Mario Tennis: Power Tour

Mario Tennis: Power Tour (also known as Mario Power Tennis in Europe and Australia, and as Mario Tennis Advance (マリオテニスアドバンス Mario Tenisu Adobansu) in Japan) is the Game Boy Advance counterpart of Mario Power Tennis for the GameCube, and the final Mario release for said handheld. 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.

Playable Characters
Mario Tennis: Power Tour features 36 playable characters (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 twenty-eight of which have to be unlocked by the player. This marks the only time Waluigi has appeared without Wario. This is also the only Mario Tennis game where Yoshi is not a playable character. None of the unlockable characters are Mario characters, although star versions of them can be unlocked.

Non-Playable Characters

 * Shadow Swing King
 * Shadow Swingstress
 * Leon
 * Peter
 * Oscar
 * Chet
 * Alex
 * Harry
 * Nina
 * Kate
 * Mark
 * Emily
 * Kevin
 * A. Coz
 * B. Coz
 * Headmaster
 * Great Fairy of Victory
 * Toads
 * Toadsworth
 * Piantas
 * Nokis
 * Wario (opening cameo)

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 R and press A for an Offensive Power Shot, and hold R and press B for a Defensive Power Shot.

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.
 * In the North American version of the game, the bus for the Island Open boards from the left-side door and departs while on the left side of the road. This was a localization oversight; in Japan and most other countries, people drive on the left side of the road.
 * This is the only Mario Sports game to date to not feature Yoshi, Daisy or Wario in any way, whatsoever.

Mario Power Tennis (Game Boy Advance)