Mario Power Tennis features variations of tennis matches consisting of characters, courts, and scenarios based on the Mario series. The range of courts includes the standard three types of tennis court, but consists predominantly of those themed upon games in the Mario series, known as "Gimmick" courts. As well as adopting the style aesthetically, these feature thematic elements that influence how the match will be played on that surface, such as the ghosts in the Luigi's Mansion court, which hinder movement when the character comes into physical contact with them. Although standard tennis is available, variants of the sport can be played which adopt different rules and methods of victory. "Ring Shot" involves the player earning points by hitting the ball through rings of varying sizes, with the number of points dependent on the difficulty of the shot.[9] The player acquires the points whenever a winning shot is made adhering to standard rules; the match is won once the predetermined number of points is equaled or surpassed. A similar mode, "Item Battle", involves the characters using items based on the Mario universe to interfere with each other's game and gain an advantage
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To begin with the core gameplay is MUCH improved from the N64 original, by introducing character specific special shots and courts with actual gimmicks the game feels much more like a Mario Sports game instead of just a sports game. The tournament mode had a good sense of progression and difficulty and some of the latter matches in the a tournament run actually felt like a culmination of the skills you gained through playing the game which was good for one of these games.
My main problem with the game is its lack of content and lame unlockable method. Every other Mario sports game up to this point had plenty of side modes for when you wanted a break from the main tournaments. Mario Power Tennis on the other hand has only exhibition (which for a single player is next to useless), tournament and a minigame mode with most of the minigames needing to be unlocked by beating specific tournament matches and that's really it. Furthermore, it feels like the game is aware of its lack of content because all the main unlockables are once again just locked behind beating certain tournament runs instead of spread across all the game's modes, which feels like a regression in this area given how well Toadstool Tour handled this on the same console and with the same developers.
All these problems aside Mario Power Tennis is still a fun game which is its main goal, but one that just doesn't have quite enough content to get by.