Mario Power Tennis (New Play Control!)

I was really looking forward to this game, as the original Gamecube version was pretty fun and the idea of Wii control mechanics sounded like a great premise for having friends over and playing a more in-depth game than Wii Sports tennis, oh how I was wrong.

For a game that is relying on the gimmick of having new (and better) play controls it sure does fall flat. The controls are not very responsive and fickle about what it classes as a swing. You'll find your self holding the remote down to your waste most of the time waiting for the ball to bounce to you and swinging as hard as you can, but the power of your swing doesn't determine the speed of the ball and you'll find after a few games that your arm will get tired.

The games graphics have been cleaned up and it looks nice and vibrant, it's an easy game to pick up and play but once you start wanting a more technical game you'll start to see how shallow the game really is.

For a relaunch promising new features and… more »

I was really looking forward to this game, as the original Gamecube version was pretty fun and the idea of Wii control mechanics sounded like a great premise for having friends over and playing a more in-depth game than Wii Sports tennis, oh how I was wrong.

For a game that is relying on the gimmick of having new (and better) play controls it sure does fall flat. The controls are not very responsive and fickle about what it classes as a swing. You'll find your self holding the remote down to your waste most of the time waiting for the ball to bounce to you and swinging as hard as you can, but the power of your swing doesn't determine the speed of the ball and you'll find after a few games that your arm will get tired.

The games graphics have been cleaned up and it looks nice and vibrant, it's an easy game to pick up and play but once you start wanting a more technical game you'll start to see how shallow the game really is.

For a relaunch promising new features and game controls Nintendo have really dropped the ball on this one and where Pikmin (and soon to be Pikmin 2 and Metroid Prime) Have lived up to the gimmick Mario Tennis has never felt more like a cash cow.

You'll have fun with this game for 10 minutes but don't expect anything more from it. I traded it in within a week of it being on shelves. I'm just glad I only paid £25 at Play.com rather than £30+ on the high street.