Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64): Difference between revisions

{{italic title|''Mario Tennis'' (Nintendo 64)}}

{{rewrite|the writing is substandard and expansion is needed}}

{{Infobox

|developer=[[Camelot]]

|released='''Nintendo 64:'''<br>{{released|Japan|July 21, 2000|USA|August 28, 2000|Europe|November 3, 2000|Australia|November 3, 2000}} '''Virtual Console ([[Wii]]):'''<br>{{released|Europe|June 18, 2010|Australia|June 18, 2010|USA|June 28, 2010|Japan|August 31, 2010}} '''Virtual Console ([[Wii U]]) (Full Release):'''<br>{{released|USA|July 9, 2015|Europe|December 17, 2015|Australia|December 18, 2015|Japan|July 20, 2016}}

'''Virtual Console ([[Wii U]]) (Promotional Release):'''<br>{{released|Europe|November 20, 2015|Australia|November 21, 2015}}

|modes=Single player, Multiplayer

|ratings={{ratings|esrb=E|pegi=3|acb=g|usk=0}}

|platforms=[[Nintendo 64]], [[Virtual Console]] (Wii, Wii U)

|media={{media|n64=1|wiidl=1|wiiudl=1}}

|input={{input|n64=1|classic=1|wiigcn=1|wiiu=1|wiiupro=1|wiiuremote=1|wiiuclassic=1}}

'''''Mario Tennis''''', known in Japan as '''''Mario Tennis 64''''' (マリオテニス64 ''Mario Tenisu Rokujūyon''), is a [[Nintendo 64]] video game. It features [[Mario]] and his friends playing tennis, and is the second installment in the [[Mario Tennis (series)|''Mario Tennis'' series]] (although the first in the modern incarnation of the series) and the follow-up to ''[[Mario's Tennis]]'' for the [[Virtual Boy]]. This game introduced [[Waluigi]] as a rival of [[Luigi]], and also [[Princess Daisy]] and [[Birdo]]'s re-entries into the [[Mario (franchise)|''Mario'' franchise]]. The [[Mario Tennis (Game Boy Color)|Game Boy Color counterpart]] is [[Transfer Pak]] compatible with ''Mario Tennis''.

[[File:MT64 Opening Toad.png|thumb|right|100px|Toad announcing with the Bob-omb]]

The finals starts with Mario and Luigi beginning their match by looking for the tennis ball, when suddenly [[Wario]] and his new side-kick [[Waluigi]] bust in to challenge them. As Waluigi enjoys his new introduction, Luigi exclaims he's not afraid of this new character. Waluigi, now angered, challenges Luigi. Mario tries to calm the two down when Wario confronts him. The four are about to have-it-out, when a gloaming spot-light shines down upon them.  

As [[Toad]] (who is the announcer) points and shouts, "What's-that!?", [[Bowser]] and the hovering [[Boo]] fall onto the court below, knocking Wario and Waluigi backwards. Everyone appears disgusted that Bowser would try to ruin a tennis match. To everyone's surprise, the pair announce they have come to play a friendly game of tennis. As everyone is baffled, Mario breaks the silence by exclaiming, "Let's all play!". As Peach and Daisy look to each other and agree, everyone, including Wario and Waluigi, follow suit. Out of nowhere, a [[Bob-omb]] makes its way onto the field. Without time to act, everyone is caught in the blast, and the game begins.

Including all the characters that can be transferred from the [[Game Boy Color]] version of ''[[Mario Tennis (Game Boy Color)|Mario Tennis]]'', the Nintendo 64 version of ''Mario Tennis'' features a total of 20 playable characters. Of these characters, 14 characters are default, 2 characters (marked with a double asterisk) are unlockable through playing the Nintendo 64 game, and 4 characters (marked with a triple asterisk) can be transferred from the Game Boy Color game. Aside from the transferable characters, characters are divided into 5 different play styles, listed below. Waluigi (marked with an asterisk) makes his first appearance in the [[Mario Tennis (series)|''Mario Tennis'' series]] and the overall [[Mario (franchise)|''Mario'' franchise]]. Short Game and Tiebreaker are the only modes that can be played with the same characters. When two of the same character is selected, the second player to select said character will have an alternate palette swap of the character. All of the returning cast from ''[[Mario Golf]]'' retains a returning palette from that game.

