Mario Tennis Open

Mario Tennis Open is a sports game for the Nintendo 3DS and the sixth installment of the Mario Tennis series (developed by Camelot Software Planning). The game features gyroscope support and online multiplayer (using the Nintendo Network procedures). It was released in North America on the May 20th, 2012, in Japan and Australia on the 24th and in Europe on the 25th.

Gameplay
The gameplay features the traditional basic elements from previous Mario Tennis games. To win, the player must score points by hitting the ball into the other side of the court and bounce twice, the basic objective of tennis. Players earn 15 points for every shot that is successful and can win the game by earning set, game, and match points by earning 60 points on each game. The amount of set and game points can be set by the player in exhibition mode but not in tournament mode.

This game utilises the buttons of the 3DS during single or multiplayer matches, though players can perform various tennis shots by selecting the shot panels on the touch screen, which will light up to alert the player of the best shot to use in a given situation. By holding the 3DS vertically, players can make use of the aforementioned gyroscope support, disabling 3D functionality. This places the camera behind their character, whose movement becomes automatic, and allows players to control the direction of their shots based on the position of the console. The gyroscope support can be disabled either by holding the console horizontally or by turning it off in the Options menu. There are also Special Modes in the game, such as "Super Mario Tennis", where the player needs to hit enemies, blocks and coins with tennis balls in some levels of Super Mario Bros..

Menu Controls

 * or - Moves cursor
 * - Confirms command
 * - Cancels command, also transitions back to the previous menu screen. If players win an exhibition match, they can press this button to automatically return to the main menu.
 * - During a match, this button pauses the game and opens a menu that contains choices such as viewing game rules, setting gyroscope controls, choosing to re-do matches, and canceling matches.
 * - Toggles between the character's dominant hand.
 * - Toggles between the character's star rank. In multiplayer, this is based on the data of player who created the room. Therefore, the player who has created the room needs to have his or her characters starred if members of the room want to give their characters a star rank.

Game Controls

 * or - Moves the character.
 * - Performs a topspin shot that is faster. It has a high trajectory with a forward spin.
 * - Performs a slice shot that is slower. It has a low trajectory with a backward spin. During a replay, this button restarts the replay at another angle.
 * - Performs a simple shot. This button automatically performs the appropriate shot. Chance Shots performed by this button are slightly weaker.
 * - Performs a flat shot that is the fastest shot, but it has no spin. Also, this button can be used for Smash Shots. Note that Smash Shots and Purple Chance Shots are different shots.
 * → - Performs a lob with a very high trajectory, which can land at the back of the court.
 * → - Performs a drop shot, with very little bounce and trajectory. The ball can land at the front of the court.
 * (while the opponent is receiving or serving the ball) - The character performs a taunt that makes his or her next shot stronger.
 * - If the player is charging the ball, this button cancels the charge. It lets the partner know that player is going to hit the ball by saying, "Got It!"
 * - If any character is serving, the button cycles through the three shot panel configurations: 3-panel, inverted 3-panel, and 6-panel.

Chance Shots
Chance Shots can appear if the opponent performs a bad rebound. In that case, a small colored area with a symbol of a Mario enemy or item appears in the player's court. The color of the symbol matches the colors of the panels in the touch screen (if the touch screen is set to the 6-panel shot panel). To perform a chance shot, players have to perform a shot whose color corresponds to the colored area when they are in the area, either by pressing the correct button or button combination or by touching the matching color on the touch screen. Otherwise, the shot is a normal shot. However, players can perform a simple shot that automatically selects the appropriate shot, but this Chance Shot is slightly weaker.

Players on the receiving end of a Chance Shot experience special effects that can hinder them. However, they can lessen the effect by pressing the opposite shot. For instance, red Chance Shots may not make much of an impact if the player retaliates with a (blue) slice shot.

Here is a list of Chance Shots and their effects.

Exhibition
Similar to the preceding Mario Tennis games, exhibition mode is a basic versus mode. Players can choose a singles or doubles match. After that, they can choose their character and opponents and press the or  to give characters a left handed dominance or a star rank, respectively, if they want. The opponent's CPU's difficulty can be chosen after that, ranking from lowest to highest: Novice, Intermediate, Expert, Pro, and Ace (Pro and Ace are unlockable). After this, players can choose any court they currently have, and then they can determine the games and sets. After this, the match starts. It is important to note that Chance Shots cannot be turned off, unlike Power Shots from the previous games.

Tournament Mode
Tournament mode is very similar to the tournament mode in the previous Mario Tennis games. However, two more cups are added and the arrangement of the cups are different. Players must have a star ranking to participate in the second set of cups. They can achieve this by beating Special Cup. However, in the Doubles Tournament, only the character they control earns the star rank. Beating Champions Cup unlocks the Pro difficulty, which is more difficult than Expert, while Final Cup unlocks the most difficult COM difficulty for Exhibition Mode, the Ace difficulty.

