Mario Tennis (Game Boy Color)

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This article is about the game Mario Tennis for the Game Boy Color. For the Nintendo 64 game of the same name, see Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64). For the series as a whole, see Mario Tennis (series).
Mario Tennis
North American box art for Mario Tennis on Game Boy Color
For alternate box art, see the game's gallery.
Developer Camelot
Publisher Nintendo
Platform(s) Game Boy Color, Virtual Console (3DS), Game Boy - Nintendo Switch Online
Release date Game Boy Color:
Japan November 1, 2000
USA January 16, 2001[1]
Europe February 2, 2001
Australia February 2, 2001
Virtual Console (3DS):
Japan June 26, 2013
USA December 26, 2013
Europe January 2, 2014
Australia January 2, 2014
Game Boy - Nintendo Switch Online:
USA March 12, 2024
Japan March 12, 2024
Europe March 12, 2024
Australia March 12, 2024
South Korea March 12, 2024
HK March 12, 2024
Language(s) English (United States)
日本語
Genre Tennis
Rating(s)
ESRB:E - Everyone
Mode(s) 1-2 players
Media
Nintendo Switch:
Digital download
Game Boy Color:
Game Pak
Nintendo 3DS:
Digital download
Input
Nintendo Switch:
Game Boy Color:
Nintendo 3DS:

Mario Tennis is a tennis game for the Game Boy Color. It is the second direct Mario Tennis game in the series, and the first handheld game in the series. The game features an RPG-like story mode, in which the player controls either Alex or Nina in a quest to become the top tennis player and beat the best player of all, Mario. It was re-released on the 3DS's Virtual Console in Japan on June 26, 2013, in North America on December 26, 2013, and in Europe and Australia on January 2, 2014.

Controls[edit]

Menu[edit]

  • +Control Pad - Select Option
  • A Button - Confirm
  • B Button - Back

Mario Tour overworld[edit]

  • +Control Pad - Move/Select
  • A Button - Talk/Confirm
  • B Button - Run/Back
  • Start Button/Select Button - Menu

Tennis match[edit]

  • +Control Pad - Move Character
  • A Button/B Button - Hit the ball in a very weak manner.
  • A Button + A Button - Topspin Shot, a red, powerful, high bouncing shot.
  • B Button + B Button - Slice Shot, a blue, defensive shot with side spin and a low trajectory.
  • A Button + B Button - Smash, the most powerful shot, clad in purple.
  • A ButtonB Button - Lob Shot, a high shot that aims for the back of the court with very high bounce.
  • B ButtonA Button - Drop Shot, a low, weak shot that barely glazes over the net with little bounce.

Play modes[edit]

Mario Tennis has several different modes. The modes are Mario Tour, Exhibition, Linked Play, and Mario Minigames.

Mario Tour (story mode)[edit]

In Mario Tour, the player takes control of Alex or Nina. They are the new students trying to make their way up the ranks at the Royal Academy, a school for tennis. At the beginning of the game, the player gets to choose whether they are going to play singles or doubles matches, and can change between either whenever they want. Alex's doubles partner is Harry, and Nina's is Kate.

In Mario Tour, the player's character does exercises with coaches and plays against higher ranked players in order to get a higher rank for him or herself. Higher ranks mean they can challenge better players. As a new student, the player starts in the Junior Class. The goal is to advance to the Senior Class, and then to the Varsity Squad. Eventually, they can earn a spot on the academy's travelling team and enter the Island Open. After the Island Open the player can face Mario in singles on the Castle Court; in doubles, both Mario and Peach.

As the player progresses through the ranks and gains experience, the player gets to increase their characters ability in different areas (similar to an RPG). The four areas that can be improved are Speed, Power, Spin, and Control. Leveling each ability increases a series of related stats, while neglected abilities can have their stats decay.

Exhibition[edit]

In this mode, the player plays a single game of tennis. The player may choose what character both they and the computer uses as well as the court and computer's difficulty level. Both singles and doubles are available in Exhibition.

Linked Play[edit]

Linked Play is just like Exhibition Mode, except that the player plays against another human player instead of a computer. Linked Play requires two Game Boy Colors, two copies of Mario Tennis for the GBC, and a link cable. This mode was removed from the 3DS Virtual Console release due to multiplayer support being removed.