<gallery caption="All-Around">

Mario Colors.png|[[Mario]]

Luigi Colors.png|[[Luigi]]

</gallery>

<gallery caption="Technique">

Peach Colors.png|[[Princess Peach]]

Daisy Colors.png|[[Princess Daisy]]

Toad Colors.png|[[Toad]]

Waluigi Colors.png|[[Waluigi]]*

Shy Guy Colors.png|[[Shy Guy]]**

</gallery>

<gallery caption="Power">

Warios Colors.png|[[Wario]]  

Bowser Colors.png|[[Bowser]]  

DK Colors.png|[[Donkey Kong]]  

DKjr Colors.png|[[Donkey Kong Jr.]]**

</gallery>

<gallery caption="Speed">

Yoshi Colorz.png|[[Yoshi]]

Birdos Colors.png|[[Birdo]]  

Baby Mario Colors.png|[[Baby Mario]]

</gallery>

<gallery caption="Tricky">

Paratroopa Colors.png|[[Paratroopa]]

Boo Colors.png|[[Boo]]

</gallery>

<gallery caption="Varies">

Mt64alex.png|[[Alex]]***

Mt64nina.png|[[Nina (Mario Tennis series)|Nina]]***

Mt64harry.png|[[Harry (Mario Tennis series)|Harry]]***

Mt64kate.png|[[Kate]]***

</gallery>

===Non-Playable Characters===

* [[Lakitu]]

* [[Koopa Troopa]]  

* [[Bob-omb]]

* [[Bob-omb Buddy]]

* [[Piranha Plant]]

===Doubles Partners===

Note: The name before the dash is the player's character, and the name after the dash is the CPU.

* [[Mario]] - [[Luigi]]

* [[Luigi]] - [[Daisy]]

* [[Peach]] - [[Mario]]

* [[Daisy]] - [[Birdo]]

* [[Toad]] - [[Peach]]

* [[Waluigi]] - [[Paratroopa]]

* [[Shy Guy]] - [[Bowser]]

* [[Wario]] - [[Waluigi]]

* [[Bowser]] - [[Boo]]

* [[Donkey Kong Jr.]] - [[Donkey Kong]]

* [[Donkey Kong]] - [[Toad]]

* [[Yoshi]] - [[Baby Mario]]

* [[Birdo]] - [[Yoshi]]

* [[Baby Mario]] - [[Donkey Kong]]

* [[Paratroopa]] - [[Bowser]]

* [[Boo]] - [[Wario]]

[[File:MT64 PowerShot.png|150px|thumb|[[Wario]] misses a Smash Shot.]]

To charge a shot, the player must press and hold either {{button|n64|A}}, {{button|n64|B}} or both . The player's character will begin to spark, indicating that power-up has begun. A charge-up shot is not only more powerful, but easier to control as well. Furthermore, while charging, the character will automatically hit the ball if it is within reach, and they will even leap if this is needed to reach the ball; however they will also move very slowly until they hit the ball unless they are a "Tricky" character. It is possible to cancel charging if they misaligned the shot. The player does this by tapping {{button|n64|Z}} in the midst of their charge-up.

 

{|class="wikitable" style="text-align:center; margin:auto;"

Doubles is a much different mode than singles. It can either be easier or harder than singles, depending on the player's perception of difficulty. The court is split into front and back sections. When the player is serving, it is their responsibility to cover the back. When they are not serving, they get to play the net. When being served to, the player's position will alternate. If the player is receiving the serve, they will play back on the point. If not, they've got the net. Another difference from singles play is that, on doubles play, the lateral extremities of the court count for the purpose of scoring, whereas in singles, when the ball lands in the side sections, it counts as out and the point goes to the opponent.

