Mario Tennis GBC FAQ
By: Ikillkenny (ikillkenny@chesco.com)
Version: 1.3 (English)

=================
Table Of Contents
=================
Chapter 1:  Introduction To Mario Tennis GBC
Chapter 2:  Gameplay/Controls
Chapter 3:  Regular Tennis Strategies
Chapter 4:  Story Mode
Chapter 5:  Common Questions
Chapter 6:  Credits/Comming Soon

============================================
Chapter 1:  Introduction To Mario Tennis GBC
============================================

Section 1: History

	Mario Tennis has been around for quite a while.  Nintendo made many versions
of the game for the Nintendo Entertainment System, none of them with great
sucess.  There was also a Mario's Tennis game produced for the failed Virtual
Boy console.  More recently Camelot released a 3D version of Mario Tennis for
the Nitnendo 64, with many 3D Nintendo mascot characters and all sorts of other
goodies.  Much like what Camelot did for Mario Golf, they decided to create a
handheld version of the game on Game Boy Color.  The Game Boy Color version of
the game is what version this FAQ covers.

	Since Mario Tennis has now been released in the US, this FAQ should provide
pretty accurate information on the game.  If you find something to be
inaccurate, please email me at
Section 2: FAQ History

	Here is the current history and list of changes in the different versions of
this FAQ:
-Version 1.3 (English)
Started: January 19th, 2001
Finished: January 20th, 2001
--Now a FAQ for the English version
--Serveral errors fixed

-Version 1.2 (J)
Started: November 25th, 2000
Released: January 12th, 20001
--Last Japanse Version
--Story Section finished up until the tournament on the island.

-Version 1.1 (J)
Started: November 19th, 2000
Released: November 24th, 2000
--Added Some of the Story Section.
--Added More Common Questions.

-Version 1.0 (J)
Started: November 18th, 2000
Released: November 19th, 2000
First version of the FAQ.

Section 3: Please Contribute To This FAQ!

	If you've found something that you know is wrong, or new information about the
game please feel free to email me at ikillkenny@chesco.com.  Everyone who
emails me with what I consider important information, I'll add to this FAQ and
give you credit.

Section 3: Tennis Terms, Gameboy Terms, etc.

	This FAQ uses many tennis terms that those who have never played tennis before
may get confused from.  Here is a list of the tennis court's basic terms:

=============================================== Baseline
| |                   |                     | |
| |             (Nintendo)                  | |Alley
| |                                         | |
| |                                         | |
| |                                         | |
| |                                         | |
| |                                         | | Service Line
| ||| |
| |                   |                     | |
| |                   |                     | |
| |Service Box        |     Service Box     | |
| |                   |                     | |
| |                   |                     | |
| |                   |                     | |
=============================================== Net

Other Tennis Terms (not in alphabetical order for some strange reason...):
Ball: Duh.
Fault: When the ball goes out of bands on a serve.  If a player gets 2 faults,
he or she loses the point.
Let: When the ball hits the net on a serve, goes over, and still goes in the
service box.
Have any questions on more terms?  Ask me @ ikillkenny@chesco.com.

Gameboy:

Infared Port
_________________________________
|                                |
| ______________________________ | Power
| |                            | |
| |                            | |
| |                            | |
| |                            | |
| |     Screen                 | |
| |                            | |
| |                            | |
| |                            | |
| |                            | |
|  |
|   ||                     (A)  |
| |   |                 (B)    |
|  | |     ---  ---            |
|          Start Select         |
|   D-Pad                        |
|                                |


============================
Chapter 2: Gampelay/Controls
============================

Section 1: Story Mode Controls

	The controls in the story mode of Mario Tennis GBC are rather simple.  They're
your standard walk and talk gameboy controls (think Pokemon) and they're not
very complicated at all.
 Use the D-Pad to move your character around.  It also will also allow you to
toggle your selection when someone asks you a question and you must respond
with yes or no.
 Press the A Button when you're next to and facing a character to talk with
that character.  Also press the A Button to choose "Yes" (top) or "No" (bottem)
when it's selected.
 Pressing the B Button when asked a question will automaticly select "No."
 Hold down the B button to run.
 Holding the A or B button during a conversation speeds up the text.
 Pressing the Start button will bring you to the start menu, which allows you
to save your game, change around options, and view the stars you've earned.
 The select button seems to do nothing in the story mode.

