Ink Showdown

Ink Showdown is one of the four Special Games found in Mario Tennis Open. It is very similar to Piranha Challenge from Mario Tennis. The rules are also the same. In this Special Game, Inky Piranha Plants spit balls at the player. Players need to hit this ball past the opponent to count towards the score. If the opponent manages to hit the ball, or if the player misses the ball, the score does not count, and the player loses one out of three tries. If players lose all tries, the game is over. A score is counted if the opponent fails to rebound or if the player hits the opponent. Nothing is counted if the player hits the ball out of bounds, but the player does not lose a try.

What makes this Special Game different is that Inky Piranha Plants replace regular Piranha Plants. Occasionally, they may spit out an ink ball that can obscure the screen for a brief while if the player misses the ball. To destroy the ink ball, players need to make contact with the ink ball. This ink ball is instantly destroyed, but it does not count towards the score.

The objective of this game is different from Mario Tennis as well. In the previous game, players have to rebound as much as they can within 50 balls. In Mario Tennis Open, there is a set amount of balls the player must rebound within three tries. Also, each difficulty has a different court.


 * Bronze - Mario Stadium Grass Court - 15 rebounds
 * Silver - Mario Stadium Clay Court - 30 rebounds
 * Gold - Mario Stadium Hard Court - 30 rebounds

If players beat the gold difficulty, they can unlock Dry Bowser. If players reach 50 rebounds in the challenge difficulty, they can unlock the Petey Piranha Suit.