Mario Power Tennis (2004)

Mario Power Tennis, known in Japan as Mario Tennis GC (マリオテニスGC), is a sports game developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo GameCube in 2004. The game is the sequel to the Nintendo 64 title Mario Tennis, and is the third game in the Mario Tennis series. Power Tennis was released in Japan on October 28, 2004, in North America on November 8, 2004, and in Australia on February 25, 2005. The game was re-released for the Wii in 2009 as part of the New Play Control! collection of titles, featuring GameCube games with added Wii controls. As of 2012, the title is available as part of the Nintendo Selects collection.

Power Tennis incorporates multiple characters, themes, and locations from the Mario series. The game includes standard tennis matches, but contains variants that feature different scoring formats and objectives. Other variants include "Gimmick" courts, thematic areas with components and properties that directly affect gameplay. The game consists of 18 playable characters, each categorised by their style of play and each with a pair of unique moves known as "Power Shots". Power Tennis was developed simultaneously with Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour, and the pair shared similar technology and concepts with each other during production. Such similarities include an emphasis on the Mario theme in characters and settings as well as alternative game modes such as "Ring Shot".

The game was positively received in general, attaining an aggregate score of 81 percent from Game Rankings and 80 percent from Metacritic. Critics praised the game's depth and variety, but criticised the Power Shot animations, which could not be skipped. In 2010, the game was included as one of the titles in the book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.

Voice Cast

 * Kazumi Totaka - Yoshi
 * Toru Minegishi
 * Atsushi Masaki
 * Sanae Suzaki
 * Takashi Nagasako - Donkey Kong
 * Katsumi Suzuki - Diddy Kong
 * Scott Burns - Bowser
 * Delores Rogers - Bowser Jr.
 * Deanna Mustard - Princess Daisy
 * Jen Taylor - Princess Peach, Toad
 * Nate Bihldorff
 * Charles Martinet - Luigi, Mario, Waluigi, Wario