Mario Tennis Open

MARIO TENNIS OPEN

Today, let's cover Mario Tennis Open, the sixth tennis game, this one made for the Nintendo 3DS. We skipped a handheld generation, but that's okay. The tennis mechanics here are a lot of the basics we've seen before, with topspins, slices, drop shots, flat shots, lobs, serves, and charges. The biggest new mechanic is the Chance Shot, which will appear if the character performs a bad rebound, giving them a chance to make up for it. These include a Fire Flower, giving you a flaming topspin; Bloopers, that make the receiving character spin out; a Star, which gives you an even stronger smash shot; a Cheep Cheep, that bounces at the back of the stage; and Bob-Omb, which gives you an even lower drop shot.

Our characters this time around include returning veterans Mario, Luigi, Peach, Daisy, Yoshi, Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, Bowser Jr., Boo, and Baby Mario, with the added newcomers of Luma (without Rosalina? Is that allowed?), Baby Peach, Dry Bowser, and Mii. With a few DLC Yoshi color variations and Metal Mario, just for fun. Various enemies and allies appear on various stages, like Toads and Lakitus, in the roles you'd expect of them. No RPG protagonists here, sorry. (I'm actually kinda sad about that.)

Our stages this time around include the main arena, Mario Stadium, with a grass, hard, and clay variant to it, as well as: Mushroom Valley, situated on top of a giant mushroom (awesome); Wario Dunes, a desert level; DK Jungle, a DK stage; Peach's Palace; Penguin Iceberg, a snow level; Bowser's Castle as it has appeared previously; and two Galaxy Arenas, one with a crystal floor and one with a "morph" floor that changes around and causes mayhem on the court. There are also four minigames set on these that I bring up purely because "Super Mario Tennis" is awesome. We have Ring Shot, where you shoot the ball through rings over the net; Super Mario Tennis, which lets you use a tennis ball to help an 8-bit Mario complete a level from the original Super Mario Bros.; Galaxy Rally, which has a black hole in it you have to keep the ball away from; and Ink Showdown, which has three Piranha Plants spitting balls at you.

That's about it for now! Let's see what we've got:

Characters:

Alex/Nina/Harry/Kate: serve, lob, top-spin, singles, doubles, slice, drop shot, flat shot, smash shot, charge shot, Banana, Mushroom, Lightning Bolt, Star, Green Shell, Red Shell, offensive special shot, defensive special shot, Chance Shots (fire flower, blooper, star, cheep cheep, bob-omb)

Ace/Clay: same as above, wall practice, ball machine, treadmill, balloon pump, jump, spin screw, duck walk, rope climb, Rock Paper Scissors, tightrope, tacklebot, memory game

Mario: Iron Hammer, Spin Jump Return

Luigi: Squeaky Mallet, Poltergust Return

Princess Peach: Super Peach Spin, Sweet Kiss Return

Toad

Yoshi: Rainbow Flutter, Rolling Egg Return

Koopa Troopa: Water Bomb, Water Shell Dash

Donkey Kong Jr.

Daisy: Wonder Flower, Flowerbed Return

Baby Mario

Birdo

Donkey Kong: Barrel Cannon Blast, Boomerang Banana Return

Wario: Thunder Cast Shot, Ultra Hand Return

Waluigi: Whirluigi, Swimming Return

Bowser: Fire Breath, Spinning Shell Dash

Boo: Boo Blast, Boo Brigade Return

Shy Guy: Lightning Spear, Spear Dance Return

Paratroopa: Energy Ball, Sky Dive

Diddy Kong: Acrobatic Banana, Barrel Jet

Bowser Jr.: Magic Paint, Rolling Brush Return

Fly Guy: Tornado Twist, Tornado Return

Wiggler: Anger Management, Flutter Return

Petey Piranha: Sludge Racket, Piranha Swingback

Luma

Baby Peach

Dry Bowser

Mii

Metal Mario

Piranha Plant

Lakitu

Stages:

Tennis Court

Open Court

Hard Court

Clay Court

Grass Court

Composition Court

Bowser's Stage

Royal Academy

Castle Court

Tropics Court

Jungle Court

Star Court

Warehouse Court

Peach Dome

Luigi's Mansion Court

Delfino Plaza Court

Wario Factory Court

Gooper Blooper Court

DK Jungle Court

Bowser's Castle Court

Mario Classic Court

Mario Stadium

Mushroom Valley

Wario Dunes

DK Jungle

Peach's Palace

Penguin Iceberg

Bowser's Castle

Galaxy Arena

Super Mario Tennis

Thanks for reading! Next up, let's cover the next game, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash!