Mario Power Tennis

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Template:Articleabout Template:Infobox Mario Power Tennis is a sports game for the Nintendo GameCube and a re-release for the Wii (via the New Play Control! series). It is the fourth installment in the Mario Tennis series, and the follow-up to Mario Tennis for the Nintendo 64. This game features other four European announcer voices. In this game, Mario and his various friends and enemies meet up to play tennis. Like previous Mario sports titles, all the playable characters have incredibly powerful Power Shots. Additionally, there are courts in the game that have special effects and events during the game. There are also special games for each court to play with.

The game's opening

Mario and Luigi celebrating a win in their tennis match against Wario and Waluigi during the Mario Power Tennis opening
Mario and Luigi celebrating their win against Wario and Waluigi.

The game's opening begins with Mario and Luigi playing a match against Wario and Waluigi. The Mario Bros. win the match and celebrate as Wario and Waluigi complain about their loss. Bowser is seen surveying the match through hidden cameras. The next day, Wario and Waluigi see a picture of Mario and Luigi on the "Peach Dome Tournament" board and are furious to see that their opponents have knocked them out of the running. Wario and Waluigi vandalize the picture of Mario and Luigi, but the Buckethead police pursue to arrest them. Wario and Waluigi escape into a janitor's closet, but they fall into what appears to be a training room. Bowser approaches them and offers an alliance to get revenge against the Mario Bros.. After hours of training and seeing others playing their tennis matches, they carry out a plan to attack the final tournament later that evening at the Peach Dome.

As Mario and Luigi are about to play the final match of the tournament against Yoshi and Donkey Kong. Bowser shows up on an airship-shaped blimp and rigs the tournament so that Wario and Waluigi can have their rematch with the Mario Bros., shocking the tournament hosts, Princess Peach and Toadsworth. The audience boo at Wario, Waluigi, and Bowser and want them to leave, but Wario and Waluigi set up a machine that fires Bob-ombs at the Mario Bros. Bowser in the meantime, throws Bob-ombs at them. However, Mario and Luigi reflect the incoming Bob-ombs back at them with their tennis rackets. Other characters, such as Diddy Kong and Koopa Troopa, also are briefly seen helping the Mario Bros. fend off the Bob-ombs. At a last resort, Bowser launches a Bullet Bill from his blimp at them, and Mario knocks it back with his racket, which fires back and hits Wario's Bob-omb launcher. Waluigi is about to retrieve the launcher, but Wario falls and crushes him. The launcher, flipped from the explosion, accidentally fires a Bob-omb at Bowser's blimp, destroying it and revealing Bowser's stock of Bob-ombs below his blimp, shocking Peach, Mario, and Luigi.

Bowser's blimp starts to descend out of control and falls toward Wario and Waluigi. Wario and Waluigi attempt to escape, but Bowser crashes to them with the Bob-ombs onboard, causing them to blow up on impact creating a large explosion.

Afterwards, the trio falls unconscious after the blast, and their plan to attack Mario and his friends has completely failed, despite the damage they have done to the stadium. Mario and Luigi are relieved, and Mario breaks the fourth wall by saying "Mama mia" before the scene ends.

Additional snapshots

Gameplay

Players participate in a tennis game, just as its precedents in the Mario Tennis series. To win, the player must score points by hitting the ball into the other side of the court and not making the opponent rebound the ball, just as the traditional way of playing 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.

Controls

File:MPT Controls.JPG
The controls for the game.

Menu screen controls

  • Control Stick: The players can use the Analog Stick to scroll through menu items.
  • A Button: The players can select menu items
  • B Button: The players can cancel any action they took
  • START/PAUSE Button: The players can return to game they were playing
  • L Button: Pressing the button once makes a selected character left-handed. Pressing it again makes the character right-handed.
  • R Button: Pressing the button once makes a star for the character. Pressing it again removes the star. Stars are only obtained by beating the Star Cup.

Game controls

The controls here are assumed the normal control style. The control options are changed in the options menu and before the start of a match.

