Better tennis game: Mario Tennis (gamecube) or TopSpin (xbox)?

i'm going to buy a tennis game pretty soon... mostly to play 4 players with buddies and so on. but online TopSpin sounds like fun. anyone have both? i like nintendos gameplay style better in many of their sports games (for instance, mario golf), but top spin looks nice too. thanks fellas
 
No one plays Top Spin online anymore...and the few games I have found were laggy as hell...

But I haven't played MT yet,its a Christmas gift...sooooo...but JGar told me MT is where it's at. :lol
 
I'd willing to try out top spin online... I just can't get into the career mode, but the gameplay is very good.
 
the only thing im concerned about w/ mario tennis is i hear people talking about cheap "special" moves that can cancel out a good play



Chad_Pennington_JPG.jpg


he has an early christmas present coming for you when we play in a couple weeks too buddy
 
You have the option to play "normal" or "special" tennis.
 
FrenchMovieTheme said:
i'm going to buy a tennis game pretty soon... mostly to play 4 players with buddies and so on. but online TopSpin sounds like fun. anyone have both? i like nintendos gameplay style better in many of their sports games (for instance, mario golf), but top spin looks nice too. thanks fellas


Online is pretty cheap in Top Spin unless you play with friends. That was my limited experience anyway. Plus, as far as I recall, you have to build up your player offline (bleh!). That said, it's one player kicks the shit out of MT. It uses real players and looks AMAZING but it's still an arcade title with special shots, etc. It's not over the top, but it's not a "sim" really either. I've only played 2 player which is a blast, so I can't comment on 4 player really or what it's capable of.

Mario Tennis is only ok. I like the way it looks, the stages, etc. But the cut scenes are fucking ridiculous everytime you use a power shot. I mean, it's an atrocious gameplay killer. The thing is, the game is very vanilla without the strategy of using super shots, so it's either play a gutted game or sit through a HORRID decision every time you use them. I can't stress enough how it hurts the game flow. The single player is barren and the mini-games are beyond dumb. I like the Nintendo "feel" in some of the controls, but the downsides are really painful for a $50 game. Should have been sooooo much better.

It's true that you can use your special power ups to get to balls that are past you...but that didn't bother me so much since your timing in using them is somewhat strategic. If you can live through seeing the same retarded power up scene past a few hours, you may have far less gripes than myself.
I'd suggest Top Spin at the price point. Rent both, I'd bet my life you'd agree.
 
I haven't played Top Spin, but Mario Power Tennis is fun.

I'd say if you want a more realistic tennis game choose Top Spin but if you want a Marioified Super Smash Bros' type tenns game then chose Mario Tennis.
 
Ramirez said:
No one plays Top Spin online anymore...and the few games I have found were laggy as hell...

But I haven't played MT yet,its a Christmas gift...sooooo...but JGar told me MT is where it's at. :lol

Is Mario Tennis online? No its not...and TopSpin is the better game, infact the best tennis videogame u can buy though MT is fun as well, shame it dont support online though.

Top Spin also get better reviews... :)
 
MArio Tennise is way more fun and has better replayability. But if you want something on the sim side get topspin. Both are great games.

I vote for mario tennis tho.
 
Is Mario Tennis online? No its not

Well what does it matter if no one is online anymore PLUS you have to build up your character if you want to even compete with anyone.

I'm surprised no one mentioned the biggest bullshit in Top Spin.Once you start a tourney you have to play EVERY round in one sitting,no saving,thats why I didn't play it much.
 
i haven't played much of either, but if topspin takes after virtua tennis while mario tennis takes after its n64 precursor, then topspin wins in straight sets. i love camelot's golf games, but mario tennis was...what's the word?...janky.
 
drohne said:
i haven't played much of either, but if topspin takes after virtua tennis while mario tennis takes after its n64 precursor, then topsin wins in straight sets. i love camelot's golf games, but mario tennis was...what's the word?...janky.

GOLF THREAD

DROHNE: If Hot Shots Golf takes after Tiger Woods while Toadstool Tour takes after its n64 precursor, then Hot Shots wins by 10 strokes. I love camelot's tennis games, but mario gold was... what's the word? ...janky. I never miss a chance to smear Nintendo and baselessly recommend an alternative.
 
olimario said:
GOLF THREAD

DROHNE: If Hot Shots Golf takes after Tiger Woods while Toadstool Tour takes after its n64 precursor, then Hot Shots wins by 10 strokes. I love camelot's tennis games, but mario gold was... what's the word? ...janky. I never miss a chance to smear Nintendo and baselessly recommend an alternative.
Does everything have to be taken as a Nintendo smear?
 
my "track record?" i suddenly feel as if i'm running for office. is the word "janky" appropriately presidential? janky janky janky.

toadstool tour is pretty good. it's no minna no golf 4. but what is, really.
 
olimario said:
Drohne's track record says yes.
Oh, I'm not saying he's not biased, but that doesn't mean he's going to somehow distort his opinions just for the sake of slamming Nintendo.
 