The exhibition mode offers the player a match in which they can customize their match. They may choose to either play singles or doubles, the length of the match, the difficulty of the opponent, and the court that they play on. The player can choose five different difficulties, which are Novice, Intermediate, Expert, Pro, and Ace. The player can also choose who their opponent or partner is.

* ''Novice:'' Easy difficulty, Triangle marks

* ''Intermediate:'' Normal difficulty, Circle marks

* ''Expert:'' Hard difficulty, Circle with dot marks

* ''Pro:'' Intense difficulty, Star marks

* ''Ace:'' MAX difficulty, same as Pro. (Unlocked by beating every cup in singles, including the Star Tournament, by every player except the GBC characters)

 

[[File:Mt64tournament.png|thumb|right|A tournament board]]

* ''First Round:'' 1 Set Match (Novice)

* ''Second Round:'' 1 Set Match (Novice)

* ''Final Round:'' 3 Set Match (Intermediate)

* ''First Round:'' 1 Set Match (Novice)

* ''Second Round:'' 1 Set Match (Intermediate)

* ''Final Round:'' 3 Set Match (Intermediate)

* ''First Round:'' 1 Set Match (Intermediate)

* ''Second Round:'' 1 Set Match (Expert)

* ''Final Round:'' 3 Set Match (Expert)

There are three more tournaments available in ''Mario Tennis'', which need to be unlocked. To access the Rainbow, Moonlight and Planet Cups, the player needs to win all cups in singles and doubles with all 16 characters. Once done, the player must "star" a character by pressing and holding the {{button|N64|R}} shoulder button while selecting a player. This allows the player to participate in the Rainbow Cup. The player has to beat the Rainbow Cup to get to the Moonlight Cup, and win the Moonlight Cup to get to the Planet Cup. Beating all singles and doubles special cups with all 16 characters will unlock the Ace difficulty mode for computer players.

* ''First Round:'' 1 Set Match (Intermediate)

* ''Second Round:'' 1 Set Match (Intermediate)

* ''Final Round:'' 3 Set Match (Expert)

* ''First Round:'' 1 Set Match (Intermediate)

* ''Second Round:'' 3 Set Match (Expert)

* ''Final Round:'' 5 Set Match (Expert)

* '''Game:''' In Game mode of the ring challenge, the player must collect Rings by playing against an opponent. The player must collect all the rings without winning or losing against their opponent.  

* '''Time:''' The player must get the required amount of rings in the time specified to clear each challenge. Even if the player misses a ball, they'll get to serve, or be served to again.  

* '''Ball:''' Keeping the ball in play is the key here, as there is no time limit. In the final Bowser stage, the player will have five balls to work with to get the required score. Fault serves do not count as balls.

* '''Points:''' The object of this challenge is to get the required number of points before the time expires. In this stage, rings grow from small to very large. The smallest ones are worth the most, while the biggest are worth almost nothing. This version of Ring Shot in this game is also used in [[Ring Shot|the mode of the same name]] in ''[[Mario Tennis Open]]''.

[[File:Bowsermatch.PNG|thumb|right|A group of characters holding items.]]

The other major difference between this and normal tennis are the power-ups that are collected and used. They hover near the center of the net in glowing cubes (similar to the ''[[Mario Kart (series)|Mario Kart]]'' games) and become useable when a player sends a ball through one. The power-up then appears in the corner of the screen and can be used by pressing the {{button|n64|Z}} button.

 

* '''Banana Peel:''' When the player uses this power-up, a banana peel attaches itself to the ball, then deposited on the court when the ball bounces. This puts a potential slipping spot on the court, forcing the players opponent to play around the peel, lest they slip and fall. However, if the ball does not hit the ground, but is volleyed, the banana has the potential to be placed on the other side of the court.

* '''Mushroom:''' Using one of these mushrooms grants the player faster speed.  

* '''Lightning Bolt:''' When used, a bolt of lightning strikes the opponent, rendering them temporarily dazed.  

