Topic: Disable the Power in Mario Power Tennis

[Shecky]

Just curious if anyone has heard wether or not it is possible to play a straight match of tennis in Mario Power Tennis.  Also, do the characters still have attributes that aren't just limited to their special move.  (ie stuff that just affects their normal play).

Basically, is there way to disable the power moves.  (Really I can see myself playing matches with the power feature only seldomly, as I'm a much bigger fan of skilled tennis play and had a lot of fun with the original mario tennis b/c it offered a great level of depth (more than even say virtual tennis for DC))

Just seems like the power moves will become cheap for ppl who are actually trying to play tennis.  When I work a friend to one side of the court so that I can rail him cross court, it's rather pointless if he has a special to bail him out.

[Mario]

Yeah this is my major concern about the game too, in videos i've seen of the game the whole match pauses just so a player can do a power shot, it looks very.. annoying.  

[Bill Aurion]

Yes, you can...

[matt oz]

This is the reason I'm not buying Mario Power Tennis.  I remember an interview or something IGN posted with Camelot, and they said that they worked on the game mechanics so much, that it was this uber-realistic tennis sim.  But they decided instead to scrap it all, and implement the power thing to make it more accessible to children and retards.  (I don't mean to be offensive, but I'm tired of playing easy Nintendo games.)

I'd like to know if it's too much to ask to get a good, realistic tennis game for the Gamecube.  The Dreamcast had 2 amazing tennis games, though one was just slightly more refined than the other.  I really want to see an in-depth tennis sim, with training, practice, real-life players, licensed sponsors, licensed tournaments (England Open in Tennis 2k2?  Just pay $50 to call it Wimbledon), player rivalries, and so much other stuff that other sports games get.

Now, maybe I'm not in the mainstream because the only sport I watch and play is tennis, but if someone put the same kind of effort into a tennis sim that gets put into the countless Madden expansion packs (I don't like to call each one a "game"), it could be really popular.[/rant]

[Bill Aurion]

Tennis is the only sport I play and I really don't give a crap for a realistic tennis sim for one reason and one reason only...Because they suck compared to Mario Tennis...

Fun over realism please...

[Mario]

Don't worry, Mario Power Tennis has normal "realistic" courts too, and they look great, just like Mario Tennis 64. This just has lots of extra cool modes.

[matt oz]

Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
Tennis is the only sport I play and I really don't give a crap for a realistic tennis sim for one reason and one reason only...Because they suck compared to Mario Tennis...

Fun over realism please...

But there's never been a realistic tennis sim on the same level as a Madden game.  There are so many intricacies in the game of tennis, that there could be endless customization and replayability.

I enjoyed Mario Tennis on the N64.  It was fun and slightly realistic.  But it's pretty much Pong with nice graphics.  To me, there's just so much unrealized potential when it comes to tennis, and it gets ignored because it's not a mainstream sport.

If I were a video game developer, there would be two games I would make.  One would be a realistic tennis simulation.  The other would be my vision of a perfect game, which probably won't be technologically possible for another generation or two, provided that future video game generations actually last longer than 5 years, but that's another story.

[Deguello]

"The other would be my vision of a perfect game, which probably won't be technologically possible for another generation or two, provided that future video game generations actually last longer than 5 years, but that's another story."

WTF?

[Shecky]

I guess I should clarify a bit.  I'm not looking for a sim game in Mario Tennis... I don't want to go training, building a character.  In fact I hate those types of sport games.

What I do want is depth in play and shot selection.  When I picked up Virtual Tennis for the DC I hated the in game control, it was just awkward, and I don't care what anyone says, you only had one kind of shot in that game.  In Mario Tennis, the level of depth in the controls was far greater.  You could place a drop shot, you're position mattered, and you seemed to have better control over what you were trying to accomplish.  That made for much more gratifying and fun matches, especially when we had 6 player matches going (4 at a time obviously).