Mario Minigames[edit]

This is a group of minigames presented by various Nintendo characters. Minigames are unlocked when their respective characters are unlocked, meaning that four of them need a Nintendo 64 Transfer Pak to be unlocked and as a result cannot be unlocked on 3DS Virtual Console. The minigames include:

Name Image Character Used Description
Boo Blast Boo blast.png Mario This minigame sees Mario rallying a ball with Luigi, trying to hit Boos that hover above the net. The score doubles with each hit for a maximum of 128 points per hit.
Shooting Star Luigi in his Shooting Stars mini-game of Mario Tennis for the Game Boy Color. Luigi This game involves playing as Luigi to smash stars. More points are collected for each consecutive hit.
Perfect Shot Used in case of images missing from a section gallery, table, bestiary box, or certain infoboxes. Princess Peach
Target Shot Baby Mario Target Shot.png Baby Mario In this game, Baby Mario must hit the ball into the targeted area. Hitting the appropriate shot will deliver more points.
Banana Bunch MarioTennisGBC DKMinigame.png Donkey Kong Donkey Kong must bounce a ball on a wall with Banana panels on it. The panels give out points based on the amount of Bananas on it.
Fruit Fantasy MarioTennisGBC YoshiMinigame.png Yoshi Yoshi must aim the ball at various panels of fruit. Different fruit give different points.
Treasure Box Used in case of images missing from a section gallery, table, bestiary box, or certain infoboxes. Wario
Medallion Match Used in case of images missing from a section gallery, table, bestiary box, or certain infoboxes. Waluigi
Two-on-One MTGBC Two-on-One.png Bowser Bowser must go up against two opponents, Wario and Waluigi, at the same time.

Nintendo 64 transfer[edit]

With a copy of Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64, a Nintendo 64, a Transfer Pak, and a copy of Mario Tennis for the GBC, it is possible to transfer information between the two versions of the game. Characters from the Game Boy Color game can be transferred to the Nintendo 64 game and vice-versa. This is not possible in the Nintendo 3DS or Nintendo Switch Online versions of the game, but the Nintendo Switch Online version makes all content that would been unlocked via transfer already unlocked.

Characters[edit]

Playable characters[edit]

All characters have different statistics, making each of them unique. Luigi, Donkey Kong, and Baby Mario, as well as new characters Allie, Joy, and Brian are available from the start, but most characters need to be unlocked by beating them in the Mario Tour. Some characters need to be unlocked by a N64 Transfer Pak. In total, there are 29 playable characters available in the game, with all new characters to the Mario Tennis series also making their first appearances in any game. Below is a full list of all of the characters in the game. Notably, Mario can only be played as after completing the Mario Tour, making this the first of the few games in the Super Mario franchise where he is unlockable. Also, this is the only appearance of Waluigi in a Game Boy Color game.

Characters and courts in this game, along with Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64, can no longer be transferred while playing the Virtual Console release, as the Nintendo 3DS is not compatible with the Nintendo 64/Game Boy Color Transfer Pak. The Nintendo Switch Online version features the transfer-only characters unlocked by default, which therefore allows the Warehouse Court to be unlocked.

Default characters[edit]

Character Skill Type
Luigi's mugshot in Mario Tennis (Game Boy Color).
Luigi
All-Around
Portrait of Donkey Kong from Mario Tennis
Donkey Kong
Power
Baby Mario from Mario Tennis
Baby Mario
Speed
Allie MT GBC icon.png
Allie (new)
Speed
Joy MT GBC icon.png
Joy (new)
Technique
BrianMT.png
Brian (new)
All-Around

Mario Tour members[edit]

These characters must be created before they are usable.

Alex Nina Harry Kate
Alex.png Nina from Mario Tennis Harry Kate
Bonuses: +1 Stroke +2 Dash Bonuses: +1 Placement +1 Reaction Bonuses: +1 Top +1 Angle +2 Serve +1 Speed Bonuses: +1 Slice +2 Angle +1 Serve +1 Dash
Story Role Player Story Role Player Story Role Player's Partner Story Role Player's Partner

Unlockable characters[edit]

