsoever.
- Item Battle: The player can use special items to help them win against the opponent. To do so, the player must hit an Item Box with the ball and receive a random item, very much like in the Mario Kart series, except that the item received isn't dependent if the player is losing or not.
- Green Koopa Shell: 3 shells zoom out in straight lines. If the player gets hit by one, they will stumble and lose time, possibly going as far as help the opponent gain a point.
- Red Koopa Shell: One Red Shell comes out and chases after the opponent. The effect is similar to that of a green shell if contact has been initiated.
- Mushroom: The Mushroom increases the player's movements for a brief moment of time. It also grows the player back into normal size quicker if they had been shrunk by Lightning.
- Banana: A stationary banana gets shot out. If it hits the ground, the banana remains there. Slipping in a banana peel also has the same effect as shells.
- Star: The Star increases the player's abilities and it makes the player invulnerable for a short period of time. It also grows the player back to normal size quicker, if the player was shrunk by Lightning.
- Lightning: The Lightning strikes the opponents of the court and shrinks them to a tiny size. The opponents speed, stature, and power will also decrease.
The content and number of the item boxes depends on the court being played on.
- Peach Dome Courts: None
- Luigi's Mansion: 10% higher chance of lightning bolts.
- Delfino Plaza Court: 10% higher chance of mushrooms.
- Wario Factory: Twice as much item boxes.
- Gooper Blooper Court: 10% higher chance of red and green shells.
- Donkey Kong Jungle Court: 10% higher chance of bananas.
- Bowser Castle Court: Same as Bowser Castle Gimmick Court.
- Mario Classic Court: 10% higher chance of stars.
- Ring Shot: The player scores points by hitting rings to win the game. The player earns the points in the rings by winning the point in the game, which depends on how many rings the player has shot. The losing player will give half of their points to the winning player in charge amount. The amount of ring points needed to win the game ranges from 100, 200, and 500.
Tournament
The player pits against simultaneous matches against computer opponents to win the trophy in a cup. The higher the cup level, the harder the computers will get. Players can also compete in Star Tournaments if they completed Star Cup, which is considerably harder than World Open Tournament. The player can also participate in a Gimmick Tournament, which, as the name implies, enables the player to participate in Gimmick matches in courts against the computer. This is only Single-Player only despite the manual's saying 1-4.
Special Games
Players have the option to play special games besides going in tournament or exhibition mode. Up to 4 players can participate in the special games, but some games require one player to play. All courts have specific special games that are unique from one another.
- Artist On the Court: Players must color a design using paint balls on a wall in order to complete the minigame. In order to progress and achieve harder levels, the player must complete the designs within the time limit. Designs include from easiest to hardest: Mario, Luigi, Diddy Kong, Bowser and Bowser Jr., and a rainbow of Yoshis.
- Balloon Panic: Players must prevent Klaptraps from puncturing their balloon by hitting balls at panels to make them change direction. The game ends when a Klaptrap punctures a balloon.
- Chain Chomp Challenge: Players must feed a hungry Chain Chomp with balls. Bob-ombs make the Chain Chomp turn red and get two points for every ball, but hitting it with another Bob-omb will let the Chain Chomp out and wastes the player's time by having to activate a switch. Water balls place angry Chain Chomps back into their normal position, but put normal Chain Chomps to sleep. The player can wake the Chain Chomp by smacking a Bob-omb into it. Players can also tamper with another player's progress.
- Gooper Blooper Volley: Players must rebound hits from a Gooper Blooper in a regular tennis game. However, the player also must avoid rebounding their ball into the gray zone that changes constantly throughout the game. Messing up ends the game.
- Mecha-Bowser Mayhem: Players must face off against a Mecha Bowser, using beams of light produced by swinging the tennis racket to defeat it. Mecha Bowser can attack the player by breathing fire and shooting Bullet Bills. The game ends when either the player or Mecha Bowser is defeated.
- Terror Tennis: The player must prevent ghosts from coming out of the painting and attacking then. They have to earn a certain amount of points before the time runs out in order to proceed to more difficult levels. The player gets more points if they hit the ghost that is just about to come out of the painting.
- Tic-Tac-Glow: The player must get three Shine Sprites in a row in order to earn points. They can do this by hitting balls in the other side of the court, while hitting the FLUDD icons, in order to spray goop away from the site.
- Coin Collectors: The player must earn coins that come along the court while avoiding fireballs. They can only move left and right, but they can hit tennis balls to hit the POW block for more coins or the destruction of the fireballs. The player with the most coins wins the game.
Other Modes
- Continue: When the players select this option, they can resume a previously saved game. Players can save a game during the middle of a match or before a tournament is started. However, any midgame points gained will reset to 0-0. The game can hold up to three continue files.
