Mario is no Novak “Djoker” Djokovic, and nobody’s mistaking Princess Peach for the second coming of Maria Sharapova, but that hasn’t prevented the Mushroom Kingdom crew from mashing it up on the tennis court. As far back as the freaking Virtual Boy, Nintendo’s stars have been running their racquets, with varying degrees of success.
Which brings us to Mario Tennis Open, the new 3DS entry in the Nintendo Grand Slam.
Even though it sports the traditionally rainbow-bright Mario sports-game sheen, Mario Tennis Open is a surprisingly frills-free experience. There’s no story to speak of—Bowser doesn’t even so much as steal Peach’s pink racquet cover. It’s just 12 Nintendo characters and your very own Mii, serving and volleying at each other in singles/doubles matches and tournaments that are differentiated only by the surfaces on which they’re played. It’s also sorta schizophrenic, like McEnroe on an especially bad line-judge day: You expect a certain level of craziness when you suit up with Donkey Kong and Daisy, but Mario Tennis Open aims to mix in a serious tennis approach with its arcade cocktail. By trying to serve the ball both ways, it doesn’t really ace either.
Case in point is the game’s most interesting and puzzling feature. Most real-life tennis matches are won by moving your opponent out of position and taking advantage with a well-placed volley, smash, or drop shot. In Mario Tennis Open matches are won almost exclusively with a little something called a “chance shot.”
Throughout each game, colored circles pop up on the court, each one coded to a particular type of shot (blue for slice, yellow for lob, red for smash, etc.). If you can dart into the circle and hit the appropriate button, you can unleash one of these little beauties. And they are impressive, whether it’s Boo launching a fiery slice that boomerangs behind Bowser to land just inside the baseline, or Mario soft-touching a nasty little drop shot that dies just over the net, sending Luigi huffing and staggering to defeat once again. Acing one of these makes you feel like Federer, Nadal and McEnroe rolled into a single cartoon package.
One small problem, however: Mario Tennis Open may have all the trappings of tennis, but this isn’t really tennis. It’s really difficult to win points without relying on chance shots, and in this sense, it’s the AI, not the player, that’s dictating how (and when) the opportunities to score points will come. You still have to execute them, yes, but chasing colored circles around the court turns the proceedings into Rock Band with a tennis racquet. That’s not a killer issue if the game’s openly embracing an arcade vibe, but you can’t say that about Mario Tennis Open. Of the eight different tournament cups awaiting your power serve, only one of them tosses a cartoon gameplay curveball—that’d be the final Galaxy Court, where the court surface shifts with every successful smash, including a black hole surface that sends each shot skittering in weird directions. It’s a fun twist, and actually made me wish there had been more of these typically arcade touches sprinkled throughout the gameplay.
The control options here are, well, interesting, like some of Bud Collins’ more flamboyant bow-tie selections. Hold the 3DS vertically in front of your face, and the camera shifts into an over-the-shoulder look that eliminates the 3D but really puts you in the action (and makes it much easier to handle returns). Drop it into your lap and the camera goes 3D/isometric, giving a broader view of the action and making shot placement a little easier. Both views work fine, although it’s a little weird that the game’s gyroscope function is incompatible with the system’s 3D functionality. Face Raiders managed both, fer chrissakes.
Hitting your shots is another adventure. Unless you’d really like to make your game a random experience—as in disastrous and defeat-laden–don’t even think about trying to use the touch controls, which are arranged on three different degrees-of-difficulty option screens. The advanced screen lays out the six possible shots in a pinwheel formation, but using it is a non-starter, since tapping accurately means taking your eye off the upper screen, and by extension, the ball. When you’re holding the 3DS vertically, it’s possible to try to aim your shots using the system’s gyroscope, but to pull it off, you have to cede control of your character’s movements to the AI, which feels even less like tennis than holding a 3DS in the air three inches from your face. No matter which way you hold the 3DS, your best option is relying on the circle pad for movement and shot direction, and on face button combos for shot selection. Once you get the hang of these, you’ll be volleying like a cartoon pro.
