Mario Tennis

Mario Tennis
Developer	Camelot
Publisher	Nintendo
System	Nintendo 64, Virtual Console (Wii, Wii U)
Release Date	Nintendo 64 JP June 21, 2000 US August 25, 2000 PAL November 3, 2000 Wii Virtual Console JP June 18, 2010 US June 28, 2010 PAL August 31, 2010 Wii U Virtual Console US July 9, 2015 PAL December 17, 2015
Rating	ESRB: E

This article is for the Nintendo 64 game. For the Virtual Boy game, see Mario's Tennis. For the Game Boy Color game, see Mario Tennis (GBC).

Mario Tennis (known in Japan by the more distinctive title of Mario Tennis 64) is a Mario-based tennis game that was released for the Nintendo 64 in 2000.

Gameplay

Mario Tennis features tennis gameplay with Mario characters and settings, and most shots are performed using the A and B buttons. There are Singles and Doubles matches as well as bonus games available for the player, and a wide variety of playable characters are present to accommodate this. This roster includes Waluigi in his first appearance, and it also brings back the long-absent characters Princess Daisy and Birdo.

The Transfer Pak could also be used to connect Mario Tennis with its Game Boy Color counterpart. One of the four player characters from the game could be temporarily transferred to the N64 game, and it also made it possible to unlock more courts.

Playable Characters

• Mario
• Luigi
• Princess Peach
• Princess Daisy
• Yoshi
• Toad
• Wario
• Waluigi
• Bowser
• Donkey Kong
• Donkey Kong Jr. (unlockable)
• Birdo
• Baby Mario
• Paratroopa
• Boo
• Shy Guy (unlockable)

As mentioned above, four characters from the Game Boy Color game (Alex, Nina, Harry and Kate) could be transferred into the game through the Transfer Pak.

Legacy

Although it was preceded by Mario's Tennis, Mario Tennis marked the true beginning of the Mario Tennis games due to the prior game's relative obscurity. This game also marked the introduction of Waluigi abd the return of Daisy> Additionally, the playable characters brought into this game (particularly Daisy and Waluigi, as well as to a lesser extent Birdo) were commonly used in later sports and party games.

Ports and Remakes

• Mario Tennis was released for download as part of the Wii's Virtual Console in 2010 and the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2015. These releases lacked the Transfer Pak functionality, and so the Game Boy Color characters were not playable.
• In October 2021, it was among the initial wave of games for the Nintendo Switch's Nintendo 64 library that was made available with the purchase of the Expansion Pack for Nintendo Switch online. The multiplayer features were retained and could be played online. Like with the Virtual Console release, there was no Transfer Pak functionality.

Sequels

It was accompanied by a companion game of the same name for the Game Boy Color, which was released during the same year. The next console game was Mario Power Tennis.