- Records: Players can view records on all types of game modes played. If the records are on Exhibition, they can view what character they played and won against. Note that this only applies to beaten computer players by the player shown in a table. The shape of the win depends on the difficulty of the computer (a triangle means novice, a circle means intermediate, a circle with a dot in the middle means expert, a moon means pro, and a star means ace. Plus, a small star icon on the top right corner indicates that the computer was beaten when starred). If the records are on Tournament, the players can view the trophies won in a singles or doubles match with the character the player chosen. In Special Games, the players can view how long and/or how many points they achieved and the difficulty played on.
- Options: The players can adjust in game settings, such as setting the sound system to mono, stereo, or surround, turning music on and off, turning rumble on and off, and setting control options. Control options can be set to easy, normal, and technical, which differs the controls the players must use. The players can also choose to delete save data, but once it is deleted, it cannot be restored.
Characters
Starting Participants
| Character | Skill type | Offensive Power Shot | Defensive Power Shot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Mario | All Around | Iron Hammer | Spin Jump Return |
| Luigi | All Around | Squeaky Mallet | Poltergust Return |
| Peach | Technique | Super Peach Spin | Sweet Kiss Return |
| Daisy | Technique | Wonder Flower | Flowerbed Return |
| Wario | Power | Thunder Cast Shot | Ultra-Hand Return |
| Waluigi | Defense | Whirluigi | Swimming Return |
| Bowser | Power | Fire Breath | Spinning Shell Dash |
| Donkey Kong | Power | Barrel Cannon Blast | Boomerang Banana Return |
| Diddy Kong | Speedy | Acrobatic Banana | Barrel Jet |
| Yoshi | Speedy | Rainbow Flutter | Rolling Egg Return |
| Bowser Jr. | Tricky | Magic Paint | Rolling Brush Return |
| Koopa Troopa | Speedy | Water Bomb | Water Shell Dash |
| Boo | Tricky | Boo Blast | Boo Brigade Return |
| Shy Guy | Technique | Lightning Spear | Spear Dance Return |
Unlockable Participants
| Character | Skill type | Offensive Power Shot | Defensive Power Shot |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fly Guy | Tricky | Tornado Twist | Tornado Return |
| Paratroopa | Technique | Energy Ball | Sky Dive |
| Wiggler | Defense | Anger Management | Flutter Return |
| Petey Piranha | Power | Sludge Racket | Piranha Swingback |
Non-Playable Characters
During the game, Toads, Piantas and Nokis are in the audience. During the intro, the crowd contains Piantas, Nokis, Birdos, Ukikis, Goombas, Paragoombas, Bumptys and Lakitus, and notably, Baby Mario and Baby Luigi.
Toad and Toadette are listed on the tournament board, though they are not playable in the game. Toadsworth presides over the tournament alongside Peach, but unlike the Princess, he isn't a participant.
Courts
| Name | Picture | Gimmick | Ball Speed | Bounce | Availability |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Peach Dome Hard Court | File:MPT PeachHardCourt.JPG | A standard court, with no gimmicks or add-ons. | Normal | Strong | Default |
| Peach Dome Clay Court | File:MPT PeachClayCourt.JPG | A standard court, with no gimmicks or add-ons. | Slow | Weak | Default |
| Peach Dome Grass Court | 
|
A standard court, with no gimmicks or add-ons. | Fast | Weak | Default |
| Luigi's Mansion Court | 
|
Ghosts appear when the ball bounces on one of the tiles. Ghosts harass the players, slowing them down. The Garbage Can Ghost, if it appears, occasionally throws bananas, which can slip and mess up the player. The lightbulb tile on the opposing court removes all the ghosts. | Fast | Normal | Default |
| Wario Factory Court | 
|
There are red and blue arrows sliding across the top of the net. If an arrow is hit, the side with the corresponding court lines will have the conveyor belt underneath running in the direction of the arrow. The back of the court is a conveyor belt running to the side while the front has one running up or down. Hitting the same direction the arrow is pointing will make the conveyor belt faster and hitting the arrow in the opposite direction will make the conveyor belt slower. | Fast | Strongest | Default |
| Delfino Plaza Court | 
|
There are three circles with a the picture of a Piranha Plant. If a ball lands on any of the circles, a Polluted Piranha Plant will spit goop onto the field. The goop slows movement. The goop can be cleaned if the player stands on a F.L.U.D.D. picture. | Normal | Weak | Default |
| Gooper Blooper Court | File:GimmickbloopersunshineMPT.jpg | If a ball lands on a movable tile, the movable tile slides in the direction the arrow is pointing to. Water can be revealed. If the ball lands on the water, it is considered an out. | Fastest | Normal | Default |
| DK Jungle Court | File:MPT DKJungleCourt.jpg | Red and Green Klaptraps crawl on the top of the net. If a player hits one of them, the Klaptrap jumps off and runs into the opponent's leg. More Klaptraps can be stuck to the opponent. Klaptraps slow the bitten player's speed and make lunges shorter. Klaptraps are removed when the opposing player hits the thunderbolt picture on the opposite of the court. | Slow | Normal | Default |
| Bowser's Castle Court | 
|
The stage tilts from the weight of the players, which can cause them to have difficulty moving or staying in place. It can be difficult to hit the ball in this court. | Fast | Strong | Unlockable |
| Mario Classic Court | 
|
Classic Mario Bros. enemies walk on the middle lines of the court. They can block and mess up the players. Freezies freeze the court when they reach the middle. All enemies are stunned by the POW block (except for the freezie, which is just destroyed). Side-steppers take two hits from the POW block to get stunned and fighter flies are immune to the POW block if they are flying. Once stunned, they can get removed if a player collides into it. Defeated enemies can help the player obtain a glowing racket, which is for power shots. | Slow | Strongest | Unlockable |
"New Play Control!" Series
For the Wii version of Mario Power Tennis (via the New Play Control! lineup), the controls are not like the Nintendo Gamecube version, since the game makes use of the Wii's motion controls. This version includes a tutorial movie to demonstrate how to use the Wii Remote in this game. It is also possible to play this game in 16:9 widescreen mode. Players can choose to play with the Wii Remote only, or with the Wii Remote/Nunchuk combination for advanced control of playable character participants.
