New Play Control! Mario Power Tennis

The wild multiplayer action of the smash Nintendo 64 hit, Mario Power Tennis, returns with even more powerful shots and new, character-specific power-ups guaranteed to make for the craziest matches ever.

Players of all ages can pick up the game and instantly start whacking tennis balls around and yet a deep level of challenge awaits those willing to master it. Build up more and more skill points as you play to use stronger and stronger shots with all kinds of spin.

Everyone's favorite Mushroom Kingdom characters are here! Donkey Kong and Bowser can hit insanely powerful Megaton Balls, finesse players like Shy Guy can use instant Tornado Returns and defensive masters like Luigi have all kinds of tricks in their bags.

Each of the 14 characters has a special strength. Peach, Daisy and Shy Guy are master technicians; Waluigi specializes in defense; Wario, Donkey Kong and Bowser rely on brute force; Koopa Troopa, Diddy Kong and Yoshi are speed demons; and arch-tricksters Boo and Bowser Jr. can put nasty english on their shots. Mario and Luigi are well-balanced characters, but it's a sign of the game's depth that they follow quite different strategies when controlled by the CPU. Luigi crowds the net, while Mario relies on a baseline game.

Mario Power Tennis is most realistic on the Peach Dome's regular, clay and grass courts, then quickly gets very crazy with bizarre courts inspired by Luigi's Mansion, Super Mario Sunshine, Donkey Kong, Bowser's Castle and Wario.

You choose from four difficulty levels, three ball speeds and three main modes: Exhibition, Tournament and Special Games. In Tournament, battle your way through eight-charcter playoffs.

Exhibition

* Standard Master the basics of tennis.

* Ring Shot Technique trumps brute force in this challenge to hit the ball through rings.

* Item Battle Hit the ball through boxes for classic Mario power-ups like Koopa Shells, Bananas, Mushroom turbo boosts and more!

* Gimmick Court Keep your footing on tilting courts, dodge ghosts, slog through sludge and more!

Special Games

* Artist on the Court Whack paint balls to color in a Mario mural. (His correct colors are shown in a reflection beneath your character's feet). It can be tough to finesse a blue paint ball onto Mario's eyes. Work on your lob shot.

* Terror Tennis Outside Luigi's Mansion, whack balls at ghosts trying to escape from their portraits. You'll get more points if a ghost is just about to escape.

* Tic-Tac-Glow On Delfino Plaza, step on nozzles, then whack balls of water to rinse sludge and free Shine Sprites. Bonus points for freeing three in a row or, better yet, more than one line at a time.

* Chain-Chomp Challenge You and three other players visit Wario Factory to bat tennis balls, water balls and Bob-ombs at Chain-Chomps. Score points for hitting tennis balls into your Chain-Chomp's mouth. If it gets hit by one more Bob-omb, though, it will break free and chase you! You'll then need to stomp the water switch to cool off your Chain-Chomp. You can also Bob-omb your rival's Chain-Chomps.

* Gooper Blooper Volley With four rackets, Gooper Blooper never misses a return. Panels slide back and forth with each hit, reducing or enlarging the size of your court. You're a winner if you keep the volley alive for the specified number of shots.

* Mecha-Bowser Mayhem Slam tennis balls, Bullet Bills and Bob-ombs at Mecha-Bowser. Grab invincibility and turbo boosts. Meanwhile, M- B will try to drain all your energy with his terrifying fire breath. It's not personal. He's just mad that no one told him of the beneficial effects of breath mints.

Last updated on 17 March 2009