In addition to scaling the tournament trees, there are four minigames here to break up the versus action, each of which is disguised as a tutorial to teach you the finer points of controlling your shots and scoring return aces. They’re all entertaining, but far and away, the best of these is Super Mario Tennis, a little number that finds you whacking the ball at a wall on which screens of the NES version of Super Mario Brothers are scrolling. Not only can you score coins to buy upgrade objects by hitting targets, but it’s also a great way to get a handle on the various types of shots you’ll be deploying in the tournament brackets. Given that your targets are always changing, there’s a built-in incentive to keep trying for higher levels and higher scores.
The game also shines when you go multiplayer, either mixing it up one-on-one or collecting three friends for a local or online doubles match. Playing against human opponents removes some of the chance-shot auto-kill vibe that unbalances the single-player game and also dampens the tendency to spam the AI characters’ signature weaknesses. Put it this way: Chances are good your friends aren’t going to fall for a drop shot up the middle the way Luigi does.
Assuming you’re willing to put up with limited gameplay options and don’t mind chasing colored circles around the court, Mario Tennis Open has plenty of fun features to recommend it, especially if you’re playing with friends. Just don’t expect it to monopolize your 3DS card slot.
Pros:
+ Pretty presentation
+ Nailing a chance shot slice can make you feel Federer-esque
+ Super Mario Tennis mingame!
Cons:
– Chance shots reduce winning and losing to AI-controlled luck
– Each new control option comes with a significant drawback
– Not a lot of gameplay variety
Game Info:
Platform: Nintendo 3DS
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Camelot
Release Date: 5/20/2012
Genre: Sports – Tennis
ESRB Rating: Everyone
Players: 1-4 (local and online)
Source: Review copy provided by publisher
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Multiplayer in God of War? I know, it still doesn’t sound quite right. But Sony Santa Monica has revealed its competitive ambitions for the next PlayStation 3 mythological adventure, and here you’ll find the first screenshots showing teams of Kratos wannabes fighting for the right to slay a giant cyclops.
Not to be outdone, Activision came through with the completely expected news that Call of Duty: Black Ops II is exploding onto the gaming scene this fall. The near-future Cold War premise with horseback riding and unmanned drones turned into an army of robot invaders? Now that stuff wasn’t so predictable.
For mascot kart racing fans, new screenshots for Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed and LittleBigPlanet Karting crossed the finish line this week. Bethesda also dropped off a screen-grab six-pack for awesome-looking first-person action game Dishonored and, proving once again that games are art, Giant Sparrow presented its beautifully abstract first-person painting adventure game, The Unfinished Swan. Just one more artsy PlayStation Network exclusive to watch out for, folks.
Other new screenshot galleries to check out this week include: Persona 4 Golden, Orgarhythm, Ragnarok Odyssey, Mario Tennis Open, GT Academy 2012, Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy, The Last Story, Marvel Pinball: Avengers Chronicles, Hitman: Absolution, Metal Gear Solid HD Collection Vita, Ys Origin, Pokémon Conquest, Ms. Splosion Man, The Testament of Sherlock Holmes, Unchained Blades, Warlock: Master of the Arcane, Starvoid, Blood Bowl: Chaos Edition, Salem: The Crafting MMO, Enclave: Shadows of Twilight and Free Realms third birthday celebration.
