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Review: Mario Tennis Open

Is the latest Mario Tennis game ace, or does this ball burst before it's even landed?

By Jack Taylor – 12 November 2012
Reviewed on Nintendo 3DS (code provided)

Mario Tennis is one of the most popular Mario spinoff series and has grown to be one of the most loved sports series on Nintendo platforms since its debut in 2000, when Mario Tennis launched for the Nintendo 64. The console versions are known for their exciting tournament and multiplayer action along with their special minigames, while the handheld titles have so far had role-playing elements infused for RPG fans. That stops here, though, as Mario Tennis Open for Nintendo 3DS - the first original Mario Tennis title since 2005 - brings the tried and tested console formula to a Nintendo handheld, swiftly blanking the role-playing portion of the series as it passes by.

It's no surprise that Mario Tennis Open so drastically changes its allegiance: this is not the first series to launch for Nintendo 3DS and drop its handheld roots in favour of console perks. Players may be disappointed to see RPG elements dropped from Mario Tennis Open - if you've only ever played the Game Boy games, it might even be a deal breaker for you - but not only is the core sports gameplay still there, it's on par with the best Mario sports titles to date. Nintendo and Camelot have found an almost perfect balance between the purity of the Nintendo 64 title and the quirkiness of Mario Power Tennis for GameCube, and though Mario Tennis Open is by no means perfect, it remains an excellent addition to the series.

If you've ever played a Mario Tennis console title, you'll be aware of the very straightforward nature of the series: there's no storyline or preamble, you just pick a character and you get started. The three main parts of the single-player game are Tournament, Exhibition and Special Games, none of which have seen particularly major changes since the series debuted twelve years ago. Exhibition is also available as a multiplayer mode, letting you play singles or doubles with up to three friends, and certain Special Games also have multiplayer options. This all remains very much unchanged in Mario Tennis Open, with the exception of the new online mode, which we'll come to later on.

There is one slight change in proceedings, though: it should come as little surprise that Nintendo wants to ease new players into the game as gently as possible, which means the first time you play the game, you're treated to a little tutorial. This is a very simple affair, a basic introduction to the rules of tennis and the various shots available, and you're going to need to complete it before you're able to enter any tournaments thanks to the fact that you're now "invited" to each tournament after winning the last. It won't take very long to finish, and to its credit it will be useful to new players, but as its focus is mainly on the new controls, you should really be able to skip through it.

The new controls have, again, been developed with beginners in mind. While the classic button configurations thankfully remain, the game can be controlled almost entirely via the touchscreen, which features buttons for each available shot: there's a simple three-button menu with buttons for the lob shot, drop shot and a simple shot, and a six-button menu which also adds options for flat shots, shots with topspin and shots with slice. For experienced players, using the touchscreen is hugely unsatisfying, and it's even hard to see beginners finding the game at all fun with such a simplistic control scheme, so much so it's almost insulting. The fact of the matter is, the button controls are very easy to grasp - some credit has to be given to the touchscreen there for displaying button combos for each shot - and after a while playing the game, it should become clear which shots you prefer to use and when.

The aforementioned tutorial is also a good opportunity to try out the new gyro controls: by tilting the Nintendo 3DS upward, the top screen switches to a more dynamic view of the action, letting you focus on the shots while the computer controls your movement. It's not for everyone, and it's a shame that you can't control your movement - we're not far off Wii Sports in terms of simplicity there - especially since the dynamic visuals in gyro mode are really very impressive. It's fair to say the gyro controls are a fun addition and there's no harm in giving them a go in Exhibition, or even in the earlier tournaments, but in the latter stages of tourney play they don't help at all: you need to be able to control your court coverage completely if you want to win matches here.

In numerous ways, Mario Tennis Open is very similar to the GameCube version of Mario Power Tennis: the controls are similar, the style of gameplay is similar (though much improved in the sequel), and it features power shots. Mario Power Tennis is known for its overpowered, game-breaking, almost intruding power shots, which were often incredibly difficult to return. Even worse, you couldn't turn them off in tournament play, which made losses even more frustrating. It was potentially the game's biggest downfall, particularly following the "pure" gameplay of Mario Tennis on the N64, which featured no power shots at all.

It should come as quite a relief, then, that while power shots haven't been removed altogether, they have been improved significantly: there are five different Chance Shots, as they're now known, with each corresponding to one of the regular shot types. For example, on the touchscreen, the button for a lob shot is yellow, so when a yellow circle - a Chance Area - lights up on the court, move to it and hit a lob shot for a special Chance Shot. If you shoot one of these at your opponent, you'll probably win the point, but the key to Chance Shots being so much better than power shots is that they're difficult, but by no means impossible, to return. It's vital, especially in multiplayer, to know when to use Chance Shots and when not to - there's a neat bit of strategy involved in moving to a Chance Area and not doing what your opponent expects you to.

