G4TV

Tennis has been a video game staple forever--remember Pong? Never has a game attempted to go as deep with the racket like Mario Tennis: Power Tour. Developed by Camelot (of Golden Sun, Hot Shots, and GameCube's Mario Tennis fame) you're given a deep role-playing game, a veritable tennis clinic, and good ol' fashioned Mario sports action all in one cartridge.

Green Fuzzies

Power Tour offers some intricate tennis that belies its childish visual presentation. Topspins and slices are just the fuzz atop the ball; you also have lobs, drop shots, charged blasts, and power shots -- and that's just the stuff you can do with the A and B buttons! Each swing has a rational application, making gameplay as complex as you want it to be. Going deeper, there are the trademark special techniques you expect from a Mario sports game, which are sure to net you many points in your playing.

Doubles play is offered, and it's surprisingly intuitive. Your AI partner knows when to attack and when to back off. They will actually react to your own play in a surprisingly intelligent ballet of egos. Opponents are just as smart, meaning you've got to be on your toes, and there’s multiplayer support for up to 4 players. It's also worth mentioning that a camera option enables you to always be at the bottom of the screen -- something Virtua Tennis PSP did which quietly revolutionized digital tennis as we know it.

Net Experience

The power tour portion is almost too RPG-esque for its own good, but much like the parallel portion of GBA's Mario Golf, it's a tremendous way to kill several hours. Once you get past an asinine story about a mysterious masked tennis player who comes in to trounce your camp's best instructors (hmmm, ya think it could it have something to do with the game's namesake?) Mario Tennis throws plenty of minigames, character-building, and progressive sports action at you. It's just a shame that you have to wade through the above-mentioned plot and uber-technical text-based lectures to enjoy it. Perhaps to compensate, a steady stream of unlockables greets you. If you play against a virtual character, they will eventually become playable. You can also save at almost any time.

In the realm of handheld sports, Mario Tennis: Power Tour is a little too long-winded to surpass its sibling, Mario Golf: Advanced Tour. Virtua Tennis also holds the advantage over it in the specific sport due to its own career mode and superior graphics. However, that doesn’t mean that anyone wanting to make a little racket won't have a great time with a few plumbers, a gaggle of kids, and more green balls than a troll colony. No matter how you like your net games, Mario Tennis serves it up.