* '''Star:''' Power is increased by the player using a Star. The shots will gain more power and be hard to return if well-placed. Other power-ups can be used with the Star.

* '''Koopa Shell (Green):''' The next shot after using this power-up will be followed by a trio of shells, which will temporarily stun the opponent.

* '''Koopa Shell (Red):''' This power-up sends out a homing shell that seeks out the opponent and knocks them over for a moment.

The Piranha Challenge pits the player against four opponents: one Mario team player and three Piranha Plants. The three plants spit fifty balls randomly, and the object is to return them past the net camper and out of play. The Mario team player stays mostly in the center of the net. If the ball somehow does make its way to the center player, the center player returns it, and it may not count towards the score. There are four courts for the challenge: Hard, Clay, Grass or Composition.  

Short Game is a multiplayer mode where the character or team must score up to 5 points to win the match. Tiebreaker is equivalent to Short Game, except it goes up to 7 points. Short Game and Tiebreaker are only for two players for a Singles Match and four players for a Doubles Match, and never use the computers at all.

The Tiebreaker mode is the only mode where two players can be the same character. When two of the same character is selected, the second player to select said character will have an alternate palette swap of the character. For example, if both players pick Mario, the second player to select him will have Mario in his [[Fire Mario]] outfit.

Ring Tournament is a Special Game challenge mode and service for players per copy of the game to have their high scores depending upon how many rings they each collected submitted to the leaderboard with the players' entered names to the Mario Tennis website. Before playing, the player was required to enter a code for each of the special cups, including character-based ones. The codes came from the former official N64 game website for that game which ran from 2000–2004, and would change from time to time. The service ended in 2004 after the game's sequels ''Mario Power Tennis'' and later ''Mario Tennis Open'' replaced it for that URL, and every possible code entry will end with the message "This code is incorrect". This Special Game mode has been removed in the Wii Virtual Console re-release of the game due to the service and URL being shut down. It still can be seen in the special games menu but it can't be selected or even highlighted.

{| class="wikitable"

Every court plays a bit differently. Each court can be selected for Exhibition matches once unlocked.

 

===Starter Courts===

{| class=sortable cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 border=1 align=center width=100% style="text-align:center; border-collapse:collapse; font-family:Arial"

!width=15% |Picture

!width=15% |Name

!width=15% |Ball Speed

!width=15% |Bounce

!width=20% |Notes

===Unlockable Courts===

{| class=sortable cellspacing=0 cellpadding=3 border=1 align=center width=100% style="text-align:center; border-collapse:collapse; font-family:Arial"

!width=15% |Picture

!width=15% |Name

!width=15% |Ball Speed

!width=15% |Bounce

!width=20% |How to Unlock

!width=20% |Notes

|Slow but bouncy. This court favors tall and fast players. (Uses same background as Baby Mario & Yoshi court)

|Win round three of the GBC Mario Tennis minigame, [[Boo Blast (minigame)|Boo Blast]]. Then transfer the data through a Transfer Pak.

|Win round three of the GBC Mario Tennis minigame, [[Peach Perfect Shot]]. Then transfer the data through a Transfer Pak.

|A court located on [[Yoshi's Island (place)|Yoshi's Island]]. (Uses same background as Baby Mario & Yoshi court)

WaluigiTennis64.PNG|[[Waluigi]]

Donkey Kong Jr MT64 art.png|[[Donkey Kong Jr.]]

DKandBabyMarioTennis.png|[[Donkey Kong]] and [[Baby Mario]]

{{more media|section=yes}}

 

 

{| class="wikitable review_template" style="border: 2px solid black; width:100%; font-size: 100%; text-align:center; margin-bottom: 5px;" cellpadding="4"

!colspan="4" style="font-size:120%; text-align:center; background-color:silver;"|Reviews

|N64

|align="left"|"'It really is that good. Stuff your Tim Henmans and your Andy Roddicks all we want to know about it Wario and Paratroopa! Superb depth in gameplay and a wonderful feel for how the game plays in real life make this title a privilege to play. Add to that a superbly evil multiplayer and controls so perfectly balanced that you glide about the court with style and you have the best sports game on the N64. We normally don't wax lyrical about something unless it is very special, and judging by our comments thus far this title is well worth your attentions. It'll be your own fault if you ignore it.''"