Mario Tennis.

Why? Because Top Spin, like most online sports games, takes the "play through a tedious tournament mode we just slapped together until your fingers bleed" approach, with the only reward being more money.

Top Spin has a superb engine, but without its online mode, there's really nothing there.
 
Speevy said:
Mario Tennis.

Why? Because Top Spin, like most online sports games, takes the "play through a tedious tournament mode we just slapped together until your fingers bleed" approach, with the only reward being more money.

Top Spin has a superb engine, but without its online mode, there's really nothing there.

You say that though like MT has a good single player game...which it doesn't. It does however have horrid mini-games. So if offline games, and only offline games are going to take an opposite approach shouldn't they be all the meatier for the focus? MT isn't. That's not even taking into account it's questionable design decisions around the basic game itself.

Don't get me wrong...I'm far from proclaiming Top Spin as the be all....I think Sega Tennis 2k2 is probably the best package for it's time, but MT is no polished substitute with a refined focus.
 
Virtua Tennis offers a good, deep 1player mode. Not exactly RPG, a la Mario Tennis Game Boy, but you must get sponsorships, win tournaments, boost your character via some fun training, get rich and dress appropiately to become the number 1 tennis player in the world. I found that part very fun.

Mario Tennis, on the other hand, is mostly tennis mini-games aside from regular tournies and such. there is a "Paint Mario's Face", the usual target practice ones, shoot ball through hoops, etc, etc. It's like a one player party game, not simply just tennis.

People say noone's on Top Spin anymore. That's not true. In my experience, there's always SOMEONE on over Live, in most games unless it was a low key release. Top Spin sold semi-good, so I doubt it's that low. There may not be hundreds of games going on, but there are still some.

If you like to do some things other than just tennis, I'd recommend Mario Tennis. Overall, Top Spin >>>>> All.
 
Top Spin doesn't even have a lobby online to add insult to injury,its one of the worst online setups in any game on Live.
 
Power Moves ARE cheap...but if you turn them off in multiplayer it's essentially Mario Tennis (64) with flashier graphics and manual lunges.

Power moves suck in single player, completely, because it becomes tedious. In multiplayer, I find that they can almost be entertaining. A few "You Fucker" moments in there when you save a shot they thought was going on.

I have not played Top Spin, but Mario Power Tennis is still fun. It's one thing if you're looking for a single player Tennis game, since its tournament mode is really only good for unlocking shit. If you want it for multiplayer, it's damn fun and light-hearted, power shots or not.
 
I don't have a problem with the special moves, but I had to warm up to them. They do interrupt the flow, but there is some strategy to their usage.

In the end, I would recommend Top Spin. It's cheaper right know, and I know that you value having the optition to go online. Even if there's not that many souls playing, you still have the choice.
 
Don't get me wrong here. I really like Top Spin. But since I don't play online and don't have time to play multiplayer, I had to trade it in. :( I still play the demo every once in a while to marvel at the ball physics, which are unmatched among tennis games.
 
After playing Top Spin for most of the day, I have to say I am really impressed with the game. I would think that MT has the "fun factor" as it does have all the Nintendo characters, but I enjoyed TS for being a tennis somewhat sim. Like I told you on AIM, the sounds and visuals are incredible. I have heard that the online is garbage from a few people, but right now single player is a blast for me. The used price was a great incentive as well.
 
dskillzhtown said:
I have heard that the online is garbage from a few people, but right now single player is a blast for me. The used price was a great incentive as well.


There will come a point at which you're mowing down opponents left and right, and no opponent can even get a shot in. Then you'll have 4 or 5 matches toward the end that are tough as nails.
 
Unlike most of the rest of the world, Japan has seen gaming-centric devices, with their gaming specialized controller set-ups, dominate the market over the general purpose PC. The arcade scene has also flourished longer there. As a result, Japanese developers have become more skilled at action based gameplay, and this is exemplified by comparing Top Spin to Virtua Tennis. While still being very good, Top Spin doesn't control as smoothly and responsively. It does, however, feature Xbox Live, so the playability added by online competition can still make the game well worth it.
 
Top Spin is a great game, it's single player mostly sucks but the multiplayer is awesome. The only problem is the risk shot which is cheese move that you will encounter online a lot.

There are a group of people at http://www.globalxboxarena.com who play the game in "sim" mode, that is without any risk shots or drop shots, which were the main problem with the game basically. The game is a blast if you don't use these shots (except risk shot when serving).
 
FriScho said:
how do I deactivate powershots in Mario Tennis? They suck.

You can only deactivate them in exhibition mode. You're stuck with them in tournament mode (which you have to play if you want to unlock star characters and other things.)
 