  • Control Stick: The players can move around and also aim direction of ball they just hit.
  • A Button: The players execute a topspin shot (if the players hit the button twice, they will execute a strong shot). Topspin shots are faster with a higher trajectory than slice shots and the ball's trail is colored red when a topspin shot has been taken.
  • A Button when ball is on the other side of the court: The player will taunt at the opponent. If the animation finishes, the glow around the opponent's racket grows smaller.
  • B Button: The players execute a slice shot (if the players hit the button twice, they will execute a strong shot). Slices are slower with a lower trajectory than topspin shots and the ball's trail is colored blue when a slice shot has been taken.
  • A Button then B Button: The player can lob, which can send the ball flying up in the air. It can fly over the opponents' heads.
  • B Button then A Button: The player can perform a drop shot which is a very weak shot that goes barely past the net. It is performed to deter players who like to go far away from the net.
  • A Button and B Button: The player can perform a flat shot. When the ball is lobbed, a smash point appears and the player can perform a smash shot instead of a flat shot. Flat shots' trails are colored green while smash shots' trails are colored purple.
  • R Button and either A Button or X Button: The player performs a powerful Offensive Power Shot if power shots are turned on and if the player's racket glows to a certain amount of intensity. The power shot depends on the character. The players also must be in a certain distance or they will perform a defensive power shot instead. Note that any offensive power shots that occur before this still has an effect on the player who will use the power shot.
  • R Button and either B Button or Y Button: The player performs a Defensive Power Shot, which can cover the ball to great distances if power shots are turned on and if the players' racket glows to a certain intensity. This power shot also depends on the characters, but not as much as offensive power shots. Any offensive power shot that has been execute before this will not have any effect on the players if they use the defensive power shot.
  • L Button: The players can cancel charge shots.
  • L Button and either A Button or B Button: The players can jump towards the ball.
  • Z Button: The players can change the camera view. The options are stationary, player, and dynamic.

Game modes

Exhibition

Mario Power Tennis
Players participating in Item Battle Mode.

Up to four players can participate in this versus mode. The players can choose their characters, a court, and what type of game that they can play. The player can also adjust rules in versus match, such as turning power shots on and off, setting the numbers of games and sets, and choose which character to pair with when playing in doubles. Computer levels can also be set by the player, and they range from easiest to hardest: novice, intermediate, expert, pro, and the unlockable ace difficulty. There are three types of games that the player can play.

  • Standard Court: The player and the opponent participates in a chosen course with no gimmicks of any kind. The only gimmicks present are the bounce intensity, speed of the ball, and the power shots, if turned on. Standard Courts for any court that is not Peach Dome must be unlocked first by completing the Gimmick Masters tournaments.
  • Gimmick Court: The player participates in the same game as in the court, but with gimmicks that can help or hinder the player, unique to each court. The Peach Dome is the only court that cannot have gimmicks of any sort whatsoever.
  • Item Battle: The player can use special items to help them win against the opponent. To do so, the player must hit an Item Box with the ball and receive a random item, very much like in the Mario Kart series, except that the item received isn't dependent if the player is losing or not.
    • Green Koopa Shell: 3 shells zoom out in straight lines. If the player gets hit by one, they will stumble and lose time, possibly going as far as help the opponent gain a point.
    • Red Koopa Shell: One Red Shell comes out and chases after the opponent. The effect is similar to that of a green shell if contact has been initiated.
    • Mushroom: The Mushroom increases the player's movements for a brief moment of time. It also grows the player back into normal size quicker if they had been shrunk by Lightning.
    • Banana: A stationary banana gets shot out. If it hits the ground, the banana remains there. Slipping on a banana peel also has the same effect as shells.
    • Star: The Star increases the player's abilities and it makes the player invulnerable for a short period of time. It also grows the player back to normal size quicker, if the player was shrunk by Lightning.
    • Lightning: The Lightning strikes the opponents of the court and shrinks them to a tiny size. The opponent's speed, stature, and power will also decrease.

The content and number of the item boxes depends on the court being played on.

