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  • It�s tough to find fault in anything Camelot does. I mean, I tried to make a list, but...the

  • only thing I could think of is that ugly font they use in their Mario sports games. It�s

  • like Comic Sanspale Scandinavian cousin, Comic Hans. Boom! Take that, Camelot. I�m

  • coming for you.

  • So there I was, playing Mario Tennis: Power Tour for the first time, expecting another

  • typically great Mario sports game from Camelot. Expecting to have nothing to complain about.

  • But...that�s not what I got. Now, don�t get me wrong. Mario Tennis: Power Tour is

  • a perfectly good tennis game, but...well, let�s just say its shot�s a lot different

  • than you might expect.

  • So Mario Tennis: Power Tour came about a year after Mario Power Tennis for the GameCube.

  • Back then, Mario sports games were among the best multiplayer games Nintendo had to offer.

  • Fast-paced, accessible...and Power Tennis was no exception. But when the time came for

  • this GBA follow-up, Camelot tried something different.

  • They tried to make a single-player Mario tennis game.

  • And I would argue...that�s just inherently less appealing.

  • See, rather than just throwing you into tournaments and having the gameplay right up front, like

  • most Mario sports games, Power Tour tries something different. It�s actually a tennis

  • RPG, in a way. You play as a student at this tennis school, and if you want to be the top-ranked

  • player on campus, well...you have to level up.

  • And walk around.

  • And talk to people.

  • So much for fast-paced and accessible.

  • I guess it�s all a matter of tastes and expectations, but...personally, the single-player

  • mode bored the hell out of me. There�s just so much down-time between your tennis matches.

  • So much wandering around and reading dialogue. And that would be fine, were this some kind

  • of interesting adventure game or something.

  • But it�s not. It�s a tennis game. And I just want to play tennis.

  • But again, if youre into a slower, more RPG-like approach to a tennis game, youre

  • probably going to love this. But I do appreciate Camelot�s effort. Rather than just make

  • a portable Power Tennis, they did something completely different. And that�s awesome.

  • Fortunately, you can just jump into the tennis through exhibition play. There�s also multiplayer

  • support, if you have those ridiculous link cables. I mean, Power Tour is a really nice

  • package on the GBA. My only problem is...its approach bored me, and its roster is, like,

  • mostly generic characters from the story. I mean, when I play Mario Tennis, I want to

  • play as Mario. Not freaking...Mason.

  • Camelot�s Mario sports games were tremendous on the GameCube. That�s partially because

  • they didn�t over-think things. I appreciate them trying something new on the GBA, but

  • in this case, they did over-think things.

  • That makes Mario Tennis: Power Tour a good game, but not a great one.

  • Big thanks to our pal Sean from Wisconsin for sending it in.

It�s tough to find fault in anything Camelot does. I mean, I tried to make a list, but...the

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