Graphics: ***
A big improvement off Mario Golf, that’s for sure.
No more cardboard, or paper, type of graphics. Of course,
if you want fingers, you may have to wait for
the Game Cube if you’re some of the characters. The courts look great,
and the ball looks like a sphere, not like a bouncing dice cube. The rackets
look all right, and the net looks real, too. The graphics aren’t perfect,
but they’re the best for a Mario game yet.
Sound: ****
The sound is absolutely perfect in this game.
The sound of the ball bouncing off the rackets and the ball sounds completely
accurate, and the characters’ voices sound better than ever. Even Yoshi
doesn’t make
those messed-up noises in this one; he actually
talks (like in Super Smash Bros.)! The music is great; you’ll find the
Mario music, Yoshi music, and original Donkey Kong music in this game.
I love the game point music, and the match point music also is pretty good.
This is one of the areas this game really excels in.
Difficulty: **1/2
This game can be as easy as being able to ace four times and return winners four times, or it can be as hard as the A.I. knowing exactly where you’re going to hit the ball before you know yourself! It all depends on what level you’re on. On Easy and Normal, victories come quite easily. On Hard, Intense, and Max, you’ll have to use every skill you know in order to win. The Piranha Challenge is impossible to return all 50, and the Star Tounament final is as hard as this game gets. But really, once you get to know it, it’s really not that hard, and you’ll win more than you lose.
Characters: ***1/2
The character selection this time around is the
best a Mario game has ever seen. You have all the Mario Kart 64 characters,
DK Jr. and Shy Guy (the hidden characters), Paratroopa and Boo, Birdo (making
Yoshi and her the cutest couple), Baby Mario, Daisy (Luigi needed a couple,
but Bowser must still have her crown), and the newest and strangest character,
Waluigi. The real reason Nintendo put him in the game was not to have someone
to laugh at, but because “Wario didn’t have a mixed doubles partner and
we don’t want to know what Wario’s girlfriend would look like.” That’s
what Nintendo Power says. Some say he’s strange but cool; others say he’s
a messed-up moron. That uncertainty is what gives this game the half-star.
There’s five types of characters: all-around, technique, speed, power,
and tricky. All-around is good in all categories; for beginners. Technique
is great for putting the ball anywhere you want on the court. Speed is
self-explanatory. Power is being able to nail the ball at lightspeed but
also being like Tanooki Mario when he’s a statue: you move really slow.
Tricky lets you do strange things like curving serves and arcing shots.
Technique is probably the best category in the game, because who needs
power if you can put the ball anywhere, even over the opponent’s head,
super-easily? Technique players usually have super speed. This makes the
best characters in the game the princesses and Waluigi. Waluigi’s supposedly
the best because of those lanky arms and legs, but sometimes he can’t bend
them back to hit a shot right at him. Daisy is my personal favorite; she’s
easy to control, super-fast, has good reach, and the best technique of
all. But it’s all
opinion... Still, Nintendo made the two Koopas
(Bowser and Paratroopa) two of the hardest to control.
Controls: ****
This is an area I haven’t covered in other Reviews, but in this game they are fantastic. A is topspin, B is slice, A and B at once is a smash, A before B is a lob, and B before A is a drop shot. Hitting a button twice makes the shot powerful and gives it a color. Hit a button before A and B at once to do a super smash, which is purple in color and is sometimes unreturnable for the opponent. Z cancels your shot if you hit a button too early, before the ball goes somewhere besides where you are. The controls may sound complicated, but they are sure much easier than a lot of other games, where you’re hitting R, L, Z, C> and C< for easy stuff. This game’s controls are easier than a lot of others, but for a Mario game, they usually are easy.
Courts: **1/2
The courts are basic at first: Hard, Clay, Grass,
and Composition, the classic tennis types of courts. But then you add the
Mario courts, Yoshi and Baby Mario and Birdo courts, DK court, and Wario
and Waluigi court and you have a lot more than just the basics. Why are
there two Mario courts? I mean, really, why have a Mario Bros. Court and
then also a Mario and Luigi Court? Why have two courts like that when you
could have a
court based on someone else, like the princesses?
And why are two courts Fast ball speed and Weak bounce? There should be
a Fastest and Strongest court instead of two of the same. The Bowser court
is the most fun to play on. There are items from Mario Kart 64: Banana,
Lightning Bolt, Green and Red Shells, Mushroom, and Star. They do almost
the same things as in MK64, only a little different. Finally, if you beat
the
Piranha Challenge, you get a court known as the
Piranha Court, with Normal speed and bounce. You can
only use it in Piranha Challenge mode. Also,
in Special Games mode, you can use an Open Court, which is also Normal
speed and bounce.
