Mario Power Tennis for Wii

By Blythe Newsome on June 15, 2012

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Keeping our children active can be a huge challenge in the age of video games and computers. Living in a place where the normal afternoon temperatures in the summer climbs up to 100 degrees with 100% humidity makes finding a time to get the kids active even more of a challenge. Recently we have found a happy medium for all of us where the kids are being active while playing a video game they love.

All I have to do is mention a game that has the name “Mario” in it and they immediately want it. Once I told them that we were going to get Mario Power Tennis for Wii (from the Nintendo Selects collection), they could hardly contain their excitement. I was barely able to get through the front door with the game before the kids were scrambling to get it out of my hand and start playing.

I knew the game would be a hit with the kids, the bigger question was would it pass the mom test.

Reason #1 why moms will love this game - Having so many children, I am not a fan of video games that only offer a one player option. With six children waiting for a turn, that can lead to a lot of impatient moments. The Mario Tennis exhibition and special games allow up to four people to play. A four player game is like every mother’s dream!

Reason # 2 why moms will love this game - There are so many Mario characters that my children know and love from previous Mario games, that everyone was able to choose who they wanted their player to be without any arguing. Another thumbs up from this mom. The kids laughed when I told them that I had a Nintendo when I was a young girl and could still remember the names of half of the characters from playing my first Mario Bros. game. They looked at me as if they couldn’t believe that there were video games “way back then”. Geez, it is not like I was born with the dinosaurs!

Reason #3 why moms will love this game - As a mom I am always looking for a game that allows everyone to play. Mario Tennis has a variety of courts to choose from and play levels that range from easy to difficult. The younger ones picked it up quickly and were able to play against each other and the older ones switched to the more difficult level to play each other. As of midnight last night, the teenagers were still up playing. The “haunted house” court was a favorite with the younger ones.

Reason #4 why moms will love this game - The kids NEVER stopped moving while they were playing the game. We quickly realized that for all of us to play we were going to need enough room to keep the boys from hitting their sisters in the head when they would swing their rackets, so we moved the couches off to the side. Once we made room, the game took off and the kids were constantly moving. I have to confess that my arms are a little sore I didn’t play nearly as long as the kids played. I like seeing them active and laughing while they are doing it. As this rate, I might never get my den put back together because of how much fun they are having playing Mario Power Tennis.

There is something called a power gauge which tells you how much power you so you can make a super strong Mario shot. It didn’t take long for them to learn that if you wave your arm with the controller in the air, your opponent’s power gauge decreases. Their arms were constantly flying in the air as they giggled and hollered about taking away each other’s good shots. I love it that not only are the children being SUPER active and having fun playing this game, but their minds have to be sharp and alert to pay attention to the power gauges.

The ring shot game takes some hand-eye coordination to get the ball through the hoop. It took me some time to pick it up, but the little ones did great. Hand-eye coordination is an important developmental skill for young children to pick up and I liked it that they were having so much fun working on this skill.

We were all having so in to the game that we decided to have a tournament. The kids made brackets and everyone took part. My oldest son took one of his baseball trophies and covered it with some construction paper to give to the winner of the first official Mario Power Tennis Tournament. While not on the winning team, this mom has already called for a rematch!

As a mom who wants her kids active and moving and having children who enjoy video games, the Mario Power Tennis game was created for the entire family to have fun playing. Thanks to Mario Tennis, we are laughing, moving and making great memories together.

A copy of this game was provided by Nintendo for review purposes only. I did not receive any monetary compensation for this review.

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