Mario Tennis: Power Tour

If a hand-held RPG ever had a fling with an arcade sports simulation, their illicit love-child would probably look something like Mario Tennis: Power Tour for the Gameboy Advance: a game that attempts to marry elements from these two disparate genres into one cuddly little package.

The player assumes the guise of one of two characters: Clay, the prototypical power-hitter, or Ace, the technical specialist, as they battle through various challenges on their way to the island open. In order to prepare for the increasing challenges ahead of them, Clay and Ace must gain experience in order to level up their skills.

Experience is earned by completing tutorial exercises (explaining the various mechanics of gameplay), playing various minigames, and playing ranking matches and tournament matches. When enough experience is gained, your character can choose to increase his/her stats, as well as one of his/her preferred specialized skills thereby furthering themselves to becoming the ultimate tennis player.

If making your character stronger, or faster, or more accurate wasn’t enough for you, Mario Tennis: Power Tour also allows you to gain access to various Power Shots, earned and leveled-up through a multitude of mini-games. Can’t reach the ball? No problem! Just invest in some ESP training and bring that ball to your racket with a giant hand created by your mind. Having trouble hitting that illusive winner against a stubborn opponent? Playing the muscle and body mini-games will give you access to a blazing dragon that will blast your opponents off the court.

Game-play is about what you would expect from arcade style tennis. Players can serve, hit forehand/backhands with topspin or slice, and smash the ball without worrying too much about positioning or timing. The game is ridiculously forgiving even when setting up a shot too far away from the ball, notably causing the player to leap sideways into range before executing a swing. Even on Technical (Hard) the controls are fairly simple to master, and while the rallies tend to get a bit longer, the AI doesn’t necessarily get any smarter (especially in Doubles). Even the final opponents present only a minor challenge to a properly levelled up character.

The Bottom Line? 
This game won’t win any simulator awards from tennis fanatics, but for the casual gamer Mario Tennis: Power Tour makes tennis fun for all ages. The various Power Shots that can be acquired add yet another layer of depth to the RPG levelling element, and make for some absurd and satisfying matches with spectacular effects.

If you like tennis, Mario Tennis: Power Tour is a great way to waste time. Just don’t expect a riveting storyline or clever dialogue.