Software:Mario Tennis: Power Tour

From HandWiki
Short description: 2005 video game
Mario Tennis: Power Tour
North American box art
Developer(s)Camelot Software Planning
Publisher(s)Nintendo
Director(s)Yutaka Yamamoto
Producer(s)Shinji Hatano
Hiroyuki Takahashi
Shugo Takahashi
Designer(s)Hiroyuki Takahashi
Shugo Takahashi
Composer(s)Motoi Sakuraba
SeriesMario Tennis
Platform(s)Game Boy Advance
Release
  • JP: September 13, 2005
  • EU: November 18, 2005
  • AU: December 1, 2005[1]
  • NA: December 5, 2005
Genre(s)Sports, role-playing
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Mario Tennis: Power Tour,[lower-alpha 1] known as Mario Power Tennis in Europe, is a 2005 role-playing sports game developed by Camelot Software Planning and published by Nintendo for the Game Boy Advance. It is the sequel to the Game Boy Color version of Mario Tennis. While it is the handheld companion to Mario Power Tennis, released on GameCube, with the European release sharing its title, Power Tour lacks connectivity with Power Tennis, unlike how its predecessor features connectivity with its console counterpart on Nintendo 64. Power Tour was re-released on the Wii U's Virtual Console in 2014.

Gameplay

The gameplay of Power Tour is similar to Mario Power Tennis’ gameplay. Players play tennis with other characters, in both doubles and singles, and there are several mechanics such as topspin, slice, and "Power Shots" (Special Shots in the Japanese version). There are both Offensive Power Shots and Defensive Power Shots which are earned further in the game. Offensive Power Shots are very powerful attacks; they power-up the ball and when they make contact with another player, they cause an effect such as being knocked back a little bit, running around dazed, etc. Defensive Power Shots can negate the secondary effects of Offensive Power Shots and they can reach balls which normally would be out of reach. There are topspin and slice, and topspin has more power than slice, while slice exchanges a tiny bit of power for more curve in the character's shot. As well as this, there is also a variety of shots, such as lobs or smashes.

Characters

There are several characters in Power Tour. The two main characters to choose from are Clay (Max in the European version; Norty in the Japanese version), a male power player, and Ace (Tina in the European version; Tabby in the Japanese version), a female technical player. The player can change the name of the character they choose to play as, and also choose the character's dominant hand for playing tennis (right or left). The character the player did not choose will be their doubles partner and his/her name cannot be changed.

The game features a variety of characters from the Mario Tennis game for Game Boy Color, who return as coaches. One of them is Alex, the male protagonist from the first game. His varsity teammates are featured as coaches at the various levels of play.

There are also the Mario gang with six characters: Mario, Luigi, Peach, Donkey Kong, Bowser and Waluigi; they do not appear until much later in the game. There are players returning from the previous game such as Alex (normally as coaches), and there are new faces such as Elroy, Tori, Whisker, and Paula. Playable previous human players are not available. Also, this is the only game where Waluigi appears without Wario.

Plot

The game starts as the main character wakes up in unfamiliar surroundings. Their partner explains that the protagonist has enrolled at the Royal Tennis Academy, and he/she is the character's doubles partner. Having passed out the previous day during the Welcome Workout, they decide to get some breakfast. When they arrive at the restaurant, it is deserted and they find out that masked challengers have challenged the top academy students, including Alex, who is implied to be the top-ranked player at the academy. After hearing that the masked players defeated the school champions, they set out to become the top ranked player, in order to enter the main tournament (The Island Open) and discover the masked players' true identities.

After defeating the Junior and Senior classes, the player advances to the Varsity Level. Learning that only the two highest ranked doubles pairs are guaranteed entry in the tournament, the main character defeats the entire Varsity class. The player, their partner, and two other players named Elroy (Excel in the Japanese version, who is also the varsity captain) and Tori enter the Island Open.

