It’s time to take a look as a really retro Nintendo title. Who doesn’t remember the classic Mario Tennis title right? Mario Power Tennis is still one of my all time favorite sport games even counting the non Mario ones and so I have a lot of nostalgia for these. The original Mario Tennis isn’t operating at quite the same level as Mario Power Tennis but it’s still a really solid one all things considered. It’s fairly basic and doesn’t have a lot of the annoying gimmicks that newer games tend to add.

The opening cutscene is also a blast as we get to see some real story mixed in there. Outside of that there isn’t a central story though. There are 3 tournament cups to conquer and when you complete each of them you get an ending cutscene for the character you play as. The cutscene is the same for all 3 so you could always just beat the first cup with everyone if you want to see all of their endings. Each cup gradually gets longer and tougher as you play through them so you will want to keep that in mind as well.

It’s actually not a walk in the park to defeat the final cup. The computers really step up their game and can be hard to predict. They really know how to answer the shots and the low/lob hits aren’t as refined as they were in the Gamecube days so you just have to try and outplay your opponent. Some rallies can take quite a while as a result but in the end it always feels good when you manage to pull off the win. I found it easiest to always aim for the corners, trying to “trick” the computer by shooting it at them and hoping they would move doesn’t tend to work. Ironically they do that to me a whole lot but what can you do….

The graphics are really solid here. I really enjoy all of the character models. Aside from being super nostalgic, they’ve just aged really well thanks to the artstyle. It’s why going for a bright, cartoony look like this tends to work well because it’s pretty ageless. Whether it’s 2002, 2022, or 2042 it will always look really good. The stages are on point and you can tell a lot of effort was put into this. The soundtrack is also good with a lot of energetic tunes to listen to as you blast your way through the stages.

There are also other modes outside of the tournaments like playing special minigames. There aren’t a lot of them but you have the classic rings and also playing a long volley against piranha plants. I don’t imagine you will spend a whole lot of time here but more content is always good. The character roster is at a decent size too so you should find a character who fits your playstyle rather easily. They all play pretty much the same anyway though so it’s more about style points.

As for the difficulty level, you’ll get used to it the more that you play. I really only got back into the basics of the game and wasn’t exactly an expert at actually mastering the controls like that. Like I never got the low shot to work so either the A.I. was just that perfect or I wasn’t using it in the right circumstances. Also it would be really hard to return shots when I was too close to the net so I have to work on that. In the end your reaction times often won’t be enough so you have to just pick a direction and run there. If the ball is hit on the other side? Well you tried, that’s the best that you could do at that point.

Personally as one game tip, I would recommend constantly holding down A and B. This lets you do a smash when the ball is high up but a pretty solid hit even if it’s a normal shot. This seemed to be the only shot that would pretty much always work when you were up close. So double tap A when you are far away but hold down both when you are close. Do this and you should be winning more matches. Of course the main thing is to have fun though. That’s why this game is so solid, it’s just really enjoyable to go through. It captures the game of tennis without being too overly technical or worried about the small stuff. It’s why I tend to love Mario sport games like this sometimes even more than the regular ones.

Overall, I would definitely recommend checking this game out. It’s really a part of history at this point and is just solid all around the board. The graphics are good, the soundtrack is a lot of fun, and there is a whole lot of content here. The amount of replay value is incredible and it has to be one of the best values on the Switch Online. Ultimately the only thing holding it back is that the sequels are simply better and that’s really not something it can help right? All it could do is be the best game it could be and it succeeded at that.

Overall 7/10