Mario Tennis (GBC)

Mario Tennis
Developer	Camelot
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Game Boy Color
Release Date	JP November 1, 2000 US January 16, 2001 EU February 1, 2001
Rating	ESRB: E

Mario Tennis (known in Japan by the less-confusing title of Mario Tennis GB) is a Mario-based sports game that acts as a counterpart to Nintendo 64's Mario Tennis.

Story

The story mode follows a rookie tennis player at the the Royal Tennis Academy who trains under coaches and competes against ranked players in order to become skilled enough to battle the tennis champion, Mario.

Gameplay

Like Mario Golf, this game takes standard tennis gameplay and adds RPG elements. This is in the Mario Tour mode, where the player chooses a player character and can freely navigate the school between matches. The player character gains experience from matches which is used to boost statistics. There is also Exhibition Mode for casual single matches, as well as a linked game where two players can play against each other. The game also contains a set of minigames which feature the Mario characters.

It is compatible with the Transfer Pak, which can connect the game to its Nintendo 64 counterpart. This can temporarily transfer characters from the Game Boy Color game to the N64 game, and it will also unlock more characters and minigames for the handheld game.

Legacy

Sequels

The next Mario Tennis game was Mario Power Tennis for the Gamecube. This particular game later received a direct sequel in the form of Mario Tennis: Power Tour in 2005.