Character Skill Type Unlock Condition
Mario's mugshot from Mario Tennis (Game Boy Color).
Mario
All-Around Beat in Singles
Portrait of Princess Peach from Mario Tennis
Peach
Technique Beat in Doubles
Pam MT GBC icon.png
Pam (new)
All-Around Complete the Singles championship in Junior class
Bob MT GBC icon.png
Bob (new)
Power Complete the Singles championship in Junior class
Beth MT GBC icon.png
Beth (new)
Speed Complete the Singles championship in Junior class
Fay MT GBC icon.png
Fay (new)
Power Complete the Singles championship in Senior class
Curt
Curt (new)
Tricky Complete the Singles championship in Senior class
Mugshot of Mark from Mario Tennis GBC
Mark (new)
All-Around Defeat him in Mario Tour by Doubles in Varsity Squad
Sammi
Sammi (new)
Technique Defeat her in Mario Tour by Singles or Doubles in Island Open
Mugshot of Sean from Mario Tennis GBC
Sean (new)
All-Around Defeat him in Mario Tour by Doubles in Island Open
Spike
Spike (new)
All-Around Defeat him in Mario Tour by Singles or Doubles in Island Open
Mugshot of Elden from Mario Tennis GBC
Elden (new)
Speed Defeat him in Mario Tour by Doubles in Island Open
Emily
Emily (new)
Speed Defeat her in Mario Tour by Singles in Island Open
Portrait of A. Coz from Mario Tennis
A. Coz (new)
Tricky Defeat him in Mario Tour by Singles or Doubles in Island Open
B. Coz
B. Coz (new)
Power Defeat him in Mario Tour by Doubles in Island Open

Transferable characters[edit]

Character Skill Type
Portrait of Yoshi from Mario Tennis
Yoshi
Speed
Wario's mugshot from Mario Tennis.
Wario
Power
Portrait of Waluigi from Mario Tennis
Waluigi
Technique
Portrait of Bowser from Mario Tennis
Bowser
Power

Non-playable characters[edit]

Super Mario characters[edit]

Daisy's appearance at Peach's side

N64 status icon cameos[edit]

N64 on GBC Icon (Tennis).png

Notable members[edit]

Courts[edit]

Image Name Ball Speed Bounce Area Unlock Condition
Grass Court Grass Court Fast Weak Island Open Available Initially
Hard Court Hard Court Normal Strong Royal Tennis Academy Available Initially
Clay Court Clay Court Slow Weak Royal Tennis Academy Available Initially
Composition Court Composition Court Fastest Normal Royal Tennis Academy Available Initially
Castle Court Castle Court Normal Normal Peach's Castle Beat Level 3 of Shooting Star
Tropics Court Tropics Court Fastest Weak Mario World Beat Level 3 of Target Shot
Jungle Court Jungle Court Fast Strongest Mario World Beat Level 3 of Banana Bunch
Star Court Star Court Fast Strong Mario World Have everything marked with a star on the Clear Status menu.
Warehouse Court Warehouse Court Slow Strong Mario World Beat every Mario character in exhibition with a Mario character. This court is not unlockable on Virtual Console since this requires characters transferred from the N64 version with the Transfer Pak.

Reception[edit]

Reviews
Release Reviewer, Publication Score Comment
Game Boy Color Frank Provo, GameSpot 8.2/10 "There is no doubt going to be a minor debate over which of the two games, Mario Tennis or Virtua Tennis, is better. Thanks to quality gameplay and Nintendo's rich stable of character designs, Mario Tennis goes toe-to-toe with Sega's game in every conceivable way. To discuss which is better is a moot point. Nintendo comes at you with familiar faces and more unique modes, while Sega's game counters with real tennis pros and slightly more accurate gameplay. Don't let its happy looks and age-appropriate gameplay fool you. Mario Tennis hits hard and fast."
Nintendo 3DS Tim Latshaw, Nintendo Life 8/10 "Some may call fault with Mario Tennis's stripped multiplayer functionality and chopped roster, but those who never knew what was possible to be unlocked in the original version might never even realize the possibilities are missing. Mario Tennis still provides an amazingly tight and fun portable experience with a skillful shot system and an engaging RPG-like motif. So what if Mario doesn't register as much? He'll just have to make do with golf, baseball, football, every Olympic sport."
Aggregators
Compiler Platform / Score
GameRankings 90.78%

Staff[edit]

Main article: List of Mario Tennis (Game Boy Color) staff

Gallery[edit]

For this subject's image gallery, see Gallery:Mario Tennis (Game Boy Color).

Media[edit]

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Names in other languages[edit]

Language Name Meaning
Japanese マリオテニスGB
Mario Tenisu GB
Mario Tennis GB

Chinese (traditional) 瑪利歐網球GB[2]
Mǎlì'ōu Wǎngqiú GB
Mario Tennis GB

References[edit]