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Thursday, April 5, 2012

Special Games a powerful teaching tool for Mario Tennis Open (preview) - San Jose Mercury News (blog)

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Special Games a powerful teaching tool for Mario Tennis Open (preview) - San Jose Mercury News (blog)
Apr 5th 2012, 22:40

Special Games a powerful teaching tool for Mario Tennis Open (preview)

Posted by on April 5th, 2012 at 3:40 pm | Categorized as Video Games | Tagged as , , , , , ,

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Mario Tennis Open is yet another of Nintendo's sports titles, but that's not a bad thing. I admit there are so many that I lose count sometimes from golf to soccer to baseball. But if you strip away the mascot characters, the core sports gameplay is solid. They're usually fun. They have enough depth to keep gamers playing. They have that tinge of nostalgia.

Mario Tennis Open on the Nintendo 3DS has all those elements and I had a chance to check out the game recently, playing a few matches. Here are few quick thoughts about Nintendo's latest sports title.


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Miis can quite possibly be the best characters in the game as long as you upgrade them.

1. Although Mario and company will be popular in the beginning, Miis will be the most dominant character in the game. All the mascot characters from Yoshi all the way to Waluigi have their own stats that complement a certain play style. Some like Mario are about average in every category while Boo specializes in trickiness. Everyone is geared toward one type of game except for the Miis.

Miis are blank slates and can be modified via outfits. Adding a shirt may improve power. Special shoes may improve speed. Each item of clothing and accessory improves a Mii. There's even bonuses if players have all the same suit sets For example, Miis can get a Bowser outfit.


You'll have to earn in-game coins to purchase items for your Mii. Unfortunately, 3DS coins can't be used in the game.

2. Items are easy to obtain via the in-game store. To actually buy them though, players will have earn in-game coins by playing matches. I would have liked to see players able to use the built-in coin system on the Nintendo 3DS to make purchases, but I can live with the current system. What's even better is that players sometimes get accessories via multiplayer matches so there's some incentive to play locally through the Internet.

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Not sure what button to use? You can always check the touch-screen for help.

3. The touchscreen controls will help out novices. Those who don't know much about Mario Tennis will have a visual aid when it comes to returning balls. Instead of jamming on the four face buttons, they can tap different parts of the touch-screen to activate lobs, slices, etc. The game recommends the best type of swing by flashing it on the screen and all players have to do is time their swing right. It keeps beginners competitive as they learn to read the colored spins of the ball. The way the system is set up reminds me a lot of Rockstar Game's Table Tennis.

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The Ring Shot, which can be played in multiplayer, teaches players how certain swing types arc.

4. The Special Games will teach you how to play. Going into the demo, I didn't know the finer points of Mario Tennis Open that well, but after I left, I had a better idea of what to expect. That's because of the Special Games that teaches players not only how to play the game but also the theory of good play.

Ring Shot shows players how a ball arcs with different strikes such as a slice and lob. The goal is to hit the ball through rings that randomly appear throughout the court. Players are rewarded for hitting each ball through the hoop and ultimately scoring on their opponent. In the mode, the first team or player to 500 points wins.

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This is one of the more unique modes. Instead of controlling Mario through Super Mario Bros., players can go through the game via tennis.

Super Mario Tennis helps players with placement. Almost like raquetball, a lone character strikes the ball so it bounces against a wall. It seems fairly straightforward until you run into the twist. When players strike the ball, it hits a scrolling Super Mario Bros. level. Depending on the strike, the ball can break bricks at the top of the screen or hit enemies Koopas below. Players can even unlock question mark bricks so that mushroom can give players a more powerfull ball capable of destroying blocks. Figuring out which shot hits low and high will be the difference between clearing a chosen level or dropping the 3DS in frustration.


Galaxy Rally teaches players about where to place the ball on the court.

Galaxy Rally also teaches position, but it's focused on the opposition's courtside. The game divides ground into four quadrants. As players rally with Luma (the star character from Super Mario Galaxy 2), they'll have to hit several star pieces scattered around the stage. Get five and players will see one of those giant stars from Galaxy. The only obstacle in players' way is that a quadrant disappears with each volley. Players will have to avoid that missing part of the court, hit the star piece and get it to the Lumia all at the same time.

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If you miss an ink shot from a Piranah Plant, you're screen is obstructed like this.

Ink Showdown is the minigame that makes most sense. It teaches players how to keep the tennis ball away from their opponents. Three Piranha Plants sit on the base line and spit balls and ink in players' direction. They're supposed to return it so the ball bounces away from Daisy who is also sitting in the middle of the court. If she manages to return three balls, players lose. They'll have to hit away from her 30 times.

Mario Tennis Open is scheduled for release on May 20.

Photos courtesy of Nintendo

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Trackbacks & Pingbacks

  1. Sports Facts » Special Games a powerful teaching tool for Mario Tennis Open (preview) – San Jose Mercury News (blog):

    [...] Special Games a powerful teaching tool for Mario Tennis Open (preview)San Jose Mercury News (blog)Mario Tennis Open is yet another of Nintendo's sports titles, but that's not a bad thing. I admit there are so many that I lose count sometimes from golf to soccer to baseball. But if you strip away the mascot characters, the core sports gameplay is …Play Classic Mario Games With a Tennis Raquet in Mario Tennis OpenKotakuMario Tennis Open Second ImpressionsNintendo Gal9 things about Mario Tennis Open (3DS) – hands-on previewExaminer.comWorthPlaying.com -IGNall 23 news articles » [...]

    --April 5, 2012 @ 3:42 pm

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