  • Peach Dome Courts: None
  • Luigi's Mansion: 10% higher chance of lightning bolts.
  • Delfino Plaza Court: 10% higher chance of mushrooms.
  • Wario Factory: Twice as many item boxes.
  • Gooper Blooper Court: 10% higher chance of red and green shells.
  • Donkey Kong Jungle Court: 10% higher chance of bananas.
  • Bowser Castle Court: Same as Bowser Castle Gimmick Court.
  • Mario Classic Court: 10% higher chance of stars.
  • Ring Shot: The player scores points by hitting rings to win the game. The player earns the points in the rings by winning the point in the game, which depends on how many rings the player has shot. The losing player will give half of their points to the winning player in charge amount. The amount of ring points needed to win the game ranges from 100, 200, and 500.

Tournament

Entrees in the Planet Cup tournament in Mario Power Tennis. Compressed with PNGMonster.
Mario pits against opponents in the Planet Cup.

The player pits against simultaneous matches against computer opponents to win the trophy in a cup. The higher the cup level, the harder the computers will get. Once a character has completed Star Cup, the character receives a star ranking, strengthening hitting the ball. This rank also allows the character to participate in the Star Tournament, where the opponents also have the star ranking and are generally more difficult. The player can also participate in a Gimmick Tournament, which, as the name implies, enables the player to participate in Gimmick matches in courts against the computer. Although a Doubles Tournament is available, only one player can participate, forcing the player to be paired with an AI-controlled partner. Additionally, completing the World Open in Doubles does not grant the character a star ranking, so players must complete the Singles tournaments first to participate in Doubles Star Tournament.

World Open
Gimmick Masters
Star Tournament

Special Games

The fourth level of Artist On the Court.
Players participating in "Artist on the Court".

Players have the option to play special games as an alternative to going in tournament or exhibition mode. Up to four players can participate in the special games except for Gooper Blooper Volley and Mecha-Bowser Mayhem, which are only for one player. All courts have specific special games that are unique from one another.

  • Artist On the Court: Players must color a design on a wall using paint balls to complete the minigame. In order to progress and achieve harder levels, the player must complete the designs within the time limit. Designs include Mario, Luigi, Diddy Kong, Bowser and Bowser Jr., and a rainbow of Yoshis, in increasing order of difficulty.
  • Balloon Panic: Players must prevent Klaptraps from bursting their balloons by hitting balls at panels to make them change direction. The game ends when a Klaptrap pops a balloon.
  • Chain-Chomp Challenge: Players must feed a hungry Chain Chomp with balls. Bob-ombs make the Chain Chomp turn red and earn the player two points for every ball, but hitting the Chain Chomp with another Bob-omb will let the Chain Chomp out and waste the player's time with the need to activate a switch. Water balls place angry Chain Chomps back into their normal positions, and put normal Chain Chomps to sleep. The player can wake the Chain Chomp up by smacking a Bob-omb into it. Players can also tamper with other players' progress.
  • Gooper Blooper Volley: Players must rebound hits from a Gooper Blooper in a regular tennis game. However, the player also must avoid rebounding their ball into the gray zone that changes constantly throughout the game. Messing up ends the game.
  • Mecha-Bowser Mayhem: Players must defeat a Mecha Bowser that produces beams of light by swinging its tennis racket. Mecha Bowser can attack the player by breathing fire and shooting Bullet Bills. The game ends when either the player or Mecha Bowser is defeated.
  • Terror Tennis: The players must prevent ghosts from coming out of the paintings and attacking them. They have to earn a certain amount of points before the time runs out in order to proceed to more difficult levels. The player gets more points if they hit the ghost that is just about to come out of the painting.
  • Tic-Tac-Glow: The player must get three Shine Sprites in a row in order to earn points. They can do this by hitting balls to the other side of the court, while hitting the FLUDD icons, in order to spray goop away from the site.
  • Coin Collectors: The player must earn coins that enter the court while avoiding fireballs. They can only move left and right, but they can hit tennis balls to hit the POW block for more coins or the destruction of the fireballs. The player with the most coins wins the game.

Other modes

Mario Power Tennis
The Exhibition records.
  • Continue: When the players select this option, they can resume a previously saved game. Players can save a game during the middle of a match or before a tournament is started. However, any midgame points gained will reset to 0-0. The game can hold up to three continue files.
  • Records: Players can view records on all types of game modes played. If the records are on Exhibition, they can view what character they played and won against. Note that this only applies to beaten computer players by the player shown in a table. The shape of the win depends on the difficulty of the computer (a triangle means novice, a circle means intermediate, a circle with a dot in the middle means expert, a moon means pro, and a star means ace. Plus, a small star icon on the top right corner indicates that the computer was beaten when starred). If the records are on Tournament, the players can view the trophies won in a singles or doubles match with the character the player chosen. In Special Games, the players can view how long and/or how many points they achieved and the difficulty played on.
  • Options: The players can adjust in game settings, such as setting the sound system to mono, stereo, or surround, turning music on and off, turning rumble on and off, and setting control options. Control options can be set to easy, normal, and technical, which differs the controls the players must use. The players can also choose to delete save data, but once it is deleted, it cannot be restored.

Characters

The character select screen in Mario Power Tennis.
The character select screen.

A total of 18 characters are playable in Mario Power Tennis, of which 14 are default and the other 4 need to be unlocked before they can be played as. Characters are divided into 6 different play styles, listed below.

  • All Around: A character that is above average in all categories.
  • Speedy: A character that can get to the ball in time, but lacks raw strength and often reach.
  • Power: A character that can hit the ball with great force, but lacks speed and ball control.
  • Technique: A character that can place the ball on the corners of the net, but can lack speed and power.
  • Tricky: A character that can curve the ball, but often lacks reach.
  • Defense: A character that can easily hit the ball from any position, but lacks power and speed.

Although their stats are not visible, each character has slightly different attributes from each other. For instance, Bowser has more power and reach compared to Wario, but Wario has better control, movement, and volleying.

Starting participants

Name Image Skill Type Offensive Power Shot Defensive Power Shot
Mario File:MarioMPT3.PNG All Around Iron Hammer Spin Jump Return
Luigi Artwork of Luigi in Mario Power Tennis All Around Squeaky Mallet Poltergust Return
Peach Artwork of Princess Peach in Mario Power Tennis Technique Super Peach Spin Sweet Kiss Return
Daisy File:MPTDaisy1.PNG Technique Wonder Flower Flowerbed Return
Wario File:MPTWario.PNG Power Thunder Cast Shot Ultra-Hand Return
Waluigi Artwork of Waluigi from Mario Power Tennis. Defense Whirluigi Swimming Return
Bowser Artwork of Bowser from Mario Power Tennis. Power Fire Breath Spinning Shell Dash
Donkey Kong Artwork of Donkey Kong from Mario Power Tennis. Power Barrel Cannon Blast Boomerang Banana Return
Diddy Kong Artwork of Diddy Kong from Mario Power Tennis. Speedy Acrobatic Banana Barrel Jet
Yoshi File:Yoshitennis.jpg Speedy Rainbow Flutter Rolling Egg Return
Bowser Jr. MPTJr.PNG Tricky Magic Paint Rolling Brush Return
Koopa Troopa Artwork of Koopa Troopa from Mario Power Tennis. Speedy Water Bomb Water Shell Dash
Boo File:MPTBoo.PNG Tricky Boo Blast Boo Brigade Return
Shy Guy Shy Guy Technique Lightning Spear Spear Dance Return

Unlockable participants

Name Image Skill Type Offensive Power Shot Defensive Power Shot
Fly Guy Fly Guy Tricky Tornado Twist Tornado Return
Paratroopa Koopa Paratroopa Technique Energy Ball Sky Dive
Wiggler Mario Power Tennis promotional artwork: Wiggler Defense Anger Management Flutter Return
Petey Piranha Petey Piranha Power Sludge Racket Piranha Swingback

Unlock criteria

Unlocking criteria for these participants
Fly Guy Win all World Open cups (Mushroom, Flower, and Star) in Singles.
Paratroopa Win all World Open cups (Mushroom, Flower, and Star) in Doubles.
Wiggler Win all Gimmick Masters cups (Fire and Thunder) in Singles.
Petey Piranha Win all Gimmick Masters cups (Fire and Thunder) in Doubles.

