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New Play Control Mario Power Tennis for the Wii is a ported version of the GameCube title of the same name (minus the whole new control reference). That’s really all you need to know. If you liked the original but wished it included tiring and frustrating controls, your wish has come true. For anyone who missed the original, you’ll want to seriously stretch and think twice about serving up some cash for this once cherished competitors return to the digital court.

The (Lack of) Story Remains the Same

Since Power Tennis is a straight port of the GameCube version, there is nothing new in terms of story (or anything else for that matter). The game opens with the same cinematic as the original game and introduces all of the playable characters in the game. A lack of a new story mode is one of the more disappointing aspects of the game, since other ported GameCube sports titles like Super Sluggers, offer at least some semblance of a story to provide some motivation and engagement beyond the game’s basic sports offering.

The selection of characters in Power Tennis (Wario, Diddy Kong, Peach, Bowser and many other Nintendo favorites) is easily one of its strong points, as each character possesses a specific type of play style. Mario and Luigi are all-around players (balanced power and speed), characters like Donkey Kong and Wario are powerful but slow, while others are purely defensive players. It’s a solid mix, and ensures that every player will find a suitable match for his/her play style.

No New Modes For You

In addition to the standard exhibition mode, you can also compete in tournaments and mini-games. There are several levels of tournament, with the Star tournament offering the biggest challenge (mainly due to the poor controls, but more on that in a bit). These matches are straightforward affairs that can be completed in very little time, and once you’ve beaten them and unlocked the several hidden characters, modes and courts, there is no real reason to play them again, unless you want to be able to designate characters as star players (woohoo!).

As for the mini-games, they are pretty much a joke. Most of the challenges simply end up being infuriating, because the controls are so frustratingly bad. Success mostly comes down to just swinging wildly and hoping for the best. This wouldn’t be so upsetting if you had the option of using a standard controller, because then at least you would have a bit more control over the action. Plus, you wouldn’t be in physical pain afterwards. 

The two best on-court elements in the game are the gimmick courts and item battles. The gimmick courts sport various court-based obstacles that can be triggered during matches (i.e. sections of the court moving in various directions, parts of the court retracting to expose deadly water pits, etc.). It adds some nice variety to the otherwise unsatisfying tennis action by basically distracting you from how annoying the controls are. The item battles are fun as well for mostly the same reason. During these matches, you can fling random objects such as turtle shells and banana peels at your opponent with punishing results.

The courts are all well designed and reflect their particular themes well. Bowser’s lava-filled castle, Donkey Kong’s jungle sanctuary, Wario’s wacky factory, and Princess Peach’s royal tennis grounds are nicely conceived and each one feels unique. Some of the courts start off as simply gimmick courts, but by winning tournaments and completing mini-game challenges, these courts can be opened up for normal play as well, which adds a bit of much appreciated replayability.

Wii Controls Can’t Be Serious!

Power Tennis is the first in a series of GameCube titles that Nintendo is re-releasing under the New Play Control brand for the Wii. Essentially, these are straight ports of older titles but with Wii-designed controls. This might sound lame and lazy, and given what’s on display in Power Tennis, that’s exactly what it is. I guess it’s no surprise that the game doesn’t let you use a GameCube controller or even use the Wiimote like a traditional controller, because that would defeat the purpose of pushing this as a “new” game. Unfortunately, by your fifth or sixth match, your arm will be dreaming of being able to play with a traditional controller.

Most of the issues come from the painfully imprecise aiming (or lack of aiming, for that matter) that keeps practically every point going for far longer than they should. Since you rarely hit the ball as hard as you want or put away shots to specific parts of the court like you should be able to, you will end up getting into the most ridiculous looking rallies you have ever seen. Swinging diagonally upwards lets you put top spin on your shot, straight up lets you lob, straight across is for flat shots and down is for drop shots. For the most part, these motions will give you your desired shot, but far too often the motions will result in something completely different than what you wanted. The lob is particularly fickle, and because it’s such a strategic shot that needs to work the first time to really be effective, you will find yourself screaming at the game and frantically motioning upwards to get the shot to work.

Similar to the tennis in Wii Sports (although not nearly as intuitive or responsive), aiming comes down to timing. Swinging late means the ball will travel straight or the outside, while swinging early with pull the ball across the court. Like the various shot controls, aiming works some of the time, but don’t expect to have any real satisfying control over where the ball goes. Nowhere is this more apparent than in several of the mini-games. In one, you have to hit color-coded balls against a wall to fill in a black and white drawing of a particular character. Aside from having barely enough room to maneuver, you must hit shots that are infinitely more difficult than they should be, simply because the controls do not let you make the shots you need/want to make. Hitting a ball to the upper left or right hand corners of the wall is an act of sheer luck and randomness, two things you love to see in a sport about precision and skill.

And despite what the game says about swinging the Wiimote harder for stronger shots, you rarely hit a ball as hard as you think you should have. This means you will invariably end up swing as hard as you can on every shot in the hopes of catching that solid shot every once in a while. No real sense of control and virtual tennis elbow? Who can resist that combination?

Unnecessary Game, Set, and Match

Either Nintendo has decided to become the laziest publisher in the gaming industry or they have so many killer titles in the pipeline that they just couldn’t be bothered to put an ounce of effort into justifying the existence of Power Tennis. Adding sub-par Wii controls to a five-year-old GameCube game without adding anything new in terms of modes, gameplay or story is not acceptable. The sad part is that Power Tennis isn’t a terrible game. Fans of the original will certainly feel a sense of nostalgia at seeing the old game in action on a new generation of console, and it’s simple enough for anyone to pick up and play. It just doesn’t do anything to make it seem like a necessary product. Plus, a port with bad controls released as the first in a series of games being trumpeted for having new and intuitive Wii controls just isn’t going to cut it. Painful tennis anyone?
 

Article Written By: Jake Gaskill