After the winning the Island Open, the players has not yet discovered the identities of the masked players. However, the morning following their win, the two main characters are approached by Alex and led to a secret airport near the academy. Here, they meet Mario, who is implied to have been one of the masked players, and are taken to Peach's Kingdom to participate in the Peach Tournament against the other characters in the game. Winning the tournament ends the doubles game.

Afterwards, the main character becomes the singles champion of the school and wins the Island Open on their own, again traveling to the Mushroom Kingdom to play in the Peach Tournament. Winning this Tournament effectively ends the Story Mode's main plot line, and the main character presumably goes home the hero of the academy.

Reception

Reception
Aggregate scores
AggregatorScore
GameRankings80.76%[2]
Metacritic81/100[3]
Review scores
PublicationScore
EGM6.67/10[4]
Eurogamer8/10[5]
Game Informer7.75/10[6]
GameSpot8.5/10[7]
GameSpy4/5[8]
GameZone9/10[9]
IGN9/10[10]
NGC Magazine4/5[11]
Nintendo Power7/10[12]
Nintendo World Report10/10[13]
Detroit Free Press4/4[14]
The Sydney Morning Herald3.5/5[15]

Power Tour has received positive reviews. It currently holds a score of 80.76% at GameRankings[2] and 81 out of 100 at Metacritic.[3] IGN gave the game 9 out of 10, praising the RPG aspects of the game and the leveling system to improve the characters.[10] GameSpot gave it 8.5 out of 10, praising the game's selection of options and characters, as well as the power shots and Mario characters, but criticized the game's RPG mode, calling it too "involved".[7] Eurogamer gave it 8 out of 10, stating "as GBA titles go, Mario Power Tennis is a fantastic title to own - not least because it justifies its existence by being the best GBA tennis title by a mile" and calling it "Yet another shining example of the kind of simple, addictive brilliance that Nintendo seems to have a monopoly on these days."[5] GameSpy gave the game four stars out of five, commending the mini-games and single-player mode, but found the "ugly" 3D court models to be poor.[8] Nintendo World Report gave the game a perfect ten.[13]

In 2023, IGN ranked Power Tour as the 15th best Game Boy Advance game as all time.[16]

Notes

  1. ↑ Known in Japan as Mario Tennis Advance (Japanese: マリオテニスアドバンス, Hepburn: Mario Tenisu Adobansu)

