__ ____ __ / \/`-. .-._ | `-. | | ___ / \ / \ | \ | | ,-' `. | \ / \ | |\ | | | / \ | \ / /\ \ | |/ | | | | .-. | | |\ /\ \ /__\ \| ,' | | | `-' | | | ‘' \ \ | |\ `. | | `. ,' / | | \.-._ |__| `. `.| | `.__,-' |_____| \_,-'_____\ \ `__'|__|_____ __ ____ | |____\__ | \ | /__ ___ | \ ,-' `. | | | | \ | | \ | | | | / _ ,' \__ __/ ____| | \| | \ | | | | | \ `.' | | | |___ | | \ | | | | \ `--. | | | | | |\ | \| | | |. `._ `. | | | ___| | | \ | |\ | | | `.___| | | | | |_____ |___| \___| | \ | |___| / /___| | | | | \____| `.______,' |_________/ /___| ASCII Art courtesy of Ghost Of Legault, but thanks to Twistd Soul for his efforts as well. Thanks dudes! Copyright Nintendo 2001 Written By Brian P. Sulpher E-mail: briansulpher@hotmail.com Version 1.0 Dates Written: March 25th to April 19th, 2006 I dedicate this FAQ to the single Brian. The single Brian realized the other day that he forgot about this gem of a game, and now that he has some free time (and a renewed interest in the GBC), he will now give some of the great games he owns for that handheld the attention they deserve! Also, for Cougar, Howler, and Koonce. I miss you, and I hope you are living it up in the afterlife as you did in this world. You will always be in my memories, and you will never be forgotten. ----------- Version 1.0 ----------- -Submitted guide on April 19th, 2006 ----------- Version 1.5 ----------- -Submitted guide on January 2nd, 2007 -Corrected some racket information (thanks to Hugo Carvalho) -Added in the Character Stat Optimization Section (again thanks to Hugo Carvalho) ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -----------------------------Table Of Contents------------------------------ ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Introduction 2) Controls 3) Terminology 4) Play Modes 5) Singles Walkthrough 6) Doubles Walkthrough 7) Training Challenges 8) Courts 9) Equipment 10)Mario Mini-Games 11)Character Stat Optimization 12)N64 Transfer Information 13)Secrets 14)Final Word ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------------Introduction--------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 1) Mario Tennis is a great handheld version of the same family of game released for the N64 (aptly titled "Mario Tennis"). However, where as the N64 version may have been a slicker presentation, it lacked any real single player depth. This is not the case of the GBC version, as it contains a great story mode called "Mario Tour". However, it also has many mini-games to play, multiple unlockable characters, and creating your own player, right down to their own equipment! So, sit down, take a deep breath, and start the journey of a lifetime, an odyssey... of TENNIS! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ---------------------------------Controls----------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 2) This section will look at the basic controls for saving the world from ruin at the hands of evil. o----------------------------o | Academy/Tournament Grounds | o----------------------------o D-Pad...: Moves your player in the corresponding direction pressed. SELECT..: No apparent use. START...: brings up the in-game menu. B Button: Hold it down to run (in conjunction with the D-pad movement). A Button: Use this to speak to others and to examine objects. o-----------------------o | Basic Tennis Controls | o-----------------------o D-Pad...: Moves your character in the corresponding directions pressed. Also used to aim vollies around the court. SELECT..: Cancels any stroke that has been started, allowing the player to move around the court once more. START...: Brings up the in-game menu. B Button: Performs a basic slice. A Button: Performs a basic overhand stroke. o--------------------------o | Advanced Tennis Controls | o--------------------------o ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ Serving ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ D-Pad........: Moves position pre-serve, aims the direction of the ball from the serve. B Button.....: Hits the ball with a Slice. A Button.....: Hits the ball with Top Spin. B + A Buttons: Hits the ball with a Smash. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ Strokes ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Aiming...: Hold the D-pad in the direction the shot is desired to move once the stroke has been initiated. Slice....: Press the B Button once to initiate the stroke, press and hold it a second time to hit a blue streaking slice with more power. Top Spin.: Press the A Button once to initiate the stroke, press and hold it a second time to hit an orange streaking top spinner with more power. Smash....: Press together the A Button and Button to initiate the stroke, press and hold both Buttons a second time to hit a pink streaked smasher with more power. Lob Shot.: Press the A Button to initiate the stroke, followed by pressing the B Button to finish the stroke. Hold down the B Button to increase speed and depth of the stroke, though it is mostly dependent upon your stats and aiming ability for the quality of the shot. Drop Shot: Press the B Button to initiate the stroke, followed by pressing the A Button to finish the stroke. Hold down the A Button to increase speed and location of the stroke, though it is mostly dependent upon your stats and aiming ability for the quality of the shot. