Mario Tennis Open (Nintendo 3DS)

I really wasn't interested in getting this game as I am not into tennis, but the Mario fan in me couldn't resist.
One of the great things about this game is the amount of Nintendo characters you can choose from.Donkey Kong, Wario, Bowser and a loads more that are unlocked as you progress.You can also play as you Mii which is fun.The game is a bit easy at first but the later cups become a bit more competitive.The gameplay is fun and addictive, but the best part of the game is the mini games. Especially "The Super Mario Tennis mini game" where you use the tennis ball to play levels from the original Super Mario Bros Game.
The game has online play that works really well, however you have to have a perfect signal to get it to work which is a similar problem with Mario Kart 7. Another fun part of the game is the item shop,where you can purchase different costumes and equipment for your Mii. The only Problem with the game is that it is a bit short,and once you complete the cups there's not much to do.

Overall: It's a great game with lots of Nintendo charm, but a little bit short in content.

Mario Tennis Open is a real fun game. The online multiplayer is especially good. I recommend this for all 3DS fans. You will not be disappointed.

This is my first Mario Tennis game, and I'm finding it pretty good. I flew through the beginner and intermediate single player tournaments, and then got repeatedly beaten in the final of the Champions League. That's my main gripe about the single player, the difficulty isn't as balanced as I'd like it to be. Once you've finished the tournament (or given it a rest for a while) there are special tennis 'mini-games', where you can shoot balls through rings to get points. The technique you need to get is to shoot through several rings at once to get a score multiplier, the rings get bigger so they're easier to hit but the points value decreases. There are bronze, silver and gold difficulties, I've yet to finish it on gold where you need 500 points. There is also the Mario Galaxy game, where the opposite end of the court has panels that disappear and you musn't let the ball fall into the black hole. I've yet to complete the 100 rally difficulty on this, it can be brutally tough! There are a couple of Mushroom Kingdom themed games too, but i think you get the idea now.That's about it for single player, there's also exhibition matches where you can set the rules, like the number of sets and so on.

The single player wont last very long, so you will get more out of this game when you go online. Here you can challenge players in your region to either a casual (tie-break match) or an intense match (2 games, 1 set), or let the 3DS decide. I have tried both, and while I got my ass handed to me several times before I won my first encounter I was starting to get used to playing human opponents. The game tries to pair you with people of similar skill, but sometimes it doesn't! Mario Tennis also uses the new 'Nintendo Network' system, but I don't see what this really does, as it just says 'Connecting...' and then asks whether you want casual or intense games. There's not anything else in the online, you can collect medals showing the face of the Mii you beat. You get a monthly score which goes into a leaderboard for your region and a ranking which starts at 2000 and either goes up or down depending on your performance (mines down at 1896!). You are awarded coins for a victory which can be spent on shirts, shoes wristbands and so on that have their unique power, speed attributes. With the customisation options you can build your own unique tennis player to exactly the way you prefer to play.

I will briefly talk about the controls, but I don't want to sound like an instruction manual, however I think this is important. When the ball is returned to you a circle with a colour appears on your side of the court. The colour corresponds with one of the face buttons (y,x,b,a,a->b,b->a) as shown on the touch screen. This tells you the best shot to play, and you can touch the flashing panel to make the shot. It can be difficult to know which type of shot to use if you can't remember what charge shot colour corresponds to what face button (y,x,b,a,a->b,b->a). This means you rely on the touch screen for help, but this can be awkward in the heat of battle, and you don't have easy access to the jump shot button (r shoulder button), so you can't hit balls that are normally out of reach. You will need to memorize the different buttons for each colour, otherwise you'll be at a disadvantage.

This is a nice tennis game for the 3ds, in fact its the best tennis game on the 3ds but then you'd have to play something like Dual Pen Sports to get tennis otherwise. The controls are probably my biggest gripe with this game, but I reckon I'll improve with time, it's not that the controls are bad but it takes some practise and patience to master them. If you're looking to expand your 3ds sports game library, you can't go far wrong with Mario Tennis Open. I can't help but feel there could've been more game options for online, it just seems a bit bare bones but it's fun if you like climbing up leaderboards. This is a fun game, and you can only get out of it what you put in, if you aren't bothered about leaderboard positions in online matches you wont feel as motivated to play online as you may hope but it's still a welcome break from the single player. Mario Tennis fans wont be disapointed.

**A LITTLE UPDATE: 28/05**

I have just beaten the single player singles Champions Cup, after memorising the chance shot ring colours and their mapping to the face buttons. It makes it so much easier when you can do this. I know I said the single player wont last long but it will last a bit longer than I thought, you'll find out when you play it!

I have played online some more, and I'm still getting thrashed and only winning rarely. Human opponents can be very unforgiving.