Courts

Name Picture Gimmick Ball Speed Bounce Availability
Peach Dome
Hard Court
File:MPT PeachHardCourt.JPG A standard court, with no gimmicks or add-ons. Normal Strong Default
Peach Dome
Clay Court
File:MPT PeachClayCourt.JPG Slow Weak
Peach Dome
Grass Court
Peach Dome Grass Court from Mario Power Tennis. Fast
Luigi's Mansion Court Luigi's Mansion Court Hitting a tile on the other side of the court causes ghosts to appear and harass the players on that tile, slowing them down. Hitting a switch on the other side of the court makes them disappear. Normal
Wario Factory Court Wario Factory Court There are arrows which make the conveyer belts on the court move in that direction. Hitting the same arrow causes the conveyer belt to move faster. Strongest
Delfino Plaza Court Delfino Plaza Court There are three circles with the picture of a Piranha Plant. If a ball lands on any of the circles, a Polluted Piranha will spit goop onto the field which slows movement and can be cleaned by standing on a F.L.U.D.D. panel. Normal Weak
Gooper Blooper Court File:GimmickbloopersunshineMPT.jpg If a ball lands on a movable tile, the tile slides in the direction of the arrow. Water can be revealed. If the ball lands on the water, it is considered an out. Fastest Normal
DK Jungle Court File:MPT DKJungleCourt.jpg Red and Green Klaptraps crawl on the top of the net. If a player hits one of them, the Klaptrap jumps off and runs to the opponent's leg. More Klaptraps can be stuck to the opponent. Klaptraps slow the bitten player's speed and make lunges shorter. Klaptraps are removed when the opposing player hits the thunderbolt picture on the opposite side of the court. Slow
Bowser's Castle Court Bowser Castle Court in Mario Power Tennis The stage tilts from the weight of the players, which can give them a hard time moving or staying in place. It can be difficult to hit the ball in this court. Fast Strong Unlockable
Mario Classic Court MPTGIMMICKretro.jpg Classic Mario Bros. enemies walk on the middle lines of the court. They can block and mess up the players. Freezies freeze the court when they reach the middle. All enemies are stunned by the POW block (except for the Freezie, which is just destroyed). Sidesteppers take two hits from the POW block to get stunned and fighter flies are immune to the POW block if they are flying. Once stunned, they can get removed if a player runs into it. Defeated enemies can help the player obtain a glowing racket, which is for power shots. Slow Strongest

"New Play Control!" series

American box art of New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis
Box art of the Wii "New Play Control" version for Mario Power Tennis.

For the Wii version of Mario Power Tennis (via the New Play Control! lineup), the controls are not like the Nintendo GameCube version, since the game makes use of the Wii's motion controls instead of the Nintendo GameCube controller (which this specified version cannot be played using the latter). This version includes a tutorial movie to demonstrate how to use the Wii Remote in this game. It is also possible to play this game in 16:9 widescreen mode. Players can choose to play with the Wii Remote only, or with the Wii Remote/Nunchuk combination for advanced control of playable character participants.

Pre-release and unused content

In the intro of the game where Wario and Waluigi are drawing on the tournament board, the player can see Toad and Toadette's heads on the left. It is unknown if they were intended to be playable or if it is a simple cameo. Unused models found within the game's files include a Hammer Bro. (with its filename implying that it was meant to be the linesman), a Spiny, and a Fighter Fly.[1] During production, the game was called Mario Tennis.

References to other games

References in later games

Bloopers

This is the only Mario game so far that has blooper-reels in the credits. If the player wins the Star Cup or Thunder Cup, the player will see a blooper reel of the first half of the Opening Movie. These bloopers are as follows:

  • When returning the ball, Mario accidentally hits it against Luigi's face, to which Mario apologizes. Although Luigi complains about the injury on his nose, he is shown with a black eye.
  • Wario and Waluigi trips and fall when entering the outer skirts of Peach Dome.
  • While vandalizing the Mario Bros. poster, Waluigi hits the camera with his marker, taking it down. He then apologizes to the cameraman.
  • One of the Buckethead officers falls while giving chase to Wario and Waluigi.
  • Wario and Waluigi find the door in which they will hide from the Bucketheads, but it slams shut before they can enter, making them smash face-first against it.
  • In the same scene, they manage to enter through the door; however, Waluigi's leg gets stuck as the door closes. One of the Bucketheads points at it and Wario is heard muttering, "Stupid...".
  • When Bowser activates his ball-serving machine, a malfunction sends the balls hurtling against him from somewhere else off-camera. He runs off, frightened, slamming against the cameraman, as Wario and Waluigi, offscreen, laugh.