God of War: Ascension (PS3):
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Call of Duty: Black Ops II (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed (PC, PS3, Xbox 360, Nintendo 3DS, PlayStation Vita):
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LittleBigPlanet Karting (PS3):
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Dishonored (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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The Unfinished Swan (PS3/PSN/PS Move):
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Persona 4 Golden (PlayStation Vita):
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Orgarhythm (PlayStation Vita):
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Ragnarok Odyssey (PlayStation Vita):
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Mario Tennis Open (Nintendo 3DS):
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GT Academy 2012 (PSN/PS3):
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Theatrhythm: Final Fantasy (Nintendo 3DS):
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The Last Story (Nintendo Wii):
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Marvel Pinball: Avengers Chronicles – The Avengers Table (XBLA, PSN for PS3 and Vita):
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Hitman: Absolution (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Metal Gear Solid HD Collection (PlayStation Vita):
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Ys Origin (PC):
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Pokémon Conquest (Nintendo DS):
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Ms. Splosion Man – Splokour Challenge Event (XBLA):
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The Testament of Sherlock Holmes (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Unchained Blades (PSP, Nintendo 3DS):
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Warlock: Master of the Arcane (PC):
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Starvoid (PC):
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Blood Bowl: Chaos Edition (PC):
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Salem: The Crafting MMO (PC, Mac, Linux):
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Enclave: Shadows of Twilight (Nintendo Wii):
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Free Realms – Third Birthday Event (PC, Mac, PSN):
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Check Out These Links:
- Ragnarok Odyssey Shows PS Vita More RPG Love
- Orgarhythm Crossbreeds Pikmin With Patapon
- TopWare Resurrects Enclave Wii-Make
- Persona 4 Gets Remastered for PS Vita
- First-Person Painting Adventure The Unfinished Swan Waddling Onto PSN
- Mario Tennis Open Update: Multiplayer, Ink Showdown, StreetPass Features and Bonus Characters (vgblogger.com)
- Call of Duty: Black Ops II Going Black to the Future
- God of War: Ascension Redefines Competitive Multiplayer
- Sony Teaser Announces God of War: Ascension
- Get Ready for Square Enix’s Nintendo 3DS Summer of Fun
- Square Enix’s 3DS Final Fantasy Rhythm Game Comes West This Summer
- Sackboy Hops Behind the Wheel in LittleBigPlanet Karting
- Marvel Pinball: Avengers Chronicles First Look
- Zen Pinball 2 Comes to PS3 and PS Vita this Spring, Upgrade Free for Existing Zen/Marvel Pinballers
- Hitman: Absolution’s Special Edition is for Professionals Only
- XSEED Games Now Publishing Ys Series on Steam
Nintendo has revealed new details and images for Mario Tennis Open as we enter the final stretch towards the game’s May 20th launch on Nintendo 3DS.
Mario’s portable Mushroom Kingdom tennis romp will feature wireless online multiplayer options for up to four players in singles and doubles matches in addition to local wireless support with single-card game sharing. An Open Match feature will be available to pair players of similar skill levels together to even the playing field. Players will also earn Victory Medals for every win they pile up, and leaderboards will showcase top performers every month.
StreetPass will factor into the game’s wireless feature set, including friend leaderboards, win-loss record exchanges, and Mii avatar sharing and customization. Any Miis players encounter will then be incorporated into StreetPass Matches and Ring Shot challenges as CPU ghost characters.
Another mini-game event has also been announced. In Ink Showdown, players will face off against Piranha Plants spitting ink balls from the other side of the court while simultaneously returning tennis balls against an opposing mascot athlete. If an ink blob slips by, it’ll splatter across the screen and obstruct your view of the action.
It wouldn’t be a Mario sports game without unlockable bonus characters, so rest assured, Mario Tennis Open will have secret Nintendo stars to discover. By simply progressing through the game or using special QR Codes, players will be able to expand the mascot roster to include Luma, Baby Mario and Dry Bowser.
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Mario Tennis Open (Nintendo 3DS):
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Epic Mickey: Power of Illusion (Nintendo 3DS):
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Risen 2: Dark Waters (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Aliens: Colonial Marines (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City – Spec Ops DLC (PS3, Xbox 360):
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Mass Effect 3: Resurgence Pack (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Kingdoms of Amalur: Reckoning – Teeth of Naros DLC (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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XCOM: Enemy Unknown (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Spec Ops: The Line (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Way of the Samurai 4 (PS3):
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Ninja Gaiden 3 – DLC 1 (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Double Dragon: Neon (PSN, XBLA):
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Marvel Pinball: Avengers Chronicles – World War Hulk (XBLA, PS3 and PS Vita via PSN):
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Pokémon Conquest (Nintendo DS):
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Skylanders Spyro’s Adventure -Warnado, Camo and Wham-Shell Toys (3DS, PC, PS3, Wii, Xbox 360):
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Skylanders Cloud Patrol (iPhone, iPad, iPod touch):
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FIFA Soccer 12 – UEFA EURO 2012 Digital Expansion (PC, PS3, Xbox 360):
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Primal Carnage (PC, PSN, XBLA):
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The Witch and the Hundred Knights (PS3):
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Mugen Souls (PS3):
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Legasista (PS3):
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