It's worth noting at this point that Mario Tennis Open doesn't just play better than its predecessor, it also looks far more refined, so much so that it's possibly one of the most visually impressive games to hit the Nintendo 3DS so far. Everything is wonderfully vibrant: you might feel as though you should be seeing some sort of lag or a rapid drop in image quality, because it can't really look this good. Sometimes, though, it just takes a little bit of time to let it sink in that this looks considerably better than any previous Mario Tennis game. Nothing has been overlooked in terms of the visuals, which shows: character models look great, the courts are stunning, and replays just look fantastic. The only thing slightly letting the side down is the 3D effect, which at its strongest can be overpowering, making keeping focus more difficult. Playing the game in 2D, or with a weak 3D effect, is usually going to be best.

While it's fair to say that Mario Tennis Open does a good job of improving on the old formula, it also tries its hand at something new, introducing the Club Room to the series. In the Club Room, you can check gameplay records such as wins and trophies, but its main pull is undoubtedly the character customisation: the game has three save files, each identified by a selected Mii, and it's that Mii that you'll be able to customise. You can buy clothes - either full suits or separate items - shoes, shirts, wristbands, tennis racquets, and even more besides. These all have an effect on the power of your shots, the amount of spin you can put on shots and your movement around the court, so it's important to put together a good combination when using your Mii in play.

The unfortunate side of this, however, is the payment method. You'll need to collect coins in order to purchase gear and the only ways to do that are in StreetPass and - probably the only way most people will collect coins - by competing in Special Games. To be absolutely clear, the Special Games themselves are excellent: Ring Shot remains as classic as it always has been, proving challenging as always while staying fun; Super Mario Tennis, though challenging, puts a great spin on levels from Super Mario Bros. and provides some surprisingly good training on court placement and different shot types; Ink Shot sees you hitting balls spat out by Piranha Plants while also trying to stop ink from hitting the screen; and in Galaxy Rally, you must keep up a rally with a Luma while watching for disappearing parts of the court so as not to lose the ball. While there's a decent amount of replay value in these games, the fact that they're your only obvious source of coins for use in the Club Room is poor to say the least.

Mario Tennis Open also makes use of some of the Nintendo 3DS system's features - as you'd expect - and incorporates StreetPass and, for the first time, online play. While we weren't able to test StreetPass for ourselves, the premise is good: swap data with someone to get the chance to play a singles match against them, win against them to collect some coins, and keep winning to build up a winning streak and collect even more. You can also play a game of Ring Shot with your opponent, thus getting you even more coins - and StreetPass with them again to award them the same number of coins for their own use. Singles matches with StreetPass users are probably the best way of getting coins - you might not get the most coins ever, but at least it's fun and allows for more varied play.

The game's impressive use of StreetPass is, perhaps surprisingly, considerably better than the way online play is implemented. Sure, it can be fun when you're playing singles or doubles matches with friends, but in open match mode - where you're pitted against someone from your region with similar experience to you - it's downright frustrating most of the time. Rather than playing matches, you're instead treated to a single tiebreak (first to seven points) with stinted gameplay, unfairly matches opponents and often incredibly unreponsive controls. If it wasn't for the shining beacon that is local play, you'd have to write off the game's multiplayer experience as a total failure.

One of the staples of the Mario Tennis series which no player should have to live without is the Exhibition mode: choose whichever players you like, their difficulty, singles or doubles, any court, any number of sets and games, and you're off. It's always been a very welcome distraction from tournament play, since you can play to your heart's content with whichever settings you like. It's a shame, then, that the mode is a little let down by the lack of ability to suspend play and continue again at a later time. In previous Mario Tennis titles, you were given three save slots for tournament and exhibition matches, meaning that you could save in-game and resume later. While you can save and resume in tournament play, you can't in Exhibition matches, which is a great shame. Another minor fault is the inability to turn off Chance Shots in Exhibition play, though given their much improved formula, this is by no means the worst thing in the world.

A new Mario Tennis game has been a long time coming - re-releases of Mario Tennis and Mario Power Tennis have filled the gap somewhat - but it's nice to see the series back with a bang on the Nintendo 3DS. It's possibly not what you would have expected from a handheld title, particularly given the lack of an RPG mode and the fact that online play pretty much stinks, but on the whole it's a satisfying improvement on the GameCube title.

Nintendo and Camelot took a risk applying what we've been calling the console formula onto a handheld title, but it seems to have paid off. The game is a joy to play, even with minor niggles like the online and the slightly scaled back Exhibition mode (at least in terms of save slots), and it brings with it the series' best graphics and soundtrack as well. It might cater for beginners, but it still has plenty of appeal for veterans of the series, and it's for that reason that Mario Tennis Open is well worth your time.

Verdict: Good

Mario Tennis Open