If the player wins the Planet Cup, a second set of bloopers will continue where the last set left off. These bloopers are as follows:

  • When Bowser turns on a switch, it breaks off in his hand. He laughs.
  • In the same scene, the switch electrocutes Bowser, and he faints. Waluigi rushes to aid him, but not before warning Bowser, "Don't expect mouth-to-mouth!"
  • Wario is weightlifting, and seems to make a huge effort with the massive weights. Suddenly, his cell phone rings and he picks it up with his left hand, without dropping the barbell in his right hand. It is seen that he was just pretending his effort, as he talks nonchalantly at the phone. Waluigi, displeased, calls the cut by placing his hand on the camera lens. Wario seems to be talking to his mother in this segment, for he says "Hello? Ma! I told you not to call me! I'm making a movie..."
  • Wario's and Waluigi's Bob-omb launcher device gets jammed by a stuck Bob-omb. Waluigi then calls for the Prop Guy.
  • Bowser's Bullet Bill Cannon explodes in his face when he fires, causing him to hold his jaws open in shock.
  • The Bullet Bill falls just ahead of Mario before he can return it at Bowser's Airship. Mario shrugs at the camera, laughing.
  • When Wario and Waluigi jump down to the court to escape the damaged launcher device, Wario falls head-first into the ground, getting stuck in a hole, prompting Waluigi to laugh (even though Wario's falling body nearly hit him).
  • When Bowser, Wario, and Waluigi appear on the big screen behind Mario and Luigi after the three's defeat, a Paratroopa goes across the screen and they all start laughing.

Snapshot gallery

Glitches

Offensive Power Shot Immunity

Normally, characters get pushed by back when rebounding Donkey Kong's Offensive Power Shot, even if they are using an Offensive Power Shot of their own, but Mario's Offensive Power shot grants him an immunity to that effect.
Notice how Mario is not getting pushed back, as seen in the Template:Conjecturaltext glitch.

Mario or Luigi rebounding an Offensive Power Shot with their Offensive Power Shot may not push them back or reverse their controls. However, Mario or Luigi still slow down from Offensive Power Shots such as Petey Piranha's Sludge Racket.

Incorrect Wario Audio

Occasionally, when a player-controlled Wario uses his Offensive Power Shot, Wario will begin saying his Defensive Power Shot Audio instead of his Offensive Power Shot Audio. The Template:Conjecturaltext glitch has only been found on the Wii Version.

Inappropriate Match Animations

If a player or team earns the required amount of rings during a ring match before the opponent or the opponent's team does, but misses the ball or hits it out, it triggers their losing animation as though the player or team lost the match, while the opponent player acts as if the match is won. In the results screen, however, the animation and results are correct, meaning the Template:Conjecturaltext glitch does not prevent a recorded win.

Banana glitch

This glitch requires good timing. In item battle mode, the server must hit the ball and activate the "fault" message. The opponent must have a banana item and after the "fault" message is activated, they must hit the ball while making sure it doesn't touch the ground before the ball is back to the server. If done correctly, the banana will still be seen on the ball with the server. However, it behaves normally.

Gallery

Template:Morepic

Staff

Main article: List of Mario Power Tennis staff

Trivia

  • This is the last video game where Wario wears his original long sleeved shirt which was used in his early appearances. In all appearances after this game, he is seen wearing his current short sleeved shirt.
  • This is the first game where Shy Guy receives a voice by Nate Bihldorff, who regularly voices Shy Guy in later Mario installments.
    • This is also the first game where Takashi Nagasako provides his voice for Donkey Kong and later regularly reprises this role in later installments. Katsumi Suzuki begins his career as Diddy Kong's voice actor here as well.

References

External links

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