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------Terminology--------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 3) This section will review the jargon of the game of Tennis, making an easy reference system for any novice to the game. Ace.........: A serve where the receiver fails to even touch the ball. Advantage...: The player who won the Deuce point, will have a chance to win the game by taking the next point. Losing the point in this situation will revert the score for the game to Deuce. Backhand....: Hitting the ball on the far side of the racket hand (ie left-handed player hits ball on right side of the body). Break Point.: When a server will lose the game if they lose the point. Bye.........: Higher ranked seeds will get a pass into a later rounds of tournaments. Court.......: The surface a game is played on, they vary depending on the materials used to construct them. Deuce.......: If the game is tied at 40-40, the score is called Deuce. From this point, the player that wins two straight points will win the game. Double Fault: When a server fails to get the ball into play on two consecutive attempts, it will result in a point for the opposition. Drop Shot...: When a player hits a shot with backspin so it lands just over the net, where it will barely move upon landing. Forehand....: Hitting the ball on the close side of the racket hand (ie left-handed player hits ball on left side of the body). Game........: each set is decided by the first player to six games, with each game composed of four points (15-30-40-game). Let.........: When the serve hits the net but the ball lands in the proper segment of the court, the play is called back, as if it never occurred. Lob.........: Sends the ball high and deep into the backcourt, it is used to get the ball over an opponent by the net, or to buy time for an out of position player to get back into the center of the court. Love........: Anytime a player has not scored in a game, their 0 points is referred to as Love. Match Point.: When a player needs just one more score to win the final set, ending the match. Tie Break...: Used to determine a winner when the games of a set are tied 6-6. The first player to score 7 points and being ahead by two points will win the set. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------Play Modes---------------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 4) This section will take a look at the various Play Modes available to play around in. o------------o | Exhibition | o------------o This mode will allow you to play as near any character from the Mario universe or from the main story mode, Mario Tour. The length of the games and specific rules can be implemented to change the style of match played. o-------------o | Linked Play | o-------------o With two people that have the same game and both have their link cable, they can hook up their two Gameboy Colors and have a heads up match, using a variety of rules/settings to change the style of match played. o------------------o | Mario Mini-Games | o------------------o These brief diversions offer a variety of small challenges that are presented by Mario universe characters, each with their own unique rules for victory. The following are the mini-games to be played: *Banana Bunch *Boo Blast *Fruit Factory *Medallion Match *Perfect Shot *Shooting Stars *Target Shot *Treasure Box *Two-On-One o------------o | Mario Tour | o------------o The largest portion of the game is dedicated to this mode, taking your character and his/her partner all the way to the top of three classes at the Academy, to ultimate victory in the Island Open, and even to the lofty heights of playing on the same court as the greatest player of all time! ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------Singles Walkthrough----------------------------- ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 5) This section will cover the main game, the Mario Tour, in detail. o--------------------------------o | Gonna Play? Need A Character! | o--------------------------------o Perform the following choices, getting the game ready to roll: i) Choose a Guy or Girl, also using START to switch the strong hand of the player. ii) Give the player a name, or just use the default. iii) Choose a Guy or Girl, also using START to switch the strong hand of the player. iv) Give the player a name, or just use the default. o-------------------------------------------o | Singles! Junior Division, Should Be Fun! | o-------------------------------------------o After getting the long-winded and bruising tour, head out from the dorm room solo, looking to get a few lessons before entering competitive matches. Run down the path, taking the pathway all the way to the end of the screen, entering the Training Court. Head into the caged court area and speak to the various instructors, doing the following challenges (for these challenges and all others that follow, refer to the Training Challenges section below this section). Do not worry if all challenges are too tough to do for now, come back with improved stats to make it easier: *Net Play Practice 1 *Net Play Match 1 *Stroke Practice 1 *Stroke Match 1 *Service Practice 1 *Service Match 1 Follow that up with a visit to the Training Center (if you want to get more practice in) by going out of the Training Court, heading left until the path downward appears. Go down and then turn right, following the path to the Training Center, where two events can be played (though only Level One is listed due to them being Junior classification, you can go to higher levels on these if you like): *Machine Level 1 *Wall Level 1 Once ready, head back up to the pathways, taking the next path leading upwards, entering the Junior Class Court. Step up to the head referee, asking for a match, which will start the climb up the rankings! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ 4th Rank: Pam ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Pam is ranked fourth for a reason, which is that she is horrible. her best strength is that she is consistent... at being awful. To beat her, on serve use the cross court diagonal serve (like in Serve Practice 1), gaining many easy Service Aces, while on the receiving end of serves hit the ball back to the other side, followed by making your way to the net, playing a strong volley game to end her reign as #4 in the Junior Division. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ 3rd Rank: Curt ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another slow as molasses competitor, Curt at least has a bit of power to his stroke. He also boasts a decent Slice, which can make his serves bend enough to throw off your timing, so if the blue glow occurs, be ready to move a little further to the side to reach the ball. Although he can not be Service Aced easily, he will give up a few, so work the diagonal serve. Be sure to get a piece of his serves, then work towards the net, making use of Smashes on his weak returns of your volley strokes. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ 2nd Rank: Beth ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Similar to Curt, but not as good with slice while being slightly faster. She is not really vulnerable to a Service Ace, but her returns tend to be poor, so charge the net and put her away on the second shot while she is out of position from the diagonal serve. On her serves work your way to the net, looking to make use of a Drop Shot/Lob Shot to areas she can not reach, though Smashing the ball is also advisable. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ 1st Rank: Bob ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ One word is needed to describe Bob... Power. Okay, two words... Power & SLOW. Bob is incredibly slow, making him a far easier target when you are serving, utilizing diagonal serves that he sometimes can not reach (Service Aces), and when he does, they will be floating gifts, just begging to me smashed down the throat of Powerful, Slow, Bob. When he is serving, provided you can get a racket on his somewhat decent serves, work up to the net, working him over with a left-right-left return game, which will eventually cause him to miss the ball, as he is too slow to keep alternating his direction. Keep the pressure on him, using Lob Shots to get the ball over his head and away from his body, and he will soon fall to your skills, making you the Junior Class Champ! After receiving the medal for winning the Junior Class Singles Championship, you are ready to move onto the Senior circuit! o--------------------------o | Senior Class Preparation | o--------------------------o Before heading onto the Senior Class court, it would likely be wise to go explore some more strategies by learning new skills at the Training Court and the Training Center. Start off by moving to the Training Court, facing the following challenges (for details on these, see the Training Challenges section): *Net Play Practice 2 *Net Play Match 2 *Stroke Practice 2 *Stroke Match 2 *Service Practice 2 *Service Match 2 After these are finished, head for the Training Center, where you can now get some equipment to augment your skills on the court. After checking out this option, it is time to go after some more training, facing the following challenges (again, it is possible to go to higher levels than are listed here, but these are the Senior Level challenges in this area): *Machine Level 2 *Wall Level 2 o-------------------------------------------------o | Senior Class Singles... Ramping The Difficulty! | o-------------------------------------------------o Head back up to the pathway, moving left to find a path leading to the Senior Class court. Step up to the head referee, asking for a match, which will start the climb up the rankings! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ 4th Rank: Brian ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Brian is a very conservative player, often remaining on the baseline, trying to outwait you, forcing you into a mistake. However, since he is so conservative, charge the net and play from the front, forcing him back and forth, attempting to make him serve up a watermelon of a return, at which point you should play Gallagher and Smash that Melon down his throat. The alternative to this is to use Drop Shots away from his position, forcing him to dive, and if he makes connection with the ball, simply swat it into the wide open court he has left unguarded. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ 3rd Rank: Joy ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Joy is rather late on her movements, and as such she is very vulnerable to strong serves. In particular, work the center line on each serve, as she will often only get enough of the serve to send the ball back into the net, which is not a Service Ace, but it still results in a point without any real work on your part. Her serve is also nothing to write home about, so return it with ease, and then work the back and forth pattern, mixing in the Drop Shot when you see her cutting to the side too soon for your next shot. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ 2nd Rank: Allie ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Allie is a well-rounded opponent, who can play the net and the back line equally well. However, due to the slow court, he can be taken advantage of by utilizing Drops Shots on slow returns from him. If he manages to get up to the net to play the ball, work a back and forth style of returns, forcing him to make a crucial mistake, opening up a side of the court for the easy score. No easy outs here, he will hang around on most rallies for a while without really threatening, so play safe and smart, he will mess up eventually. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ 1st Rank: Fay ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Fay is the Senior Class Champ, and she did not get here by looking pretty. No, Fay has a wicked stroke at her disposal, which coupled with her strong serve, above average speed, and varied style of play, Fay is an all round challenge that will take some work to beat. However, she is not without weakness, so work on getting her running the back line of the court, followed by using the Drop Shot to try and score. if she manages to get the ball out of the dirt, start working the long, powerful strokes to drive the ball past her. There are no shortcuts with this champ, so work methodically, cutting the woman's options down, one by one. After receiving the medal for winning the Senior Class Singles Championship, you are ready to move onto the Varsity Team! o--------------------------o | Varsity Team Preparation | o--------------------------o Before heading onto the Varsity Team, it would likely be wise to go explore the remaining strategies by learning new skills at the Training Court and the Training Center. Start off by running to the Training Court, facing the following challenges (for details on these, see the Training Challenges section): *Net Play Practice 3 *Net Play Match 3 *Stroke Practice 3 *Stroke Match 3 *Service Practice 3 *Service Match 3 After these are finished, head for the Training Center, where you can now get some equipment to augment your skills on the court. After checking out this option, it is time to go after some more training, facing the following challenges (all that remains are two levels for each, so go finish off the run): *Machine Level 3 *Machine Level 4 *Wall Level 3 *Wall Level 4 o----------------------------------------o | Singles Varsity... The Dream Achieved? | o----------------------------------------o Head left from the Training Center, entering the green Varsity Court. Speak to Mark in the middle of the court, prompting a play-in game versus a member of the Varsity Traveling team, a win meaning that your character will become a member of said Varsity Traveling team! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ 4th Rank: Bob ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Bob may seem familiar to you at this point, and you would be right. Remember the Junior Class Champ Bob? Well, this guy is very similar, boasting a fair bit of power, but he is far faster than his Junior doppelganger. However, he is still incredibly weak to Drop Shots, so send then towards the Out Line, either scoring a point, or forcing Bob to dive to save the ball, at which point the ball should be Smashed into the open court. When he is serving, just focus on the return, then charge the net and play an aggressive net game (as described above), getting the victory! After defeating the man, the people around your rise to prominence will appear, giving some adulation before the ominous... TO BE CONTINUED... pops up. o------------------------o | Island Open Tournament | o------------------------o Rush from your room to the Headmaster's Office, arriving just in time to find out that you will be going as the fourth member of the Academy's team, so listen up. However, when it comes times to decide if leaving tomorrow is the best option, you have no choice, so say you will go. After landing at the tourney, feel free to explore and talk to the others around the grounds, learning of the other Tennis schools have come to compete. Whether the fans back the underwhelming Union, the imperial Empire, the rudely mean Factory, or the accomplished Academy, each will have their ardent supporters out in force, looking to cheer their side to victory! Once you are ready to advance forward, go back into the central area, finding the tournament brackets on the wall, so take a look (or look right here even): _____________________ Key | | (A) - Academy Member | (E) - Empire Member | (F) - Factory Member | (U) - Union Member | | _____________________| (A) YOU_____ ___Frank (F) | | | | |___ ___| | | | | (U) Sammi___| | | |____Sean (U) |___ ___| | | | | (E) Spike_______| | | |_______Kevin (A) | | | | (F) B. Coz__ | | __A. Coz (F) | |___ ___| | | | | | |___ | | ___| | | | | | | (E) Ellis___| | | | | |___Elden (E) |___| |___| | | (A) Emily_______| |________Mark (A) Notice that the Academy is the most heavily represented team, and they also have three of the four TOP SEEDS! After touring through the various entrants in the tournament, step into the nearby open circle, getting lead to the court, starting off the first round of the tournament! ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~ Sammi (Union) ~~~ ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Sammi is rather weak overall, but her averageness makes her good enough to not make any huge bonehead errors. However, she is vulnerable to the "down the line" serves, as she will often return them weakly with an arcing trajectory, making a Smash Ace a high probability. If she is serving or survives the first stroke from your character, it becomes a game of Drop Shot away from her, scoring the point, or hitting the return (which will be a dive at best typically) to the open court for the point. The hardest part of beating her is to stay focused, returning her serves/strokes strongly while working towards the net, where the strong, aggressive play will bounce her from the brackets of the tournament with ease! With Sammi dispatched, the tournament will break briefly, so go talk to the spectators to learn of how the Factory is highly underrated, the Academy is highly overrated, Union sucks like most thought, and though Empire struggled, Spike will rule over all! When ready, head back into the main area, checking out the tournament standings: _____________________ Key | | (A) - Academy Member | (E) - Empire Member | (F) - Factory Member | (U) - Union Member | | _____________________| (A) YOU>>>>>v v<<>>>v v<<<< | | | | (U) Sammi>>>| | | |<<<>>>>>>^ | | ^<<<<<<>v | | v<>>v | | v<<<< | | | | | | (E) Ellis>>>| | | | | |<<>>>>>>^ ^<<<<<<<>>>>v v<<>>>v v<<<< | v | | (U) Sammi>>>| v | |<<<>>>v v<<<< | | | ^ (E) Spike>>>>>>>| | | ^<<<<<<>v | | v<>> | | v<<<< | | | | v | (E) Ellis>>>| | | | v |<<>>>^ ^<<<< ^ | (A) Emily>>>>>>>^ |<<<<<<<>>>>v v<<>>>v v<<<< | v | | (U) Sammi>>>| v | |<<<>>>v <<<< | v | ^ (E) Spike>>>>>>>| v | ^<<<<<<>v v | v<___ ___< v v | ^ v v>>> | ^ v<<<< | | | ^ v | (E) Ellis>>>| | | ^ v |<<>>>| ^<<<< ^ | (A) Emily>>>>>>>^ |<<<<<<<>>>>v v<<>>>v v<<<< | v | | (U) Sammi>>>| v | |<<<>>>v <<<< | v | ^ (E) Spike>>>>>>>| v | ^<<<<<<>v v | v<>>> ___| v v | ^ v v>>> | ^ v<<<< | | | ^ v | (E) Ellis>>>| | | ^ v |<<>>>| ^<<<< ^ | (A) Emily>>>>>>>^ |<<<<<<<>>>>v v<<>>>v v<<<< | | | | (U) Sammi/Sean>>>>| | | |<<<>>>>>>^ | ^<<<<<<<<>>>>v v<<>>>v v<<<< | v v | (U) Sammi/Sean>>>>| v v |<<<<>>>>>>>___<<<<<<<< | | | (E) Spike/Elden>>>>>>>| | |<<<<<<<<>>>>v v<<>>>v v<<<< | v v | (U) Sammi/Sean>>>>| v v |<<<<>>>>>>>>v________< | v | (E) Spike/Elden>>>>>>>| v |<<<<<<<<