29 – Mario Tennis 64
Mario Tennis 64 was pure fun. An arcade tennis game with a great gameplay that was easily accessible to anyone thanks to the simplicity of its controls, that with only three buttons (A, B and joystick was everything you needed to master the game, + Z in Bowser mode) obtained a great versatility.
For single player the game was good, it featured various tournaments of increasing difficulty, different modes (the piranha plant mini-game was especially funny) and a bunch of unlockable features (from courts to secret characters) to keep the player interested for many hours. But eventually, when you mastered the game, it became too easy and a bit boring. Fortunately, this game multiplayer was a blast.
There were three multiplayer modes: normal matches, ring mode and the Bowser court (all three of them were playable in single player too). Normal mode was simply a tennis match in multiplayer, while in the ring mode (my personal favorite) points were added by crossing rings that appeared in the court. This mode allowed the four players compete with each other, which made it extremely fun. Finally, the Bowser court was a a Tennis “Mario kart” mode, including different items and a moving court. Of course, each match was chaotic and very hard-fought, what made this the perfect party mode. Anyway, the fact that most modes didn’t need items to level off the matches illustrate the great design of Camelot, which with Mario Tennis achieved one of the most addictive multiplayers I’ve ever played.
