Family Video Game Reviews for Parents

Mario Power Tennis
Publisher: Nintendo
Official Site: http://www.nintendo.com/

ESRB Rating: E
Reviewed Platform: GameCube
Available Platforms: GameCube
For up to 4 players.

Overall: A
Violence: A-
Sexual Content: A
Language: A
Alcohol/Drug Use: A

What is this game about?

Nintendo brings its Mario characters into the realm of sports, once again. Just like they did in baseball, golf, and other athletic activities, Mario and his friends (and enemies) don tennis whites and take up rackets all in the name of good video game fun.

Is it fun to play?

This game is one of those classic titles. Although it debuted in November 2004, it stands up to tennis titles currently available (April 2006) for other consoles.

Why? Well, the gameplay is rock solid in that it’s very user friendly, so kids as young as six can easily grasp the basic shots. The Mario characters are timeless, so there’s no dated feel. And the game is just plain entertaining.

However, the character-specific animation sequences that play during the game, particularly pre-rendered scenes triggered when you unleash a cheat that allows you to return a shot no matter where you are on the court, can get tedious because you can’t cancel them out by pushing a button. So, whether it’s the first time or the 1,000th time you’re playing the game, you’ll have to see the same sequences over and over again.

But that’s a minor complaint because the gameplay is really excellent. There’s a wide variety of match types and some minigames, such as shooting balls through rings, trapping ghosts by hitting portraits with shots and tic-tac-glow, as well as different stadiums that feature unusual playing surfaces.

One stadium features ghosts, while another has crocodiles walking along the top of the net. If you hit one with a ball, it falls into your opponent’s court and bites them in the butt. The player then has to drag the croc around, which slows them down and gives you an advantage if you unleash cross-court shots.

You also have the option of making different shots. The A button is a topspin shot, while B is a slice, which doesn’t bounce as high. As well, there are lobs and drop shots that can be triggered by pressing different button combinations. The same goes for serves.

And unlike the Super Mario Strikers soccer game, when you attempt a power shot, you don’t have to compete a little skill-testing minigame. Instead, you simply unleash a nasty shot, which is character specific. These shots are accompanied by some funny, but overly repetitive animation sequences. For example, Donkey Kong’s power shot sees him jump into a cannon, a fuse is lit and then he explodes out and hits the ball with tremendous force.

These sequences are sure to be a hit with kids and they’ll give adults a chuckle too -- until they become numbingly repetitive.

What do parents need to know about Mario Power Tennis?

From a parent’s perspective, Mario Power Tennis has a lot of good things to offer kids.

It’s a good introduction to the basics of the sport, including the scoring and the different shot types.

It’s also family friendly in that up to four players can play at once, so if you have enough controllers, a family of four could play doubles, with two players going up against the other two.

As a parent, my biggest beef was that I couldn’t play on the same team as my son in doubles matches. I could only play against him, which does take away from the experience somewhat. Rather than overcoming computer-controlled foes together, one of use is going to lose or, in the case of adults, potentially throw the game depending on the age of your child and whether you’re trying to teach him/her that they can’t always win every game they play.

However, a really nice feature is that you can select the skill level required, even in multiplayer games. So, you can team up with or play against your child and set their skill level at novice and yours to intermediate, expert or pro depending on how strong your tennis kung fu is (for some moms and dads, it’s the kids who’ll have to play at a higher difficulty level).

The different skills affect how well you hit the ball. As you’d expect, the higher the level of difficulty, the less forgiving the game is, so you’ll have to be close to the ball in order to put a lot of mustard on your returns. Otherwise, your shots will be weak and offline.

The usual Mario attitude creeps into the game, though. So expect to see some poor sportsmanship on display from the losing players, such as emotional outbursts. It’s nothing major, but you should be aware of it before letting young gamers (nine and younger) play on their own.

There are also cheats available, including the ever-popular banana peel that trips players up, as well as shells that knock you over, mushrooms that speed you up and even bolts of lightning that shrink players and weaken them.

These cheats could be a source of frustration for some gamers, especially if an older player is continually unleashing them on younger players.

But overall, Mario Power Tennis is a game that both kids and adults can equally enjoy -- especially if they play together.