Mario's Tennis

Mario's Tennis

Mario's Tennis is a tennis game that was released as a launch title for the Virtual Boy. It is the first Mario tennis game, which would later be followed by the Mario Tennis series. You have a choice of seven different characters with different abilities, with which you compete in either singles or doubles. You can also play in an exhibition or tournament mode.

Story

Mario's Tennis is a sports game in which the player controls one of seven different Mario characters and competes in tennis matches. The action on the court is viewed from a third-person perspective directly behind the character. The Virtual Boy's stereoscopic 3D graphics allow the player to perceive the depth of the tennis court, making it easier to see the distance between the tennis ball and the character in question. Unlike later titles in the Mario Tennis series that added gameplay elements not found in traditional tennis, such as "power-up items," special "power shots," or external obstacles that interfere with play, Mario's Tennis simply focuses on the basics of tennis. Mario's Tennis supports a number of different game modes and customization options. The player can choose one of seven Mario characters, including Mario, Luigi, Princess Toadstool, Yoshi, Toad and Donkey Kong Jr, all of which have different characteristics in terms of "speed", "power" or "racket area". Either a single game or a three-game tournament mode can be selected, with the option in both cases to play either single or double games on easy, normal or hard difficulty. Although a two-player function was announced, it was not implemented because the cable required to connect two Virtual Boy devices was never released.