Reviews: Hits and MissesHave you read a book you’d like to share with your neighbours? Do you have an opinion about a new movie that you just can’t keep to yourself? Are you looking for feedback on a CD before you decide to buy – or have you just heard the greatest new tune and you want to let everyone know about it? Well this is the place to express your thoughts on music, movies, theatre, books – whatever you’d like to review – and to find out what your neighbours think about what they are watching, listening to and reading.
Mario Power TennisMario Power Tennis is very cute. All of the Mushroom Kingdom characters are here, raquets in hand, bouncing the ball back and forth and making cute noises evey time they either hit the ball hard or miss.
My girlfriend loves it.
And, maybe surprisingly, so do I.
The tennis aspects are very good - you've got decent control over the ball (more so or less, depending on your character), a good selection of shots and all the rules of the game are followed. It's not just cute - it's also a very playable tennis game.
Mario Power Tennis is also really fun. Different characters not only have different strengths and weaknesses, but they all have different charge activated power shots. Your character will have one offensive power shot, which is very difficult to return and will stun your opponent even if they do volley it, and one defensive shot which can be used to save a nearly lost point all the way across the court. These each have a little animation, are all very cute, and add a lot of depth to the strategy side of the game.
Take that, Waluigi!
You also have a few fun variants on the game available. You can play where shooting the ball through floating rings will get you points, or where if you hit a Mario-style question mark box with the ball you get an item to throw at your opponent. Try returning a lob with a red shell headed for your feet! Gimmick courts are sometimes fun, sometimes frustrating, always frantic. For these matches, you'll not only be playing against your opponent but also fending off ghosts, running against conveyor belts, trying to avoid puddles of goop thrown by pirhanna plants... much fun.
For the purisits, the power shots can be turned off and there are your traditional grass, clay and dirt courts.
I highly recommend getting four people together and playing through a few rounds of doubles. The kids will love it because it's Mario, others will love it because it's cute, and everyone will keep playing it because it's fun.
The game's website |
