By Aaron N
For some reason my favorite sports games have always been tennis games. Sure I like Madden, NFL Blitz, baseball, and basketball games, but tennis games have always been the most fun to me. At my first job we had "Virtual Tennis" in the game room and we would play it on our breaks. I remember playing the first "Mario Tennis" on the virtual boy, it was my favorite game on the system. So I knew I had to get the new one for the Nintendo 3DS. They have made plenty of Mario Tennis games since the virtual boy so I knew they had to bring some new aspects to this game. With sports games it is hard to make one stand out and seem memorable, so this was a tough task to put on this installment.
Graphics:
I am still amazed at how powerful the 3DS is. Granted I hardly used the 3D aspect, but the graphics still amazed me. The fluidity of the motion of the characters was astounding and they were on par with the Wii. When I did use the 3D it was a welcomed addition. I was worried that it would make the ball hard to see and get lost in the characters and the atmosphere but it didn't. The same goes for the last stage. The last stage is set in space and a lot of the court is see-through. But the graphics were so crisp that I had no problem seeing the ball. The graphics were really well-done and I feel that the 3DS has better graphics than the wii. They utilize the capabilities to the fullest and "Mario Tennis Open" showcases this.
Story:
There really isn't a story to "Mario Tennis Open." All you do is play through tournaments as either a singles competitor or a doubles one. After you win a tournament you get an invitation to the next tournament. There are eight tournaments and each one increases in difficulty as you progress. The increase in difficulty is extreme when you reach the final tournament though. It was frustrating at first, but then when you learn all the special hits, which I will get into more in the gameplay section, it actually becomes quite easy. This is actually more of a storyline than usual sports games have, but with Mario sports games you always get just a little bit extra.
Gameplay:
Like in actual tennis it basically is the first to four points to win a game and you have to win by two. It takes two games to win a set, but unlike actual tennis you have to win by at least two sets. In the earlier tournaments and rounds it is the first to win a set, but sometimes in later rounds and harder tournaments you have to win best of three sets or best of five sets in the final rounds. They have a few special strikes that I mentioned earlier. A special circle will show up at a certain spot on the court. The five special strikes are a slam, fire strike, curve strike, short strike, and lob strike. It is imperative that you have to learn how to utilize these strikes to win in the final tournament. I dominated the first seven tournaments without knowing how to use these. They took a simplistic formula that all tennis games have and added to it and made it incredibly fun and entertaining.
Sound:
Each character makes unique sounds and noises as the play. Also each strike sounds different. These are the little things that make the sound memorable for "Mario Tennis Open." But the part I liked the best is the music. The music is the generally the same for each round. The final round has a unique song to it that adds to the excitement and importance to the match. When you have a game point the music changes and gets more intense. It creates a great atmosphere that makes it go from a care-free game to an intense one in a matter of seconds, which is astounding.
Overall:
"Mario Tennis Open" is one of the more fun sports games I have played in recent time. It brings an overall product that makes me go back to play more for the sheer gameplay. It does what other games can't do with a lack of storyline and just on gameplay. I had a lot of fun playing this and I will continue to do so for quite some time.
Mario Tennis Open gets an 8.5/10
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