References

  1. ↑ Jastrzab, Jeremy (November 28, 2005). "Updated Australian Release List - 28/11/05". Archived from the original on March 7, 2012. https://web.archive.org/web/20120307084552/http://palgn.com.au/3514/updated-australian-release-list-28-11-05/. Retrieved January 22, 2015. 
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 "Mario Tennis: Power Tour for Game Boy Advance". GameRankings. http://www.gamerankings.com/gba/928295-mario-tennis-power-tour/index.html. Retrieved October 7, 2013. 
  3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 "Mario Tennis: Power Tour for Game Boy Advance Reviews". Metacritic. https://www.metacritic.com/game/mario-tennis-power-tour/critic-reviews/?platform=game-boy-advance. Retrieved October 7, 2013. 
  4. ↑ EGM staff (January 2006). "Mario Tennis: Power Tour". Electronic Gaming Monthly (199): 135. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 Reed, Kristan (December 24, 2005). "Mario Power Tennis (GBA)". Eurogamer. http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/r_mariotennis_gba. Retrieved October 7, 2013. 
  6. ↑ Kato, Matthew (December 2005). "Mario Tennis: Power Tour". Game Informer (152): 190. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 Provo, Frank (December 15, 2005). "Mario Tennis: Power Tour Review". GameSpot. http://www.gamespot.com/reviews/mario-tennis-power-tour-review/1900-6141319/. Retrieved January 22, 2015. 
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Klepek, Patrick (December 7, 2005). "GameSpy: Mario Tennis Power Tour". GameSpy. Archived from the original on December 10, 2005. https://web.archive.org/web/20051210024221/http://gba.gamespy.com/gameboy-advance/mario-tennis/674209p1.html. Retrieved January 22, 2015. 
  9. ↑ Zacarias, Eduardo (February 12, 2006). "Mario Tennis Power Tour - GBA - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on December 25, 2008. https://web.archive.org/web/20081225054638/http://gameboy.gamezone.com/gzreviews/r26850.htm. Retrieved January 23, 2015. 
  10. ↑ 10.0 10.1 Harris, Craig (December 9, 2005). "Mario Tennis Power Tour". IGN. http://www.ign.com/articles/2005/12/09/mario-tennis-power-tour/. Retrieved October 7, 2013. 
  11. ↑ "Mario Power Tennis (GBA)". NGC Magazine. December 2005. 
  12. ↑ "Mario Tennis: Power Tour". Nintendo Power 199: 108. January 2006. 
  13. ↑ 13.0 13.1 Ferguson, Stan (December 12, 2005). "Mario Tennis: Power Tour". Nintendo World Report. http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/review/4464/mario-tennis-power-tour-game-boy-advance. Retrieved January 22, 2015. 
  14. ↑ Gardner, Omari (January 22, 2006). "'Mario Tennis: Power Tour'". Detroit Free Press. http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060122/ENT06/601220327/1044. Retrieved January 22, 2015. 
  15. ↑ Hill, Jason (February 2, 2006). "Mario Tennis Power [Tour]". The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/news/games/mario-tennis-power/2006/01/31/1138590505844.html. Retrieved January 22, 2015. 
  16. ↑ I. G. N. Staff (2023-03-16). "Top 25 Game Boy Advance Games of All Time" (in en). https://www.ign.com/articles/best-game-boy-advance-games. 
  • Official Japanese website
  • MobyGames is a commercial database website that catalogs information on video games and the people and companies behind them via crowdsourcing. This includes over 300,000 games for hundreds of platforms.[1] Founded in 1999, ownership of the site has changed hands several times. It has been owned by Atari SA since 2022.

Features

Edits and submissions to the site (including screenshots, box art, developer information, game summaries, and more) go through a verification process of fact-checking by volunteer "approvers".[2] This lengthy approval process after submission can range from minutes to days or months.[3] The most commonly used sources are the video game's website, packaging, and credit screens. There is a published standard for game information and copy-editing.[4] A ranking system allows users to earn points for contributing accurate information.[5]

Registered users can rate and review games. Users can create private or public "have" and "want" lists, which can generate a list of games available for trade with other registered users. The site contains an integrated forum. Each listed game can have its own sub-forum.

History

Logo used until March 2014

MobyGames was founded on March 1, 1999, by Jim Leonard and Brian Hirt, and joined by David Berk 18 months later, the three of which had been friends since high school.[6][7] Leonard had the idea of sharing information about computer games with a larger audience. The database began with information about games for IBM PC compatibles, relying on the founders' personal collections. Eventually, the site was opened up to allow general users to contribute information.[5] In a 2003 interview, Berk emphasized MobyGames' dedication to taking video games more seriously than broader society and to preserving games for their important cultural influence.[5]

In mid-2010, MobyGames was purchased by GameFly for an undisclosed amount.[8] This was announced to the community post factum , and the site's interface was given an unpopular redesign.[7] A few major contributors left, refusing to do volunteer work for a commercial website.{{Citation needed|date=June 2025} On December 18, 2013, MobyGames was acquired by Jeremiah Freyholtz, owner of Blue Flame Labs (a San Francisco-based game and web development company) and VGBoxArt (a site for fan-made video game box art).[9] Blue Flame Labs reverted MobyGames' interface to its pre-overhaul look and feel,[10] and for the next eight years, the site was run by Freyholtz and Independent Games Festival organizer Simon Carless.[7]