On top of all that, Mario Tennis also had slight differences in the type of characters.  It also had attention to detail with little things like not being able to return a ball if your retreating and hit it low (among other things).

Just a deaper gameplay than other tennis games that I had played ...  and it was fun.

Oh and I hope your right Bill, b/c if your right you just made my day

[Bill Aurion]

"There are so many intricacies in the game of tennis, that there could be endless customization and replayability."

But you have to realize that the more and more complicated you get, the less fun the game will be in the end...I don't know if it's just me, but simplicity(to an extent) really is the core of my favorite games...What makes Mario Tennis so intriguing is that it is a pick-up-and-play game that anyone can enjoy due to it's simple controls and charming characters...A realistic tennis sim just doesn't do that to me:  if I want to play a realistic tennis sim I'll just pick up my racket and go play...

[Shecky]

Quote
Originally posted by: Bill Aurion
"There are so many intricacies in the game of tennis, that there could be endless customization and replayability."

But you have to realize that the more and more complicated you get, the less fun the game will be in the end...I don't know if it's just me, but simplicity(to an extent) really is the core of my favorite games...What makes Mario Tennis so intriguing is that it is a pick-up-and-play game that anyone can enjoy due to it's simple controls and charming characters...A realistic tennis sim just doesn't do that to me:  if I want to play a realistic tennis sim I'll just pick up my racket and go play...

I'm going to ditto Bill... and add that Mario Tennis shot selection was done with only 2 major buttons (oh and Z canceled).   I remember explaining the controls to a man who plays tennis in real life and he picked it up after two matches.  I don't have to remember what a drop shot is, I just know its the two buttons in the logical order... top one first then bottom button.  For a lob press them in an upward motion.  Simple yet deep.

[Ian Sane]

"I remember an interview or something IGN posted with Camelot, and they said that they worked on the game mechanics so much, that it was this uber-realistic tennis sim. But they decided instead to scrap it all, and implement the power thing to make it more accessible to children and retards. (I don't mean to be offensive, but I'm tired of playing easy Nintendo games.)"

It seems to me that assuming Camelot still has the code for the uber-realistic tennis sim that they should release two games: Mario Power Tennis and a tennis sim.  Both target different markets and a tennis sim would fill a genre gap on the Cube and provide some variety to Nintendo's lineup.  I prefer more arcade style sports games myself but having the choice between two titles would be ideal.

Plus while I've always criticized the Cube versions of Mario Golf and Tennis for being redundant sequels I wouldn't consider a tennis sim to be redundant because Nintendo's never made anything like that before.  Personally I think the original sim idea was a much better use of Camelot's talent.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

Mario Power Tennis builds off what was already in Mario Tennis:  a game with superior and MORE REALISTIC [believe it] play mechanics than any and all of Sega's tennis titles (and many others).  The hellz with "realistic" "career-building" "licensed" electro-ping-pong games if they can't even make the simple and important physcial distinction between TOPSPIN AND BACKSPIN.  Besides having no choice of topspin/backspin/smash charactistics applied to any stroke, you didn't have the option of a drop-shot.  To be denied all that is UTTERLY UNREALISTIC and severely reduces the amount strategies you can apply.  In Mario Tennis, returning the ball and executing volleys were made simple and intuitive, which opened the doors for the real gameplay to come from the execution of diverse strategies.  THAT'S what made Mario Tennis arguably the best tennis game to date: it's tennis.  Heck, Mario Tennis players know that already.  And Sega's Beach Spikers (volleyball) I'd say is a better "tennis" game than the Virtua Tennis series for the fact that it closely mimmicked Mario Tennis' controls, and as a result, allowed for diverse and extensive volleys ("fun").

All the power shot and wacky stage crap is added to the original Mario Tennis formula.  There's a powerful offensive hit, and an "invincible" but weak defensive save hit.  It's all for the purpose of adding an extra edge, and extending the life of rallies (if applied properly).  The funny stages and obstacles increase the madness factor. -- BUT IN THE END THESE ADDITIONS ARE OPTIONAL.  You want the "old" Mario Tennis with nice graphics, smooth framerate and more characters?  NO PROBLEM.

