I just got this game today, and have put a good five hours into it. I feel I’ve spent enough time with it to give a good review. So here we go.

Mario’s Tennis was the game that came with the Virtual Boy. Like most other pack-in titles, it does a decent job of showing off what the system can do while at the same time being not so great that you don’t want to purchase any other games. That’s pretty much the idea behind a pack-in game.

The visuals in this game are actually very impressive. Even though there are only two colors displayed (red and black), the Virtual Boy manages to pull off some pretty nice effects. If you’ve got it focused right, things pop out at you while you’re playing the game. The ball looks as if it’s really coming towards you, and when thigns are supposed to look far away they actuallly look far away rather than just being smaller. The system’s display is relatively high-resolution, so everything looks clean. There is some minor texture work, and the character models look really good. Better than anything we saw on the Super Nintendo for sure. Menus and the score box also “pop”, and gives the game a really polished look. There are nice backgrounds for the various courts, such as Peach’s Castle and various other locations in the Mushroom Kingdom. The backgrounds remain stationary while the character moves, which gives off a very cool scrolling effect. To be quite honest, there are some effects that the Virtual Boy displays that I’d like to see implemented in modern day systems. Every object in the game has depth and it is a very cool thing to see the game’s logo and the tennis ball actually flying towards you. Sort of like when you’re watching a movie in 3D, and it works better than you’d expect (you know, with the polarized 3D glasses instead of those shitty red and blue ones). No screen shots or videos do these games justice, because each eye sees something different. That’s one of the reasons the system can pull off everything that it manages to.

The sound is exactly what you’d expect from a Mario game. The tunes are lighthearted, catchy, and well-composed. Any Mario fan will feel right at home playing the game. The sound effects themselves are sufficient if unremarkable. They’re nothing to write home about, but they don’t hinder the experience in any way.

The character selection isn’t great. You get Mario, Luigi, Peach, Yoshi, Donkey Kong Jr., Toad, and a Koopa Troopa. Aside from their appearances, there isn’t a whole lot of difference between them. There aren’t really any power ups or signature moves, so it feels like you’re playing a tennis game with Mario characters rather than a Mario Tennis game.

But the gameplay itself is well-done. It’s a solid arcade tennis game. Your characters do move a bit slow and there is a learning curve, but there are no major flaws. The learning curve comes from the adjustment period. It took me a few sets to get a feel for the depth perception, but once I did it was the familiar sensation of a tennis video game. If you like tennis games, you’ll like this game. If you like Mario, that’s a bonus.

The gameplay modes are somewhat limited. Like all Virtual Boy games, this is a single-player experience. You can play against the computer, in a doubles match with a CPU team mate against two CPU opponents, or in a singles or doubles tournament. Every game mode is satisfactory. You can choose to play 1 or 3 sets, but 1 is generally enough as this game has more of a “pick up and play” feel than a marathon one.

Again, it’s pretty easy to see why this was the pack-in game for the system. It does a satisfactory job of hooking the player while leaving him wanting more. Multiplayer, more characters, and power-ups would have been ideal, but it’s still an enjoyable experience without them. The game is one of the cheapest available for the system, and if your Virtual Boy doesn’t come with it (if you ever get one) there’s no reason not to track it down.

Visuals: 7
Sound: 8
Extra features: 4
Replay value: 8
Gameplay: 7
Bang for your buck: 10

Overall: 7.5/10

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