Mario Tennis

by GameBoy

Product Features

• Unlock new characters with the N64 Transfer Pak
• Suitable for All Ages

Product Details

• ASIN: B000056WXG
• Item Weight: 8 ounces
• Media: Video Game
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (45 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #12,681 in Video Games (See Top 100 in Video Games)
• Discontinued by manufacturer: Yes

Product Description

Amazon.com Review

Connors, McEnroe, Sampras--all are OK players, but none can hold a racket to the world's greatest plumber-tennis champ, Mario. But, with enough practice, and a devastating overhead smash, you can work your way up to the championship cup.

Mario Tennis's exhibition mode puts you in the Tennis Academy, where you slowly build up your character's skills (doubles or singles). As you rise in the ranks by challenging other characters and upgrading your equipment, you'll play eventually against Mario himself. You can play as one of many Nintendo mascots, including Donkey Kong, Luigi, and Princess Peach. There also are a few minigames that will sharpen your skills and can unlock other levels. If you find a human partner, you can play against his or her copy of the game easily by way of a link cable.

The fast and furious on-court action is easy to follow, despite the tiny characters. The ball flies smoothly, and each opponent plays differently enough to be a challenge every time. However, your Game Boy might suffer a tremendous beating from the furious button-mashing that's needed to win the match.

One fault with Mario Tennis is its horrid sound effects, which will have most folks quickly reaching for the volume controls. Still, if you have patience and strong thumbs, Mario Tennis serves up a mean game that's easily one of the better sports tiles to grace the Game Boy. --Mark Brooks

Pros:

• Fast-paced action
• Smooth, well-animated graphics
• Singles and doubles matches, plus head-to-head link-cable play
• Transfer Pak compatible with Nintendo 64 version

Cons:

• Awful sound effects

Product Description

Serve up some action as you take on your favorite classic Nintendo characters in this tennis challenge. There's never been more realistic tennis action on the Game Boy, as every possible detail is included. You can play in either Singles or Doubles mode, but don't expect it to be easy; the computer has some pretty good moves for a computer, that is. You can choose from a number of characters initially, and even more become available as you unlock them. You'll need to achieve certain goals to do so, however, and that's no small feat. The more experience you gain through winning matches, the more skills and abilities your character will possess as attributes. You can use an N64 Transfer Pack (not included) to move your characters from the Game Buy to the N64, and you can get two-player action going (head-to-head or co-op doubles versus the computer) if you have two Game Boy Color units and a link cable. It might not be Wimbledon, but the again, Wimbledon was never this much fun.

See all Product Description

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Makes me glad I bought a Game Boy Color, February 24, 2001

By 

Billie "desmony" (Keystone, SD) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mario Tennis (Video Game)

First off, I have to say it's games like Mario Tennis that make me glad I bought a GBC. It's a very, very enjoyable game.

The graphics are very good - playing tennis in the Game Boy Color's 2-D mode doesn't cripple your enjoyment at all. The matches are played from a view much like the one used in the N64 version - or on any real life tennis match you'd see on TV. So no problems there.

The controls are easy to learn and use. You're not staggering around, making stupid mistakes, just because you didn't know the correct order of buttons to push. There are several cool shots you can do, however. It's very satisfying, when you lure the opponent close to the net, then put a lob shot waaay over their head. Coaches in the game will teach you techniques like that to use, and make you practice them until you can actually use them in a real match.

The easy controls make the gameplay fast and fluid, especially when you're up against really good players. Very few games - on any system- have made me actually swivel the controller (or in this case, the entire system) around in the air, and actually shout out at the people in the game.

As you win more matches, you can gain levels. With each level comes a chance to improve an ability of your character - do you give her more Power, or is it your philosophy that "A match can't be lost if the opponent can't make me miss!" and work on speed, instead? Each ability has their own advantages/disadvantages, all depending on your own personal strategy.

And to top it all off, like the cherry on top of a sundae, there's a great storyline. Well, maybe not GREAT - it's not "deep and involving" or anything, but it works to not get you bored with playing match upon match, either. It's -immensely- satisfying to actually surpass your own coaches in skills.

If you really don't know anything about tennis - don't worry. I didn't, either, when I first picked this game up. But the instruction booklet teaches you a lot, and there's a very thorough glossary in the game that has all the tennis terms.

It's the final match of the Island Open tournament. This will determine the best of the best. You and your partner have worked for months to get to this point. You've won many, many matches, and learned much from each of them. You work well together as a team, and received many compliments, but in your heart, you know that everyone watching from the crowded stands really doesn't believe you can win. And as you look at the opposing team, you can feel a tiny trace of doubt - "Do we honestly expect to win?" But you've made it this far. You get into the ready stance, and tighten your grip on the racket. The server on the opposing side throws the ball into the air, and smashes an extremely fast, curving serve. Desperately, you dive for the ball...

17 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Best game, February 5, 2001

By A Customer

This review is from: Mario Tennis (Video Game)

When I first bought mario tennis, i was expecting an average game, not near as good as the excelent N64 version. But once I got into the story mode, I saw how deep this game is. You can walk aound, talk to people, enter the training house and do tons of other stuff. And thats not it, you can also play an exhibition match(1,3,5 (2,6 games) sets). You start with all the marioi tour characters and Dk, baby Mario and luigi. You can unlock Mario and Peach in the mario tour. And using the N64 transfer pak, you can get Wario, Waluigi, Yoshi and Bowser, each coming with a new mini-game. There are also 9 courts including, the DK court, the star court and the castle court. Each character you get including the ones you start with come with their own mini-game. You can also check out Mario tour, exhibition and mini-game status. As well as N64 tournament, exhibition and ring shot status. You can transfer new charcters to your 64 and earn experience points. Theres even a tennis dictionary. But is this game worth it even if you dont have the transfer pak. The awnser...HELL YES!!!!! Get this game, it'll be the best decision you'll make in a long time. A true true classic.

13 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Mama-mia! It's-a 'nother ace-a!, February 7, 2001

By 

"mmcgrathg" (North Carolina) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Mario Tennis (Video Game)

Before playing this game, I had been a huge fan of the N64 version, and frankly, I was expecting more or less the same game. I was wrong. My first impression of the game were not positive. After all, only three actual Mario characters were playable. Who cares about some irrevelant Academy? What did these weird looking 'kids' have to do with the glorious Mario and its N64 counterpart? So, I began playing. And, quite honestly, I really haven't stopped. The gameplay is so enthralling and so addictive. Mario or no Mario, the RPG aspect of this game is phenomenonally cool. You basically play challenge matches to advance your position at the Academy and to gain experience points, whether it be on the Junior Court, the Senior Court, or the Varsity/Travelling team. Experience points raise your character's level, which boost stats. In addition, several training sessions and workouts are available to gain extra experience points. The coolest part of the game is actually the Island Open. Once you make the traveling team, you can enter this tournament. It is super-cool because you can win these tough matches and upset all the big names, even your own coach. It is really great. The game is not over; you then have the oppurtunity to confront Mario himself. WOW!! Talk about drama. Do not--I repeat, do not pass up on the transfer pack. If you want every character possible, utilize this device with your N64 version. The N64 version provides a whole new depth to the game. You can win tournaments with your GB character to gain experience, and they look really neat in 3D. Overall, Mario Tennis is an outstanding game; it will be remembered as one of Camelot's greatest achievements.