|Marcel van Duyn, [http://www.nintendolife.com/reviews/n64/mario_tennis Nintendo Life]

|align="left"|''"With Mario Tennis, the portly plumber proves once again that he can make any sport more entertaining. The game later received a sequel on the GameCube and Wii, which, despite mostly being very similar, introduced some questionable gameplay elements that many did not particularly enjoy. If you were one of those people and would rather have a pure, unspoiled Mario Tennis experience, look no further: this is his best outing so far.''"

!colspan="4" style="background-color:silver; font-size:120%; text-align:center;"|Aggregators

{{main|Mario Tennis (Nintendo 64) Staff}}

[[Goomba]], [[Bullet Bill]], and [[Whomp]] were suggested to be made playable, along with a "Warupichi" as a potential evil counterpart to Peach, but these were all dismissed for varying reasons, such as Goomba and the ''[[Super Mario 64]]'' Bullet Bill's lack of hands, and Whomp's rigid posture. The idea for a rival for the Princess was dismissed by [[Shigeru Miyamoto]].<ref>http://www.camelot.co.jp/gimon/gimon13.html Japanese Camelot Q & A</ref>

*Alex, Nina, Harry, and Kate are no longer playable in the [[Virtual Console]] versions of the game, nor can the transfer-related personal courts be unlocked in that version as well, due to the [[Wii]] and the [[Wii U]] lacking an equivalent to the [[Nintendo 64]]/[[Game Boy Color]] Transfer Pak. Despite this, the data for all the characters are still in the game.

*This is the only game where the current [[Donkey Kong]] and [[Donkey Kong Jr.]] are seen together, not counting Donkey Kong Jr.'s background cameo in [[Waluigi Stadium (GCN)|Waluigi Stadium]] in ''[[Mario Kart: Double Dash!!]]''. This also marks Donkey Kong Jr.'s final playable appearance until ''[[Super Mario Maker]]'' as [[Costume Mario]], not counting later ports of [[Donkey Kong Jr. (game)|his game of the same name]].

*This is the only game in the ''Mario Tennis'' series where the announcer is Mario himself. He is the referee unless he's playing, in which case, a clone of him becomes the referee and wears different clothes depending on the tournament, plus a blue version of Mario's cap.

**On a side note, on the title screen and group artwork used for that screen, Peach can be seen sitting on the referee's seat despite that only Mario (and his clones if Mario is playing the matches) is the referee.

*In tiebreakers, "0" is read as "oh". Later ''Mario Tennis'' titles have that number read as "zero".

*This game popularized [[Charles Martinet]]'s portrayal for Luigi and Wario as universal standard. Previously, there was composite of Martinet's portrayal for both characters (the international version of ''[[Mario Kart 64]]'' and ''[[Mario Golf (Nintendo 64)|Mario Golf]]'', as well as Luigi in ''[[Super Smash Bros.]]'', albeit actually is pitch-shifted voices of Mario from ''[[Super Mario 64]]''), and [[Julien Bardakoff]]'s and [[Thomas Spindler]]'s portrayal for Luigi and Wario respectively (the Japanese version of ''Mario Kart 64'', ''[[Mario Party]]'' and ''[[Mario Party 2]]''). However, Bardakoff's and Spindler's portrayals from ''Mario Kart 64'' were reused in ''[[Mario Kart: Super  Circuit]]''.

* [http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n01/n64/software/nus_p_nm8j/index.html Official Mario Tennis Japanese website]

 

{{MT64}}

{{MarioGames}}

{{VirtualConsole}}

[[Category:Mario Tennis 64|*]]

[[Category:Nintendo 64 Games]]

[[Category:Sports Games]]

[[Category:Virtual Console Games]]