Exhibition Mode: ***1/2
This is the heart of the game. You can play singles
or doubles, one- to four-players, on any court you have
unlocked, and on any rules you want. This is
where you can practice against computers before having to tackle them in
the tournaments. You can play other live opponents, but really, just like
Mario Golf, if you’re
a great player and they aren’t, it’s no contest
and no fun, unless that gives you great pleasure, winning every single
point. By the way, in tennis, unlike volleyball, you serve in a game whether
you win or lose the point. In my first game, I thought I had won a perfect
game because I kept serving, but really I had lost on four straight points!
And also, the rules make things quite confusing. 0 points = Love,
1 point = 15, 2 points = 30, 3 points = 40, and 4 points = a win of the
game or deuce, if your opponent has already scored 40. You must win by
two, and you win two or six (depending on the rules you chose) games to
take a set. How many sets you chose to play decides how many sets you have
to win to win the match. In a 3-set match, it’s really best of three, or
winning two sets. The numbers that come up can be quite confusing too,
so if it’s orange and yellow it’s the points score, if the numbers are
blue it’s the games score, and if the numbers are those awesome colors
of green and yellow it’s the sets score. If you still don’t understand,
think of it this way: If you win every point, you should win the match.
I didn’t make the rules, so don’t blame me.
Singles Mode: ***1/2
This is one-on-one playing, you against your opponent.
In this mode you must utilize your strengths and pit
them against your opponent’s weaknesses. For
example, a speed player does great against a power player,
because the speed player can return almost everything,
at the net or the baseline, but the power player is
almost immobile, having to stay back at the baseline
and play very conservatively. On the other hand, a
power player does great against technique players,
because technique players are weak, and the power
player’s power shots are so strong a technique
player cannot put the ball where he or she wants because it
is too fast for them. The technique player’s
strength is against speed kings, because the speed players can
run right by the ball and don’t return the technique
player’s perfectly-aimed shots very well. All-around
players are basically good and bad against all,
especially good against power players. Tricky players are weak against
all, and must play very conservatively for any chance of victory. This
mode is all about strategy and the match-ups more than a lot else.
Doubles Mode: ***
This is two-versus-two playing, and you have a
partner. Match-ups lose their importance here, and it all comes down to
outplaying the opponent no matter what type of player you are. You must
play at the net
sometimes; other times you’re at the baseline.
If you aren’t on your teammate’s page, you’ll lose for sure; and this isn’t
easy because you don’t know what the A.I. is thinking. Smash shots and
stars on the court itself (markers for good places to smash shots at) are
so frequent, you’ll wonder what happened to the strategy and technique
of playing instead of just smash, smash, smash! This mode is easy compared
to singles mode, because if you’re on a computer’s team, they’ll usually
just smash away while you stand back and watch. I wouldn’t trust the computer
on your team in the hard levels though; if the opponents are doing well,
your teammate will just let it hit him or her right on the nose. Why? Because
they cheat. All right, all right, maybe I’m exaggerating, but they do have
ways of cheating sometimes. Sometimes, if you’re playing against The Moron
Of Morons, Mario, you see some blue clone of Mario in the judge’s seat,
or whatever they call it in tennis. He’ll call some of your shots out that
are in and some of his in when they are out. What a moron! Oh, yeah, the
doubles mode: it’s not quite as good as singles mode, but with all non-A.I.’s,
it’s one of the most fun. Especially in Bowser mode...
Bowser Mode: ****
One of the most fun modes in all multiplayer games
all-time is the Bowser Mode. Against the computer it’s
little or no fun, but against friends, this mode
is really fun! You’ve got items to use, like Stars, Mushrooms, Bananas,
Lightning Bolts, Green Shells, and Red Shells, all by just shooting the
ball through the big rainbow blocks and hitting the R button once you have
an item. Use the items wisely; don’t just use them right away when you
get one. For example, a Star or Mushroom should be used after an opponent
uses a Lightning Bolt on you. That way, it cancels out the bad effect the
Bolt has on you and also gives you the power or speed you get from the
item (depending on each one; the Star is power, not invincibility to other
items, and the Mushroom is speed). Four-player doubles action is the best;
especially when there are about ten Bananas on the court and Shells flying
everywhere. This is the best mode in this game, with a tipping court depending
on players’ weights on the sides of the court, and the items being used
constantly.
