Mario Power Tennis (Hands On) (GameCube) Preview

The whole title has received a total visual overhaul from its N64 predecessor. The look of the title is easily comparable to those found in Double Dash!!, very bright, smooth and lush. The characters are wonderfully animated, and from the looks of the short bits of the game we saw, this is one of the best looking titles of its kind on the GameCube to date.

One part of Mario Tennis that we always liked was the ability to enjoy the game of tennis, but with a Mario twist, and the same is certainly true with the GameCube version, perhaps even more so. There are various themed courts (on the version we played there was a Peach court, a Luigi's Mansion court and a DK court), each one has its own look and theme. The DK court has crocodiles dotted about it that will bit onto you and slow you down should you wonder too close to them, the same goes for Ghosts on the LM level. At times this can be off-putting, but in general it adds to the fun and amusement factor of this bouncy and vibrant titles.

You perform the special moves by holding down the R Trigger when a shot comes towards you. This will stop the ball in mid-air and the action slows down, allowing the special move to begin. Each character has various different special shots in his or her (or indeed, its) locker, from a mallet used by Mario to Yoshi turning into an egg and powering the ball down the court and even DK hitting the ball back full-pelt with a banana. The force of these shots, if your opponent gets to them, can cause them to be pushed back on the court, leaving burn marks or tracks on the court surface...nice!

Game modes include the normal Exhibition and Tournament modes, but there is also a special section for bizarre side games. Here you will find a version of tennis based on Sunshine, where water globules are fired at you and you have to hit them back into the other court to clean off the sludge and reveal Shines, the aim is to get as many as you can in a set time.

All in all this is a very impressive title. It looks great, the controls are tight and the gameplay fun. You can really mix up how you play the tennis, making shots work for you, there is little to hold you back but your own ability, which makes for a refreshing change to so many of today's more flawed sports titles.