The Rome News-Tribune referred to Mario's Tennis as 'the only decent stab of tennis' prior to the release of Sega's 2000 Dreamcast game Virtua Tennis. Famicom Tsūshin scored the game a 26 out of 40. Games Radar echoed these sentiments, stating 'Gameplay was rudimentary, and lacked all the flash and silliness that came to define the Mario Sports series, but as a 3D showpiece it worked fairly well'. IGN's Patrick Kolan compared the game to Wii Sports, another one of Nintendo's pack-in games for one of its consoles, the Wii, in that it showed off the system's unique strengths, but suffered in regards to non-impressive graphics and a lack of long term game content. Nintendo Life gave the game a 7 out of 10, calling it a 'solid, if simple, tennis game' that processed 'Good music and graphics combined with.excellent 3D effect', though they too felt the game was held back by a lack of multiplayer mode, and a lack of characters, which lead to the tournaments being too short.

1UP.com praised the game's 3D effects, but criticized the game's lack of a multiplayer mode, or much to actually accomplish in the single player mode. A common complaint cited by reviewers was the fact that it was a tennis/sports game that lacked a multiplayer mode. Mario's Tennis received generally mixed reviews from critics. Staff Main article: List of Mario's Tennis staff Reception Critical reception 'Cassarin' is an alternate romanization for 'Catherine', which is Birdo's Japanese name it can therefore be assumed that Birdo was initially planned for playability in Mario's Tennis. The character list in this game's ROM features the name 'CASSARIN', which is notable for, unlike the other characters, not having any sprites. His strong groundstrokes allow him to win many points from the baseline.Įvidence of the scrapped character 'Cassarin', through a game rip. He is, however, understandably the most powerful of all the players. He is slower than all the other players, and also has a smaller racquet contact area. He likes to rally from the baseline, and he also can lunge at tough shots like Toad. He has a large racquet contact area, though. Though he is not strong, he has great court coverage because he can lunge at though shots.īeing a turtle, basically, his court speed suffers. Like Yoshi, he tries to approach the net often. Toad is quite quick on the court, but his racquet contact area is not very large. He plays an aggressive type of game by rushing the net at every opportunity.

He is the fastest of all the players, but his racquet contact area is small. She doesn't like to approach the net, preferring to instead rally from the baseline. The princess is slow, but her racquet contact area is large. He has better court coverage, though, due to being faster than Mario. His skill level and court strategy are similar to Mario's. His racquet contact area is average, and he relies on his skillful groundstrokes, though he will approach the net occasionally. He is an average player whose court speed and leg strength are solid. The descriptions are taken from the game's instruction manual. In Doubles, the player can choose a partner to help them play tennis, while the player serves in the back the computer partner covers the net, and vice-versa. Doubles are very different than singles, and can be a great advantage for beginner players. However, the Lob can be a disadvantage if the character hitting the ball is in the front of the court.ĭoubles is the second method of play in Mario's Tennis. The Lob Shot is a powerful shot that can be used to shoot high, powerful shots whenever the button is pressed. The Lob Shot is the second method of hitting a ball in Mario's Tennis.

The shot is mainly used for regular, run-of-the-mill shot. The basic shot in in Mario's Tennis, this shot has a higher arch to it, and can be used by pressing the button. If the player wishes to serve, they must press either the button or the button, for regular shots and for long-distance shots. A single player serves each game, and players alternate serving throughout the course of the match.

Super mario 64 box art japan