Once the player has unlocked a cup, he or she can play that cup at any time, no matter what character is being used. As a result, characters do not have to clear all three cups to beat the Special Cup to earn the Star Rank, unlike in the previous titles.


 * World Open
 * Mushroom Cup
 * Flower Cup
 * Banana Cup
 * Champions Cup
 * Star Open
 * 1-Up Mushroom Cup
 * Ice Flower Cup
 * Shell Cup
 * Final Cup

Special Games
Another regular feature of the Mario Tennis series, the Special Games, is also present in Mario Tennis Open. These games, like the name says, have special rules and features that differ from normal gameplay. Some of these games bear a very strong resemblance to the Special Games in the previous Mario Tennis titles. However, unlike in the previous Mario Tennis games, Ring Shot is included within the Special Games rather than as another option for exhibition matches. Each Special Game has four difficulties, which are named according to the Special Game. Other than Super Mario Tennis, the last difficulty is a challenge that tests how much a player can do before running out of tries.

Players can unlock characters by clearing Level 3 of each Special Game. Players can unlock outfits for their Mii if they meet the requirements for unlocking them in Level 4.

Here is a list of the four Special Games that appear in this game:


 * Super Mario Tennis
 * Ring Shot
 * Ink Showdown
 * Galaxy Rally

Starting Participants
There are a total of 16 playable characters in Mario Tennis Open. Some are unlocked during normal game play, but multicolored Yoshis and Metal Mario can be unlocked using QR codes. Additionally, each character will be in one of the six player classes available in the game, excluding the Miis as they can be customized. The four hidden characters can each be unlocked by completing level 3 in the respective Special Game.

Unlockable Participants
 File:MTOLuma.png|Luma (Technique) (unlocked by completing Level 3 in Galaxy Rally) File:MTOBabyM.png|Baby Mario (Speed) (unlocked by completing Level 3 in Super Mario Tennis) File:MTOBabyP.png|Baby Peach (Tricky) (unlocked by completing Level 3 in Ring Shot) File:DryBowserMTO.png|Dry Bowser (Defense) (unlocked by completing Level 3 in Ink Showdown)

The Yoshi Hunt
In the UK, a Yoshi QR Chase is being set up in 30 participating ASDA stores, and in participating EB Games and JB Hi-Fi stores in Australia and New Zealand. This special QR event will allow consumers to scan the code via the game to unlock certain Yoshis to play as. Japan, PAL and USA have all QR codes in regards to the colored Yoshis.

Non-Playable

 * Toad
 * Lakitu
 * Toads
 * Goombas
 * Mecha-Koopas
 * Penguins
 * Shy Guys
 * Koopa Troopas
 * Inky Piranha Plants
 * Piranha Plants
 * Lumas (Blue, Red, Green, and Turquoise)
 * Buzzy Beetles
 * Koopa Paratroopas

Courts
There are 8 courts in Mario Tennis Open.
 * Mario Stadium (Hard Court, Grass Court, and Clay Court)
 * Peach's Palace (Carpet Court)
 * Bowser's Castle (Stone Court)
 * DK Jungle (Wood Court)
 * Mushroom Valley (Mushroom Court)
 * Penguin Iceberg (Snow Court)
 * Wario Dunes (Sand Court)
 * Galaxy Arena (Crystal Court, Morph Court) (unlocked by completing the Final Cup in the Star Open Tournaments)

Costumes
The costumes can be used to customize the player's Mii character. Usually, these costumes are unlocked when the player accomplishes a task. The costumes increase the Mii's stats just as other outfits increase stats.


 * Mario (Beat Star Tournament in singles)
 * Luigi (Beat Star Tournament in doubles)
 * Peach (Collect 800 points in Ring Shot)
 * Daisy (Collect 700 points in Ring Shot with another player )
 * Bowser (Collect 50 victory medals/beat 50 people online)
 * Bowser Jr (Collect 20 victory medals/beat 20 people online)
 * Yoshi (Scan the QR Code)
 * Luma (Collect 1500 coins in the Galaxy Rally Challenge Special Game)
 * Donkey Kong (Meet 50 Mii characters via Streetpass)
 * Diddy Kong (Meet 20 Mii characters via Streetpass)
 * Wario (Collect 800 Coins in Super Mario Tennis Level 1-4)
 * Waluigi (Collect 800 Coins in Super Mario Tennis Level 2-4 (accessible with local multiplayer))
 * Boo (Buy 100 different items in the item shop)
 * Dry Bowser (Collect 100 victory medals/beat 100 people online)
 * Bee Mario (Turn eight characters into star characters)
 * Fire Mario(Turn two characters into star characters)
 * Cloud Mario (Turn ten characters into star characters)
 * Propeller Mario (Turn five characters into star characters)
 * Tanooki Mario (Turn fifteen characters into star characters)
 * Birdo (Beat an Ace computer in exhibition)
 * Goomba (Add 100 items to the item shelf)
 * Petey Piranha (Reach 50 returns in the Ink Showdown Challenge)
 * Toad (Reach a total of 50000 coins)
 * Wiggler (Earn a total of 5000 points in Online Multiplayer Open matches)
 * Koopa Troopa (Win 10 consecutive Streetpass matches)
 * Shy Guy (Win 20 consecutive Streetpass matches)

