Review 6: Mario Tennis (N64, GBC)

Let me begin by saying there is one thing that, while not necessarily anger, bother me: Two games that carry the same name, but play different between platforms. It's a sentiment I have regarding titles like Sonic Generations (which I reviewed before) and the preceding Sonic Unleashed, and titles like Super Mario 64, but in fairness, the latter are at its core the same exact game, just for the most part remade and mapped for the current gen console, sometimes with a few extra features, while the former was watered down, the one on a lesser platform being a shell of its original. But there are a few games that emphasize differently from one another, release around the same time, AND can interact between one another. To my knowledge, there are only a handful like that and personally, I owned only 2... one of which I'm getting into right now.

When it comes to Mario, there is almost nothing this Italian plumber hasn't touched. Party games, brawlers, education titles, racers... even sports. One such sport is tennis, and the game in question, rather the SERIES in question, is Mario Tennis. Now, there has been many a title dealing with this sport, the recent of which being Mario Tennis Aces on the Nintendo Switch, but the one I'm going to talk about is the first one... er, two: Mario Tennis for both the Nintendo 64 and the handheld Nintendo Game Boy Color.

On the Nintendo 64:

Nintendo 64 Title Screen

Bowser Stage gameplay

Made with polygon graphics, this multiplayer title made up to 4 players on a court with simple, yet interesting controls on the court. It debuted the slinky Waluigi, an arch-rival who is more like, in the lamest of comparisons, Luigi's Bizarro... just having the evil without the paler skin and blatant idiocy. He is in behavior just like Wario, which makes for a perfect pair to rival the Mario Brothers. For the most part, the N64 version is a jump-right-in kind of game, with various modes and match settings, even having a tournament mode and Bowser stages. Certain characters has a certain play style, such as Speed and Power, so while it still comes down to execution, there are characters who have an advantage over others. With 3D visuals showing the character renders, it had a top down view of the

court, following the ball movement. It was just simple tennis, expanded upon in each future game of the series.

On the Game Boy Color:

Game Boy Color Box Art

Alex and Harry in a Doubles Match

Because it was Game Boy Color, it returned to the pixel sprite designs it was well known for handling. While it still had a quick play mode, the main focus of this version was the Mario Tour mode, which is sort of the game's campaign mode. You play a generic boy (Alex) or girl (Nina) character of your choosing, who starts out as a rookie and new entrant of the Royal Tennis Academy. In this mode, you can train your character and level them up by engaging in training facilities and playing in matches. There are also coaches and trainers that can teach you a thing or two as well as rival characters ready to give you a hard time. Mario Tour is broken into 2 parts. On the initial run, you must strive to be the champion of Royal Tennis Academy, with the second act having you better yourself further to face the titular character and the best (at least in the GBC version) player, Mario himself. It utilizes the same controls, but because of the bit resolutions, the movements aren't as vivid in comparison, and it has a reduced sound quality as well. Because you are using a custom character, it takes on an RPG element of sorts, increasing level and stats with experience. Depending on the gender you choose, your doubles partner also becomes such, as he/she is your dorm mate. Alex and Nina would return in Mario Tennis: Power Tour for the Game Boy Advance

Transferring

Alex in Mario Tennis (N64) after Transfer

As with a number of Nintendo 64 titles, the Game Boy counterparts can interact with the former via the Transfer Pak connected to the back of the controller with the GBC cart inside of it. In the case of this game, it's unclear whether or not the transfer was in fact a permanent export from the GBC cart to the N64, since I lacked the means to try it myself back then. But essentially, the modern equivalent of this would be of the Smash 4 games, or Super Smash Bros. for WiiU/3DS, where you could send over your customized characters and Mii creations from the 3DS version. Aside from Miis, you could transfer data if fighters with moves different from their standard moveset, a feature discarded in Ultimate. However, that WAS a permanent export, as that fighter would be set on the WiiU roster for keeps, their settings and stats unable to be altered. I can only speculate transferring your Mario Tour character worked in a similar fashion, with their stats unchanged after import, but if someone can let me know how that works, please do so in the comments.

More about developing

The game was developed by Camelot Software, who in turn can also be credited as the creator of Waluigi as well. The funny thing is, prior to their handling of the Mario Sports games, Camelot was founded as a Sega entity, involved with the Shining Force RPG series, before defecting from SEGA in 1995 yet continued to help them as an indie developer, making titles for both Sega and the rising Sony PlayStation. But after the 3-part Shining Force III entry for the short-lived Sega Saturn was released in full, Camelot parted ways with SEGA for good, joining Nintendo by 2000. Aside from both Mario Tennis and Mario Golf, they also worked with Nintendo on another RPG series, Golden Sun. And they have been partnered with Nintendo since, making Mario Tennis Aces their only entry (so far) in the Nintendo Switch platform.

In regards to Mario Tennis itself, there were different teams between the two versions, which would explain the contrasts in emphasis for each version. While the N46, or home console port, went up to 4 players, the handheld GBC port was limited to only 2, even though by this time, a 4-way link cable existed. The games would also see Virtual Console action as well: the N64 version on the Wii and WiiU, and the GBC version on the Nintendo 3DS respectively. Both were limited in button actions, mainly using the coltrol pad (or Control Stick) and A/B buttons. Again, due to not having the N64 port, I can't verify if the C buttons, or even L/R were utilized, with Z being used on the Bowser stages alone.

My verdict

From the amount of time I did play the N64 version, it serves as a worthy first for the series, while I have sentiments from owning the GBC version. And suffice to say, it has come a long way, alongside it's older sibling Mario Golf. While not the best, I would value this as a good sports game crossover, scoring both as 8 of 10. Quite fitting as well, considering they got high marks during their tenure as well.