Ring Shot Mode: ***
This is quite an interesting mode: there are so
many options, depending on how many players are playing.
With one-player, you can play game (clear the
set number of rings in one game, probably the hardest because of cheating
computers who lose on purpose), time (clear the set number of rings in
the alloted
period of time), ball (clear the set number of
rings with the set number of balls, more computer cheating and losing),
and point (clear the set number of points, with smaller rings netting more
points than big ones; rings grow gradually). With two-players, you can
play one-on-one to see who gets more rings; the way of winning rings is
winning the point and collecting all the rings in the rally. With any number
of players, you can play doubles mode: either Teams or Battle Royale. Teams
is collecting and winning rings like you did in the two-player mode, just
doing it as a team; Battle Royale is competing for the most rings yourself,
even against your own teammate. One problem here is that teammates can
cheat to give the opponents your hard-earned rings if you’re winning. Still,
this mode beats the one in Mario Golf, with the double fault here being
what I just mentioned above and the fact that there’s no real prize to
winning except the satisfaction of... winning!
Tournament Mode: **1/2
This is the point of the game: winning a big tournament
and a trophy. Of course, you’re against all computers. You play three rounds,
with each getting harder as you go. Really, you shouldn’t have much
trouble with Mushroom or Flower Cup if you’re
even just an average player. However, once you get to Star
Cup, let the cheating begin! Your shots hit the
net very often and they go out of bounds very often, as
well as your opponents gaining new skills they
never had before, like Bowser running fast or Peach powering super smash
shots at you. Mario’s the worst cheater of all, being super in everything,
but what do you expect from a plumber who’s cheated ever since he was Baby
Mario? In Singles Mode, winning the Star Cup gives you Shy Guy, while in
Doubles Mode, winning the Star Cup gives you Donkey Kong Jr. Winning the
Star
Cup in Singles Mode with any character makes them a *star* character, which
means they can have better stats if you hold down the R Button while selecting
them. Then they can enter the Star Tournament, with the Rainbow, Moonlight,
and Planet Cups waiting to be won by each. No more hidden characters, though,
a plus because you can actually play as someone good at the beginning and
not have to unlock everyone, but a minus because you don’t have any characters
left to unlock. Still, you can unlock tons of courts by winning tournaments
with different characters. It all depends who you choose and what Cup you
win and what mode you win it in.
Piranha Challenge: *1/2
The only bad score of this game: the Piranha Challenge
gives you the challenge of hitting back 50 straight
balls past your opponent for wins with the balls
being shot at different speeds and locations by the Piranhas. I can’t even
win 50 straight against the computer at any level! The Piranhas make matters
worse. They say DK’s the best at this. Yeah, right, the big ape who lumbers
slowly around is the best. I’m sure. Anyway, if you do hit back all 50,
for wins, without being returned, in bounds, remember, you get the Piranha
Court! Great, you won a court for this mode only. So what? And what are
the chances of winning? Less than the chances of you betting on that 16x
Chain Chomp in Game Guy’s Game Room and winning sixteenfold coins.
Options Mode: **
You can decide to shut off the music, for some
dumb reason, or erase all of your hard-earned victories
here, for some other stupid reason. You can look
at the status, which is nice if you want to waste some time and beat every
character at every mode possible. Hey, what an idea...
Special Games Mode: **1/2
You can watch computer characters stink it up
in demo mode here, play a tiebreaker to seven points or short
game to five points against other live opponents
(not computers; note this is the only mode you can choose
the same character with more than one person),
or get a code from the Internet or wherever, play a game, get another code,
and rank yourself on the Internet or something like that.
Continue Mode: ***
All right, all right, I’m desperate for another thing to review, but you can continue a saved game many times over and over again, even if you lose it, which is a plus, but the minus is that you cannot save a game to remember that you’re up 40-love in a game, you just play the game 0-0, but it does remember the set and game score, just not the points themselves.
Fun Factor!: ****
This is what this game’s all about: fun. Especially
in Bowser Mode and Battle Royale Mode with four live,
non-computer-controlled characters. Or multi-player,
in short.
Overall: ****
Of all the Mario Kart/Party/Sports games, this
is my absolute favorite, and I suggest you buy this game
whether you like tennis, understand tennis, or
even have ever heard of tennis. Mario and pals can make you
like it. (Or hate it- if they cheat to beat you.
By the way, you CAN nail Mario in this game- with a 100-mph
serve right in the big ol’ doorknob nose!)