HI I'M DAISY

HERE WE GO

WHATEVERRRR

[Dasmos]

I am actually really glad to hear you can turn off the 'power' shots because i thought Mario Tennis could turn into Mario Party Tennis if you catch my drift.......with all the minigames and the such

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

And what's so bad about that?  Gives you more to do if you get tired of spanking the singles tournaments.  And the power shots do expand your strategies.  And it's not like you have to pick a new minigame after every rally.

WATCH WHERE YA SEND IT

ARE YOU GONNA LET ME WIN?!

[Shecky]

Quote
Originally posted by: Professional 666
BUT IN THE END THESE ADDITIONS ARE OPTIONAL.  You want the "old" Mario Tennis with nice graphics, smooth framerate and more characters?  NO PROBLEM.

And in the end, that was what my question was.  I don't mind the new addition of power moves and mini games and the such, so long as there was the option to just play 'the "old" Mario Tennis with nice graphics, smooth framerate and more characters'.

I was hearing mixed stories from friends of how the power moves worked (some of which said that they would just kick in as needed?).  So I had this impression that I couldn't just play a match of tennis.

However so far both you and Bill have said that they can be disabled so I appreciate the data points.

[AManatee2]

I'm quite certain you can play a straight match.



And pong rocked.

[matt oz]

I don't understand how a lot of you can say Mario Tennis's play mechanics were more realistic than Tennis 2k2.  Each of the players played differently.  Topsin and slice changed the way your shots landed.  You could hit lobs and dropshots quite easily, if you took the time to learn the controls.  And there was a lot of depth in the serve.  In a six game set in Tennis 2k2, it's possible to return a serve differently every time.  Just like in real life.  I'm not saying Mario Tennis wasn't great (it was) and that it wasn't realistic (it was to a certain point), but Tennis 2k2's ball mechanics are pretty accurate.

Now, again I'll say that I'm in the minority, because I am a tennis fanatic, and I want a realistic tennis sim.  But judging by everyone's reactions here, it's no wonder Nintendo systems are notorious for very little sports titles.

And Bill, you say simplicity is the core of your favorite games?  Then you must be having one hell of a good time with Kirby's Air Ride and Mario Party's 1 through 8 or 10 or wherever they are.

At this point in time, a tennis game with one or two button controls is no different from Pong, save for the graphical changes.  A realistic, well-done tennis sim, developed in the same way as Madden football could be a huge success.

[MaleficentOgre]

Saying that mario tennis is just pong with updated graphics just shows how much you don't know.

[Bill Aurion]

"And Bill, you say simplicity is the core of your favorite games? Then you must be having one hell of a good time with Kirby's Air Ride and Mario Party's 1 through 8 or 10 or wherever they are."

Oh I just love it when I say I love a type of game it has to apply to every single game of the category... =P  (And KAR is a fun game, thank you very much...)

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

With weak lasting appeal.

~~~~~

I was being unreasonable in grouping Tennis 2k2 with my experiences in Virtua Tennis on Dreamcast, which I have an extreme distaste for.

~~~~~

Mario Power Tennis has no simulation features like getting fat like Andre Agassi, 7.9sry

[Shecky]

FYI

From the IGN Review.  "On the bright side, gamers can at least choose to turn power shots as a whole on or off."

3 confirmations, case closed.  (and one happy Mario Tennis fan)

[KDR_11k]

i thought one confirmation from Nintendo's press release was enough?

[Shecky]

Quote
Originally posted by: KDR_11k
i thought one confirmation from Nintendo's press release was enough?

I didn't see the Nintendo press release.  Considering that _none_ of the previous posts mentioned it as a source.

For future reference:
'Yes it can be turned off, see nintendo's press release on the game at <link>'
is a _lot_ better than
'Yes it can'

[Bill Aurion]

Not when *I* say so...