Mario Tennis: Masters is a sports game for the Wii. It is the fifth direct instalment in the Mario Tennis series and a follow-up to 2004's Mario Power Tennis. it was released in Japan on October 14th 2008, North America on November 25th 2008 and in Europe and Australia on January 15th 2009. This is the first game in the Mario Tennis series to feature motion controls and online play. It also introduced many playable characters to the Mario Tennis series and combined the types of Power Shots seen in Mario Power Tennis into the Finishing Shot.
The game's successor, Mario Tennis Open, was released for the Nintendo 3DS in 2012.
Gameplay[]
Players participate in a tennis game, just as its precedents in the Mario Tennis series. To win, the player must score points by hitting the ball into the other side of the court and not making the opponent rebound the ball, just as the traditional way of playing tennis. Players earn 15 points for every shot that is successful and can win the game by earning set, game, and match points by earning 60 points on each game. The amount of set and game points can be set by the player in exhibition mode, but not in tournament mode.
This game introduces the Energy Gauge later seen in Mario Tennis Aces. Every time any of the characters on the court perform a specific action the Gauge will fill up by the corresponding amount. When the Gauge reaches 100% the character can execute their character-specific Finishing Shot. These are activated by pressing L and R (B + Z in the WiiMote + Nunchuk combo and B + A in the WiiMote control scheme) after the ball has been returned by the opposing character. The actions and how much they fill up the Gauge are listed here:
- If both characters/teams are keeping up a rally the Gauge will increase by 5% with every hit.
- When a point is scored the Gauge will increase by 10%.
- If the player can successfully return a Smash Shot the Gauge will increase by 20%.
- If the player can successfully return the opponent's Finishing Shot the Gauge will increase by 50%.
This game also has optional motion controls where the controls are similar to Wii Sports Tennis.
Game modes[]
Exhibition[]
Up to four players can participate in this versus mode. The players can choose their characters, a court, and what type of game that they can play. The player can also adjust rules in versus match, such as turning Finishing Shots on and off, setting the numbers of games and sets, and choose which character to pair with when playing in doubles. Computer levels can also be set by the player, and they range from easiest to hardest: novice, intermediate, expert, pro, and the unlockable ace difficulty. There are two types of games that the player can play:
- Standard match: The player(s) and opponent(s) participate in a standard game of tennis. The only gimmicks are the ball speed and bounce intensity and the Finishing Shots (if turned on).
- Item match: The player can use special items to help them win against the opponent. To do so, the player must hit an Item Box with the ball and receive a random item, very much like in the Mario Kart series, except that the item received isn't dependent if the player is losing or not.
- Green Koopa Shell: 3 shells zoom out in straight lines. If the player gets hit by one, they will stumble and lose time, possibly going as far as help the opponent gain a point.
- Red Koopa Shell: One Red Shell comes out and chases after the opponent. The effect is similar to that of a green shell if contact has been initiated.
- Mushroom: The Mushroom increases the player's movements for a brief moment of time. It also grows the player back into normal size quicker if they had been shrunk by Lightning.
- Banana: A stationary banana gets shot out. If it hits the ground, the banana remains there. Slipping on a banana peel also has the same effect as shells.
- Star: The Star increases the player's abilities and it makes the player invulnerable for a short period of time. It also grows the player back to normal size quicker, if the player was shrunk by Lightning.
- Lightning: The Lightning strikes the opponents of the court and shrinks them to a tiny size. The opponent's speed, stature, and power will also decrease.
Unlike Mario Power Tennis, the item box's contents and amount do not depend on the court being played.
Tournament[]
The player pits against simultaneous matches against computer opponents to win the trophy in a cup. The higher the cup level, the harder the computers will get. Once a character has completed Star Cup, the character receives a star ranking, strengthening hitting the ball. This rank also allows the character to participate in the Star Tournament, where the opponents also have the star ranking and are generally more difficult. Unlike previous games, the Doubles Tournaments can be played with another human player although the player still has the option to play alongside the CPU. Completing the World Open in Doubles still does not grant the character a star ranking though, so players must complete the Singles tournaments first to participate in Doubles Star Tournament.
World Open[]
These tournaments are held in the Royal Stadium court.
- Mushroom Cup: 1-set starting round, 1-set semifinals, 3-set finals (hard surface)
- Flower Cup: 1-set starting round, 3-set semifinals, 3-set finals (clay surface)
- Star Cup: 1-set starting round, 3-set semifinals, 5-set finals (grass surface)
Star Tournament[]
In these tournaments the player plays on randomly selected courts against Star CPU characters.
- Star Cup: 1-set starting round, 1-set semifinals, 3-set finals, held in the Kart Circuit, Peach's Castle and Mushroom Bridge courts in no particular order
- Diamond Cup: 1-set starting round, 3-set semifinals, 3-set finals, held in the Cheep Cheep Dome, Desert Hills and Bob-Omb Factory courts in no particular order
- Champion's Cup: 1-set starting round, 3-set semifinals, 5-set finals, held in the Dry Bones' Boardwalk, Luigi's Mansion and Bowser's Castle courts in no particular order
Other modes[]
- Records: Players can view records on all types of game modes played. If the records are on Exhibition, they can view what character they played and won against. Note that this only applies to beaten computer players by the player shown in a table. The shape of the win depends on the difficulty of the computer (a triangle means novice, a circle means intermediate, a circle with a dot in the middle means expert, a moon means pro, and a star means ace. Plus, a small star icon on the top right corner indicates that the computer was beaten when starred). If the records are on Tournament, the players can view the trophies won in a singles or doubles match with the character the player chosen.
- Options: The players can adjust in game settings, such as setting the sound system to mono, stereo, or surround, turning music on and off, turning rumble on and off, and setting control options. Control options can be set to easy, normal, and technical, which differs the controls the players must use. The players can also choose to delete save data, but once it is deleted, it cannot be restored.
Characters[]
A total of 24 playable characters are in Mario Tennis: Masters. 17 characters are playable from the start and 7 need to be unlocked before playing as them.
Characters are divided into 6 different play styles, listed below.
- All Around: A character that is above average in all categories.
- Speedy: A character that can get to the ball in time, but lacks raw strength and often reach.
- Power: A character that can hit the ball with great force, but lacks speed and ball control.
- Technique: A character that can place the ball on the corners of the net, but can lack speed and power.
- Tricky: A character that can curve the ball, but often lacks reach.
- Defense: A character that can easily hit the ball from any position, but lacks power and speed.
Although their stats are not visible, each character has slightly different attributes from each other.
Starters[]
Unlockables[]
As with most Mario sports games more characters can be played as once you meet a certain criteria. These unlockable characters and their unlock criteria are listed below.
Unlock criteria[]
| Character | Main unlock method | Alternate unlock method |
|---|---|---|
| Toadette | Win the World Open cups in Singles | |
| Toadsworth | Win the World Open cups in Doubles | |
| Baby Luigi | Win the Star Open cups in Singles | |
| Dry Bones | ||
| Dark Bones | ||
| Blooper | Win the Star Open cups in Doubles | |
| Mii |