I was ranked 55 on Xbox Live in Topspin singles and #1 online in Topspin doubles. If you want to play the game online you should probably stay away because the level of competition isn't friendly to those who haven't played the game extensively. Topspin can be a blast playing offline with friends, but I wouldn't at this stage of the game recommend it for online play. You will simply get blown off the court by most people, but maybe some hope has arrived with the NCAA 2005/Topspin bundle, I'm sure new people are playing the game online. Just don't play anyone ranked in the top 1,000 because you probably won't have a chance at winning.
 
I like both games a lot (I've loved tennis games ever since SNES Super Tennis), but would have to give the nod to Mario Tennis by a slight margin.

Top Spin has a better single player mode though, with a world-tour setup. It's also cheaper.
 
I like both games a lot...and it comes down to what you're looking for..Mario Tennis has crazy special moves (which can be fun, and you can play without them) and plenty of gimmick courses, which are suprisingly good.....Topspin has a good character creation system, (obviously) more realistic gameplay (not to say that Mario tennis doesn't play like tennis) Gotta run, so I'll say MT. If you're really torn between the two, go for the cheaper one, but I'd say MT.
 
Musashi Wins! said:
Mario Tennis is only ok. I like the way it looks, the stages, etc. But the cut scenes are fucking ridiculous everytime you use a power shot. I mean, it's an atrocious gameplay killer. The thing is, the game is very vanilla without the strategy of using super shots, so it's either play a gutted game or sit through a HORRID decision every time you use them. I can't stress enough how it hurts the game flow. The single player is barren and the mini-games are beyond dumb. I like the Nintendo "feel" in some of the controls, but the downsides are really painful for a $50 game. Should have been sooooo much better.

It's true that you can use your special power ups to get to balls that are past you...but that didn't bother me so much since your timing in using them is somewhat strategic. If you can live through seeing the same retarded power up scene past a few hours, you may have far less gripes than myself.
I'd suggest Top Spin at the price point. Rent both, I'd bet my life you'd agree.

IAWTP (especially the bolded areas)

They should have some way to turn off the goddamn power shots animation. And power shots can't be fucking turned off completely in the tournaments. I try really hard NOT to use power shots myself when playing the tournies because it's painful just to watch the damn animation but when the AI uses them, it's really hard to win without using your own. Goddamn, all of this just makes me want to cry.

Go Top Spin if you treasure your sanity....
 
thorns said:
Top Spin is a great game, it's single player mostly sucks but the multiplayer is awesome. The only problem is the risk shot which is cheese move that you will encounter online a lot.

There are a group of people at http://www.globalxboxarena.com who play the game in "sim" mode, that is without any risk shots or drop shots, which were the main problem with the game basically. The game is a blast if you don't use these shots (except risk shot when serving).

Risk shots I'm okay with, but no drop shots? C'mon that's an integral part of the real game. Anyways, I got to roughly #350 in Doubles before the rankings were reset for the first time and then my friend and I gave up when we were back at nada. Online is a lot of fun when you have competition. The only people we'd have trouble with are the ones who could nail risk shots all the time. I like the Mario sports games, but Top Spin is cheaper, has a decent character creation system (and you can use the real people online too) and overall the better tennis game in my view.
 
Having played a ton of Mario Tennis multiplayer, I would recommend it just on that fact (the power shots actually are useful multiplayer and always great for a counter war like no other especially with 4 players!)

As far as Top Spin goes, I haven't played it, but I have a few friends that swear by it. If you have the money, maybe just take the plunge and buy both. You should be able to pick up Top Spin at someplace like Blockbuster for $14.99 or cheaper. The more the merrier I say :D
 
I'm renting MT and own Top Spin and Top Spin is pretty damn boring, plus I hate how there is loading after every flippin screen.

Mario Tennis on the other hand is great. Awesome visuals, addictive gameplay and whole lotta fun. The power shots are pretty annoying but that's about the only thing that actually detracts from the game.
 
Unison said:
Top Spin has a better single player mode though, with a world-tour setup. It's also cheaper.

What? Top Spin has the most outrageously boring single player mode of this generation. It is almost pathetic. And the game itself isn't much better. The only use I may find for it is multiplayer with friends (or maybe Live, but as I did not have the patience to build up a character I couldn't export it... and I'm told it sucks anyway).

Check out Mario Tennis, it can't be worse.
 
Virtua Tennis wins. You can pick up a Dreamcast and a copy of the game for $30 dollars less than Mario Tennis, and you will get the best tennis game ever made.

But out of the two, I would go with Mario Tennis. Top Spin was good, but lacked the same arcade feel that Virtua Tennis had making the game as fun as it was.
 
Top Spin was awful and very overrated. Get VT instead as the guy above says. Far better game and its very cheap on DC, PS2 or GBA. :)

Havent played Mario tennis. But its highly likely it has better multiplayer gameplay following with Mario tradition.
 
Sega Tennis 2k2 on PS2 has better loadtimes. THey were very anoying on DC.

Is Smash Court 2 any good?
 
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