Review  Mario Tennis
- By Rob Schlicht
[Contributing Editor]
A little over a year ago, Camelot released Mario Golf, a golfing game full of characters from the Mario Bros. games. While at first met with skepticism, soon critics were loving the game, as it had all the fun of an arcade game with the depth of a simulation. All the true rules of golf were in, with just enough extras to make it fun for people who disliked golf. I can’t stand playing it, or watching it in real life, but Mario Golf does make it fun, mostly because of the familiar characters. So what’s next for Camelot? Football? Basketball? Soccer? Try tennis. A game very similar to golf, in that it has very specific audiences, and may seem boring to many, but very deep and complicated when you get into it. Throw in enough Mario characters to lure in the eight-year olds, and you’ve got another million seller. But how does it play?
Multiplayer:
The graphics in this game are very good. The courts look excellent, and the grass court’s textures in particular are very good. The crowds are not very good at all, basically, it looks like hundreds of multicolored dots painted on. The various extras around the actual court are great. Line judges stand at each end of the court, and range from Koopa Troopas to Bob-ombs. On one side of the net is Lakitu, holding the camera filming the replays, and on the other is “Mario”, dressed in blue. “Mario” was the umpire in the original Tennis game for NES, so seeing him again is a great nod to Camelot’s research. The character poly counts are low, but because the action is always moving fast, and the camera is zoomed far out, you won’t notice. They look very good, and there is never any slowdown, even in a doubles game. The only bad looking character in my opinion is Waluigi, who’s face looks like one cubic polygon, with his face having an extremely “painted” appearance. The other questionable part is the opening cinema. The opening scene is quite... bizarre, and difficult to understand. Since it uses the engine to run it, like most N64 games, when you get closeups on the character’s faces, the low poly count finally becomes apparent, as it gets a little blocky. Never really bad, but it takes you by surprise if you’ve seen the game in motion before then. It has the typical Mario colorfulness, and is cartoony in appearance, but never enough that I was ashamed to let my 18-year old friends see me play it. In fact, they all wanted to join in.
Sound:
The sound is very good. Although the music is a little too “Super Happy Tree” for me, it will be completely drowned out by everything else. The actual tennis effects are top-notch. The balls hitting the racquets is the same as in real-life, and the ball makes different noises depending on the court surface. The whole match, commentary is provided after points are scored by Mario, who tells who is in the lead, what the score is, and other vital statistics. The characters each have their own set of phrases including grunts for hitting the ball, and different quotes when they score a point or the opposing team does. It gets very loud with assorted monkey grunts and plumber yelps along with the ball’s sound effects, and it’s all done superbly.
Control:
This game is much easier for beginners to get into then Mario Golf was. You move your player with the analog stick, A hits the ball with topspin, and B slices it. This game gets really deep really quick, though. After you learn to aim your shots with the analog stick, you’ll learn when it is appropriate to use topspin, and when to slice. After you learn that, you’ll find that different button combinations will allow you to make smashes, lobs, and drop shots. And after that, you still have to learn to match up doubles partners correctly. The control is top-notch, and helps to get people to play the game in the first place, and to never stop after that.
Gameplay:
The sheer amount of things you can do in this game is amazing. There’s 16 players, two of which you have to unlock, and each one has it’s own strengths and weaknesses. All the Nintendo favorites are here, from Mario and Luigi to the evil cousins Wario and Waluigi, to Donkey Kong and DK Jr., to Shy Guy, Boo, and Paratrooper, and even Daisy from Super Mario Land returns. It’s also the first time Toad is playable since Mario Kart 64. Each one can play a multitude of modes. Piranha Challenge puts you on the opposite side of the net from three Piranha Plants, who spit balls at you. You have to return them past an opponent who is trying to knock them back down your throat. There’s Ring Mode, in which you have to beat your opponent by hitting the ball through rings that randomly appear over the court. You can play regular one-on-one matches, or doubles with four players. This can be done in individual matches, or you can attempt to win tournaments, the key to unlocking secrets. There’s even a Bowser court suspended over lava where you can use banana peels or homing shells against your opponent. All this is playable with 1-4 characters. You can unlock a ton of extra courts to play at, but I wish the game was more similar to Mario Golf in that you had to defeat characters to unlock them.
Multiplayer:
The four-player action in this game is among the best on the N64. It’s extremely fun, after I bought it, I took it to a friend’s house. “This is great, it’s finally in,” I said, to which my friend replied, “Yeah, it’s gonna be good, but it’s still just tennis.” An hour later, he was convinced. Then, his brother showed up with two friends. His brother and joined up immediately, and I said to one of the guys, “You want in?” “No, that’s all right,” he said, seeing the name of the game. The other guy jumped in, and one match later, the first friend was begging someone to drop out so he could get in on it. This continued for another eight hours. At the end of night, my analog thumb was blistered, the first time that’s ever happened to me. All the modes are very fun, with the exception of the Bowser court. While it looked very good on paper, it falls short in actual gameplay. The game is far too quick for any planned use of items. Basically, it turns into a normal tennis game, just filled with people hitting the R button constantly, just in case they get an item, not caring what it is or what it does.
OVERALL:
The game is extremely friendly to the beginner and veteran alike. While you can just whip through the Mushroom Cup, in the Star Cup you will be pressed to score a point. With all of the extra modes, Mario Tennis is well worth your $50. I already convinced two people to buy it, and a third to buy an N64 just for it.
The Lowdown on  Mario Tennis
| Aesthetics: Very Good |
Control: Awesome |
| Gameplay: Awesome |
Multiplayer: Awesome |
| Sound: Awesome |
Innovation: 6/6 |
| Lasting Appeal: 6/6 |
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Overall: Awesome!
"Top of the Genre"
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This game is:
Awesome
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INFO |
Developer: Camelot Software Planning
Publisher: Nintendo
Number of Players: 1-4
Rumble Pak: Yes
Expansion Pak: No
Memory Pak: No
Transfer Pak: Yes
ESRB Rating: E
Release Date:
TBA
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ADDITIONAL
MEDIA: |
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None Yet
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IN A
NUTSHELL: |
| Easily one of the top five multiplayer experiences on the system. A must-have! |
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