Media

 * Main Article: Mario Tennis Open/Media

References to Other Games

 * Super Mario Bros.: The Special Game Super Mario Tennis is based on this game. The overworld, underground, and castle themes from this game are featured, as several levels are replicated (albeit with minor revisions). A remixed version of the main theme is also played Mario Stadium.
 * Super Mario Bros. 3: Tanooki Mario can be unlocked as a gear outfit.
 * Super Mario 64: A remix of Peach's Castle's theme plays in Peach's Palace.
 * Mario Kart 64: Penguin Iceberg takes place in an area very similar to Sherbet Land.
 * Mario Kart: Double Dash!!: The court Penguin Iceberg also has a very similar appearance to that of the Sherbet Land from this game.
 * Mario Tennis: The special game Ink Showdown is based off Piranha Challenge. Also, the game, set, and match point themes in the Special Tournaments are remixed from this game. Baby Mario also returns as a playable character with the exact same stats. The Toad and Birdo suits can also be earned (along with their rackets) which is a reference to how they used to be playable in the original Mario Tennis. The equipment also gives the player's Mii the exact same stats that they had in this game too.
 * Mario Power Tennis: Galaxy Rally plays similarly to Gooper Blooper Volley.
 * Yoshi Story - All the playable Yoshis from the game (including the unlockable Black and White Yoshis) are playable and they also have Uniforms, Wristbands, Rackets, and shoes the player can buy representing them.
 * Super Mario Galaxy: The only unlockable court, Galaxy Arena, takes place in the Comet Observatory. Also, a remixed version of the Comet Observatory's theme plays during an Exhibition match. In the Special Game Galaxy Rally, there is a Black Hole underneath the court, a Launch Star and its Star Chips, Star Bits, and differently-colored Lumas, and the whole Comet Observatory can be seen in the background. Also, a planet from the Gateway Galaxy is seen. The Good Egg Galaxy music is now played.
 * Various gear outfits are some power-ups of this game, such as Bee Mario.
 * Mario & Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story: Peach's Palace is heavily similar to the first room of Peach's Castle in this game.
 * Super Mario 3D Land: The splatter design from the Inky Piranha Plant is the same from this game.
 * Wario Land 3: The overworld theme from this game, particularly from the level Out of the Woods, is played in the Wario Dunes court.
 * Wario Land 4: The pyramid featured in this game appeared at the front of the Wario Dunes court.
 * New Super Mario Bros. Wii: The Propeller Suit is available to unlock as various gear, as well as a costume.
 * Mario Kart Wii: Mushroom Valley takes place in Mushroom Gorge, as the track itself can be seen below the court. The court takes place on a Mushroom, which brings back the aspect of the red mushrooms being very bouncy.
 * Super Mario Galaxy 2: Different gear can be unlocked that are power-ups from this game, such as Cloud Mario.

Trivia

 * This is the first handheld installment in the series to not include a Story Mode or RPG elements.
 * This is also the first handheld installment in the series with a Tournament mode.
 * This is the first installment in the series to include a Tournament mode but not an Item Battle mode.
 * Unlike in all past games in the Mario Tennis series, Wario's tennis racket does not depict his signature "W" on it; his iconic nose and mustache serve as his emblem in this game instead.
 * Some of the music in certain tournament cups is a remix of parts of certain Kirby themes.
 * One of the newer Puzzle Swap panels in the StreetPass Mii Plaza app for the Nintendo 3DS is Mario Tennis Open. It was released on April 21, 2012, roughly a month before the game itself came out.
 * Peach's and Daisy's profile icons include their renders from Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games; however in this game, their athletic wear have skirts as opposed to the traditional shorts, although only the upper part of themselves from those renders are visible to hide the fact that they wore shorts in those renders.
 * Baby Mario makes a return in this game in the series after Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64; however his tennis racket's emblem was updated from the lowercase letter M to the uppercase M like his adult self, but with bonnet frills surrounding the letter M.
 * Also, Baby Peach who makes her first appearance in this game in the Mario Tennis series has bonnet frills around the crown as her emblem to differentiate from her adult self.