On November 24, 2021, Atari SA announced a potential deal with Blue Flame Labs to purchase MobyGames for $1.5 million.[11] The purchase was completed on 8 March 2022, with Freyholtz remaining as general manager.[12][13][14] Over the next year, the financial boost given by Atari led to a rework of the site being built from scratch with a new backend codebase, as well as updates improving the mobile and desktop user interface.[1] This was accomplished by investing in full-time development of the site instead of its previously part-time development.[15]

In 2024, MobyGames began offering a paid "Pro" membership option for the site to generate additional revenue.[16] Previously, the site had generated income exclusively through banner ads and (from March 2014 onward) a small number of patrons via the Patreon website.[17]

See also

  • IGDB – game database used by Twitch for its search and discovery functions

References

  1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 Sheehan, Gavin (2023-02-22). "Atari Relaunches The Fully Rebuilt & Optimized MobyGames Website". https://bleedingcool.com/games/atari-relaunches-the-fully-rebuilt-optimized-mobygames-website/. 
  2. ↑ Litchfield, Ted (2021-11-26). "Zombie company Atari to devour MobyGames". https://www.pcgamer.com/zombie-company-atari-to-devour-mobygames/. 
  3. ↑ "MobyGames FAQ: Emails Answered § When will my submission be approved?". Blue Flame Labs. 30 March 2014. http://www.mobygames.com/info/faq7#g1. 
  4. ↑ "The MobyGames Standards and Practices". Blue Flame Labs. 6 January 2016. http://www.mobygames.com/info/standards. 
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 Miller, Stanley A. (2003-04-22). "People's choice awards honor favorite Web sites". Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. 
  6. ↑ "20 Years of MobyGames" (in en). 2019-02-28. https://trixter.oldskool.org/2019/02/28/20-years-of-mobygames/. 
  7. ↑ 7.0 7.1 7.2 Plunkett, Luke (2022-03-10). "Atari Buys MobyGames For $1.5 Million". https://kotaku.com/mobygames-retro-credits-database-imdb-atari-freyholtz-b-1848638521. 
  8. ↑ "Report: MobyGames Acquired By GameFly Media". Gamasutra. 2011-02-07. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/game-platforms/report-mobygames-acquired-by-gamefly-media. 
  9. ↑ Corriea, Alexa Ray (December 31, 2013). "MobyGames purchased from GameFly, improvements planned". http://www.polygon.com/2013/12/31/5261414/mobygames-purchased-from-gamefly-improvements-planned. 
  10. ↑ Wawro, Alex (31 December 2013). "Game dev database MobyGames getting some TLC under new owner". Gamasutra. https://www.gamedeveloper.com/business/game-dev-database-mobygames-getting-some-tlc-under-new-owner. 
  11. ↑ "Atari invests in Anstream, may buy MobyGames". November 24, 2021. https://www.gamesindustry.biz/articles/2021-11-24-atari-invests-in-anstream-may-buy-mobygames. 
  12. ↑ Rousseau, Jeffrey (2022-03-09). "Atari purchases Moby Games". https://www.gamesindustry.biz/atari-purchases-moby-games. 
  13. ↑ "Atari Completes MobyGames Acquisition, Details Plans for the Site's Continued Support". March 8, 2022. https://www.atari.com/atari-completes-mobygames-acquisition-details-plans-for-the-sites-continued-support/. 
  14. ↑ "Atari has acquired game database MobyGames for $1.5 million" (in en-GB). 2022-03-09. https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/atari-has-acquired-game-database-mobygames-for-1-5-million/. 
  15. ↑ Stanton, Rich (2022-03-10). "Atari buys videogame database MobyGames for $1.5 million". https://www.pcgamer.com/atari-buys-videogame-database-mobygames-for-dollar15-million/. 
  16. ↑ Harris, John (2024-03-09). "MobyGames Offering “Pro” Membership". https://setsideb.com/mobygames-offering-pro-membership/. 
  17. ↑ "MobyGames on Patreon". http://www.patreon.com/mobygames. 
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