Mario Tennis: Power Tour

Mario Tennis: Power Tour (also known as Mario Power Tennis in Europe, and as Mario Tennis Advance (マリオテニスアドバンス Mario Tenisu Adobansu) in Japan) is the fifth installment in the Mario Tennis series, and the Game Boy Advance counterpart of Mario Power Tennis for the Nintendo GameCube. This is also the final Mario release for the Game Boy Advance. It is very similar to Mario Tennis in gameplay and plot, though it has the addition of Power Shots. Though it is the counterpart of Mario Power Tennis, the two games cannot be connected in any way.

Plot
The player, either Clay (Max in Europe) or Ace (Tina in Europe), is a student in the Royal Tennis Academy. During this time, masked challengers come to the academy and defeat the academy's champions, leaving everyone in disbelief as they have never lost before. Determined to find out who they are, Clay or Ace become a part of the Junior class, where they defeat everyone in it. They continue on to the Senior classes, and then to Varsity, where they learn that the top two ranking players or teams get to advance to the Island Open, where they would play against top students from the other three tennis schools.

Clay/Ace soon ensure their entry to the Island Open. They hear a rumour that the victors of the Open would get a chance to play against Mario. During the time at the Open, the player may wish to travel between the Academy and the area of the Open at any time. After winning the Open, Clay and Ace realise that they still have not discovered who the masked plays are. However, the very next day Mario comes to the Academy, and gives Clay/Ace the honour of playing with them. Thus begins the Peach Tournament, with Clay/Ace as players. In doubles, both are a team. Clay and Ace travel to the Mushroom Kingdom by the Toad Express, where the games are being held in the Peach Dome, owned by Princess Peach. During their stay, Clay/Ace are told that it is Mario and company that were the masked players in the academy, and that it is also them that introduced the concept of power shots to Earth. Piantas, Toads, and Nokis are present at the dome as part of the audience. Beating the game will unlock the technical difficulty which increases the skill level if the characters in story mode. Beating this mode will reward the player with a screen with all the characters Ace or Clay beat in their journey.

Story

 * - Confirm
 * - Run/Back
 * - Move
 * - Menu

Menu

 * - Confirm
 * - Back
 * - Select
 * - Left-Handed Character
 * - Star Character

Tennis

 * / - Start swing
 * + - Topspin
 * + - Slice
 * + - Lob
 * + - Drop Shot
 * - Move
 * - Activate Power Shot
 * - Cancel Charge
 * + / - Jump Shot

Playable Characters
Mario Tennis: Power Tour features 36 playable characters when excluding Clay and Ace (the largest number seen in any Mario Tennis game), although only six are Mario characters with the rest (barring the two playable characters Clay and Ace) being opponents in the game's story mode, all 30 of which have to be unlocked by the player. This marks the only time Waluigi has appeared without Wario (although Wario's voice can be heard in the game's intro) and the second Mario Tennis game where Wario is not a playable character nor appears at all after Mario's Tennis. This is also the third time Daisy does not appear as a playable character after Mario's Tennis and the Game Boy Color version of Mario Tennis and the second time where she doesn't appear at all, also after Mario's Tennis. It also marks this the only Mario Tennis game where Yoshi is not a playable character, nor appears at all, making Mario, Luigi and Peach the only characters to appear in every Mario Tennis game as playable characters. None of the unlockable characters are Mario characters, although star versions of them can be unlocked.

Minigames
Each minigame consists of three levels and a "challenge" level. The first three levels award a set amount of PS Points per completion, while the challenge level gives PS Points based on completion time or a different factor, depending on the individual minigame.

Additionally, the Tennis Machine and Wall Practice minigames award EXP instead of PS Points. Both minigames have four levels: Beginner, Standard, Expert, and Master. After completing Master level, an alarm will sound and Alex and Nina will come over to congratulate the player.

Power Shots
There are 44 Power Shots in Mario Tennis: Power Tour, with half of them being Offensive and the other half being Defensive, although 12 of these are exclusive to the Mario characters. These first become first available after reaching Senior level, however only Varsity and Island Open opponents actually use them. To unlock a Power Shot, certain levels need to be reached in the PS Minigames. The Power Shots that Ace and Clay can use and the requirements for each are listed below. To use a Power Shot in the game, the Power Shot meter must be fully charged. When it is, a yellow-orange ring will appear around the players character. Hold and press  for an Offensive Power Shot, and hold  and press  for a Defensive Power Shot.

Alex

 * I thought I'd never see them again, but they came back to see me...
 * So you can't tell? Not even by watching them play?

Headmaster

 * Playing in the Island Open proves you're the academy's best. That alone is worth it.
 * Just do your best. We're all with you out there!

Reception
The game received generally positive reviews, receiving an average review score of 81 based on 21 reviews. IGN gave the game a 90/100, praising it's gameplay, story mode and adaption from it's GameCube predecessor, Mario Power Tennis. IGN found that the problems from the GameCube game also carried over, such as the descriptive Power Shots, and also criticised the recycled music and lack of connectivity to Mario Power Tennis. The game was largely compared too and viewed as slightly inferior to Mario Golf: Advance Tour.

Staff
The game's executive producer was Satoru Iwata, and other producers include Shinji Hatano, Hiroyuki Takahashi and Shugo Takahashi. This game's music was made by Motoi Sakuraba. Shigeru Miyamoto, Shin Yamanouchi and Fumihide Aoki all worked on the character design.

Glitches
In Instinct Drill, if the player where to complete a level at the same time that the time runs out, everthing will act like the player failed, except that the results screen will have a "Cleared", instead of "Failed".

References to other games

 * Super Mario Bros. - The main theme plays in the ending.
 * Super Mario 64 - The music that would play inside Princess Peach's Castle in Super Mario 64 plays inside the Peach Dome, and during matches on the dome's respective court.
 * Mario Tennis (Game Boy Color) - Alex, Harry, Nina, Kate, Mark, Emily, and Kevin appear as coaches in the Academy. Also, the story mode and academy is nearly identical to this game.
 * Mario Power Tennis - Power Shots, the Game and Match point music and overall structure of Mario Tennis: Power Tour are similar to this game.

Trivia

 * There is an NPC in the clean-up crew after the Island Open celebration that resembles Link. He is located near the top of the screen when the player wakes up on the field.
 * This game is one of Mario games that North American version allows select other European languages.

Mario Power Tennis (Game Boy Advance)