 |
|
 |
| |
Aussie Ben's Mario Tennis Review
While Camelot's Mario Tennis does not break any real new ground since they created Mario Golf, the graphics are clear and do the job well. Characters are portrayed properly (whether it be the Mushroom Kingdom characters, DK or the 'real world' characters) and the scenery is done well and doesn't make it difficult to see the characters (which can sometimes be a problem on the Gameboy Color). The Gameboy Color has its standard "56 colour limit" pushed (as most games seem to be doing nowdays) and it benefits the game, as usual. The game menus are also easy to navigate through and easy to read, with enough eye candy to make them appealling as you go through them.
8.0
Mario Tennis GBC has the standard Gameboy quality sound, which you will either like, tolorate or despise, depending on how you feel about the Gameboy's sound system. The tunes are mainly Gameboy quality versions of the Nintendo 64 Mario Tennis' tunes, from the Title Screen to the individual courts themselves, and although they can be catchy, after you've repeated the same game four times in a row, you'll most likely find yourself turning the sound down or off. The sound is also regular Gameboy quality stuff - it's nothing special, but it does what it's supposed to and doesn't distract you from playing the game.
7.0
Control on Mario Tennis GBC overall, is excellent. Continuing with Mario Tennis 64's simple control scheme, MT GBC only really requires you to press A or B to hit the ball, and the + Control Pad to move. More complex moves such as drop shots can be executed by pressing A then B or B then A, and if you time your hit correctly, you can hit a Smash by pressing A and B at the same time. You can also charge up for a more powerful shot, but it's extremely difficult for you to move while charging. You can cancel a charge by pressing SELECT, but unfortunately SELECT is awkwardly placed for this, and most of the time you'll ruin your attempt to save the ball. It would have been better to choose START for Charge Cancelling and SELECT to bring up the pause menu.
7.9
Here's where Mario Tennis GBC shines. Mario Tennis uses the Transfer Pak like it has never been used before. Aside from the "play with your characters in 3-D to earn experience" idea that was done in Mario Golf, Mario Tennis 64 and GBC both have a lot of courts which can only be unlocked with each other. If you meet the requirements to do this, you'll unlock about six new courts in the 64 version, and five courts in the Gameboy version.
Aside from the whole connectivity business, Mario Tennis has a similar story to that of Mario Golf - you are an aspiring student at a Tennis School, and your objective is to beat your class, then win the Island Open, then meet Mario, and beat him. The only major difference is that you have a partner who encourages you for your singles matches and plays with you in your doubles. You've also got to balance both you and your partner's stats when you level up - it's up you whether you want yourself to excel in one area while your partner does so in another, or whether you want both characters to be even. There's a lot of stuff in Mario Tennis GBC that hasn't been done before.
9.0
Overall, Mario Tennis GBC is a pretty good game. It'll give you a lot more replay value than Mario Tennis N64 will (not the 'beat each character on intense difficulty kind') due to the extensive story mode, but also because you'll be totally crap once you reach the Island Open. Honestly, the learning curve from the academy is smooth...smooth...smooth...*bang*! Suddenly you're in ridiculously long matches and the rival AI is superintelligent, not to mention really unfair. If you can beat them, you'll be right (not to mention that it'll be a bloody miracle). However, using both Mario Tennis games to unlock secrets such as mini-games and new courts is a great idea, and really encourages you to keep playing. If you own Mario Tennis 64, buy this without question - if you don't, you might want to rent first.
8.5
|
|
|
 |
|
 |
|
|