Beta Elements
- Main article: Mario Power Tennis (Nintendo GameCube)/Beta elements
References to Other Games
- Mario Bros.: A stage titled the Mario Classic Court is unlockable. It features Shellcreepers and Sidesteppers on the sidelines and the gimmick court feaures a POW Block and a Freezie.
- Donkey Kong Country: In DK Jungle Court, the theme of this game is played.
- Luigi's Mansion: The stage Luigi's Mansion Court is from this game. It features ghosts who slow down players in the Gimmick Court. Luigi's Defensive Power Shot makes him use his Poltergust 3000, which originated from this game.
- Super Mario Sunshine: Two stages, The Delfino Plaza Court and the Gooper Blooper Court, are taken from levels on this game. Also, the icons from the Main Menu are Shine Sprites. Gooper Blooper also appears in one of the Special Games.
- Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: The item boxes are identical to the ones in this game, plus the sound effects from item boxes and items are the same to those in this game.
Bloopers
This is the only Mario game so far that has blooper-reels in the credits. If the player wins the Star Cup or Thunder Cup, the player will see a blooper reel of the first half of the Opening Movie. These bloopers are as follows:
- When returning the ball, Mario accidentally smacks it against Luigi's nose, to which Mario apologizes. Oddly, Luigi gets a black eye during the process.
- Wario and Waluigi trip and fall when entering the outer skirts of Peach Dome.
- While defacing the Mario Bros. poster, Waluigi hits the camera with his pencil, taking it down. He then apologizes to the cameraman.
- One of the Buckethead officers falls down while giving chase to Wario and Waluigi.
- Wario and Waluigi find the door in which they will hide from the Bucketheads, but it slams shut before they can enter, making them smash face-first against it.
- In the same scene, they manage to enter through the door; however, Waluigi's leg gets stuck as the door closes. One of the Bucketheads, then, points out the leg, and Wario calls Waluigi in-door, Stupid!.
- When Bowser activates his ball-serving machine, a malfunction sends the balls hurtling against him from somewhere else off-camera. He runs off, frightened, slamming against the cameraman, as Wario and Waluigi, offscreen, laugh.
If the player wins the Planet Cup, a second set of bloopers will continue where the last set left off. These bloopers are as follows:
- When Bowser turns on a switch, it breaks off in his hand. He laughs.
- In the same scene, the switch electrocutes Bowser, and he faints. Waluigi rushes to aid him, but not before warning Bowser, Don't expect mouth-to-mouth!
- Wario is weightlifting, and seems to make a huge effort with the massive weights. Suddenly, his cell phone rings and he picks it up with his left hand, without dropping the barbell in his right hand. It is seen that he was just pretending his effort, as he talks nonchalantly at the phone. Waluigi, displeased, calls the cut by placing his hand on the camera lens. Wario seems to be talking to his mother in this segment, for he says "Ma! I told you not to call me right now! I'm making a movie..."
- Wario's and Waluigi's Bob-omb launching device gets jammed by a stuck Bob-omb. Wario then calls for the Prop Guy.
- Bowser's Bullet Bill Cannon explodes in his face when he fires, causing him to hold his jaws open in shock.
- The Bullet Bill falls just ahead of Mario before he can return it at Bowser's Airship. Mario shrugs at the camera, laughing.
- When Wario and Waluigi jump down to the court to escape the damaged launching device, Wario falls head-first into the ground, getting stuck in a hole, prompting Waluigi to laugh (even though Wario's falling body nearly hit him).
- When Bowser, Wario, and Waluigi appear on the big screen behind Mario and Luigi after the threesome's defeat, a Paratroopa goes across the screen and they all start laughing.
Glitches
- Main article: Mario Power Tennis/Glitches
Gallery
Staff
- Main article: Mario Power Tennis (Nintendo GameCube)/Staff
References
External Links
- Enjoy with Wii: Mario Tennis GC website (Japanese)
- GameCube edition's website (Japanese)
- New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis North America
