Mario Power Tennis - GameCube

In 2000, Camelot Software Planning, under license from Nintendo, developed Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64. It’s always nice when Mario puts in an appearance on a Nintendo console, but the Mario Tennis name was prestigious already, having been something of a two-player classic on the Game Boy. The N64 successor lived up to the legend, providing a much-needed four player tennis game for the matured console. With gameplay whose accessibility belied its depth, competitors could choose one of many characters from the Mario Brothers universe, with old favourites like the Princess and Bowser, down to more recent additions such as the frankly terrifying Waluigi. On top of regular singles and doubles tournaments, a number of other game modes were featured, testing players by challenging them to get the ball through hoops, return balls showered at them by piranha plants, and even play with bombs.

Now, also developed by Camelot, Mario Power Tennis is coming to the Nintendo Gamecube. On a system that has yet to be blessed with a definitive tennis application, could this be what Cube owners have been waiting for? In this new version Mario and his friends (and enemies) serve, slice, spin and lob their way back into the limelight, and this time each one also has their own trademark outrageous special move. As you’d expect up to four players can participate in exhibitions and tournaments on both normal courts and wacky, far out ones.

But there’s also a crazy selection of minigames. Old favourites like Ring Shot make a comeback, and there’s Item Mode that features items that you’d normally expect to see in a Mario Kart game. Other chaotic games star Ghosts, Chomps, Bloopers and Bob-ombs and there’s even a mode where you paint a picture on a wall by hitting balls against it.

And as in the first game players can progress to earn more modes and players, which should also contribute to the game’s lifespan, so Mario Power Tennis should treat Cube owners with a timely dose of multiplayer fun. more