Section 2: Tennis Controls

	The controls in the acutal tennis match of the game are exactly the same as on
the N64 version.  However, incase you're not aware of the controls, here they
are.
 Use the D-Pad to move yoru character around.  Also use the D-Pad to direct
shots as you're charging up.
 Pressing the A button once while a shot is comming will hit a regular shot.
Holding the A button before the the ball arrives will charge up your character.
 Tapping the A button once, and then holding it again will hit a more powerful
(orange trailed) shot.
 Pressing the B button once while a shot is comming will hit a slice.  Holding
the B button before the ball arrives will charge up your character.  Tapping
the B button once, and then holding it again will hit a powerful slice (blue
trailed) shot.
 Tapping the A button then pressing the B button when the ball arrives will
hit a lob shot which will launch the ball high in the air, but not very
powerfully.
 Tapping the B button then pressing the A button when the ball arrives will
hit a drop shot which will barely get over the net.
 Tapping either A or B and then pressing A and B at the same time when the
ball arrives will hit a very powerful (purple trailed shot) if the ball is over
your head (resulting in a slam.)

Section 3: Serving Controls

	The controls while serving are very basic.
 Pressing the A button will hit a regular power shot (orange trailed.)
 Pressing the B button will hit a powerful slice shot (blue trailed.)
 Pressing both A and B at the same time will hit a very powerful shot (purple
trailed.)

====================================
Chapter 3: Regular Tennis Strategies
====================================

Section 1: Serving

	Serving in the Gameboy Color version of this game seems to be a little less
important than in the N64 version.  The N64 version of the game had characters
such as Boo and Paratrooper changing the angle of their shots, and players like
Bowser and Wario hitting monstor shots to the corner and downt he line.  In the
GBC version, however, many serves are very easy to hit, even perfect shots.
Nevertheless, a good serve is always a nice thing to have, so this section will
explain to you how to get a good serve.

	The fastest shots will usually occur when you hit the ball when it's at its
highest point.  If you can get it right on there will be a message displayed
that probally says "Nice Shot!" in Japanese.  Also, if you're going for a power
shot, make sure to hit purple shots (A+B) because they are the fastest.  IF
you're lucky, the other player will hit an unintentional lob shot back which
will allow you to smash it into the corner for an easy win (or another lob shot
;-] .)

	Another way to get a nice serve is to place the ball well.  Keep hitting it
down the center slowy for a few shots, and then blast it into the corner on a
power shot.  If you're really lucky you'll get an ace (a serve without the
other player hitting it) or if you're unlucky you'll get a fault (the ball
doesn't hit the service box, and if you fault again you'll lose the point.)

Section 2: Net Play

	An effective way to quickly win against easier opponents is to play close to
the net.  This allows for great smashes and angles on the ball that will
probally make your opponent miss.  However, as your competition gets tougher,
you'll have a harder time playing the net.  You can still do it effectively
against harder opponents, you just have to develop more advanced strategies.

	Net Play is not the hardest strategy to execute.  Simply rush up to the net
after serving or getting served to.  Hit the ball on the service line right
after getting the first shot back, and then get up to about 1/2 up the service
box and stay there.  Move laterally and forward and backwards when it is
needed.

	There's only really 1 powerful shot that you'll be able to hit when you're
playing net.  That shot is the A+B smash hit that you'll only be able to get if
the other player lobs the ball to you.  Make sure to capitolize on these shots!
 They don't come that often later in the game.  There are some different
strategies for netplay while playing doubles, but that will come later.

Section 3: Baseline Play

	Baseline Play is a very conservative way of playing the game.  As long as you
don't get faked out, you should be able to return all of the balls that come to
you.  All you really have to do is not make mistakes and wait for your opponent
to make some.  Just hit slices and occasionally top spin power shots to the
corners to eventually force a lob shot from your opponent.

	When playing Baseline, you should be about halfway between the end of the
service box and the baseline.  Continually hit top spin shots and slice shots
into the same corner a few times, and then quickly hit it to the other corner.
This will usually get easy opponents, or atleast force them into a lob shot.

	Make sure not to charge up your shots too early!  More often than not you'll
get little drop shots that barely make it over the net (or even hit the net)
that wouldn't even make it to you rolling!

======================
Chapter 4:  Story Mode
======================

Section 1: Solo Play

	The Story Mode of Mario Tennis GBC is very similar to the story mode in Mario
Golf GBC.  You are a character from a small and local country club that must
play other players, talk with people around the clubs, and complete objectives
and tournaments before beating the club.  You also have a certain level of
expierence that dictates your stats.  Beating other players and doing
objectives (such as beating the robot in the training lounge) will give you
expierence points.  The more expierence points you get, the higher your level
will be, and the higher your stats will be.

Section 2: Starting Story Mode

	To start the Story Mode, goto the "1", "2", or "3" icon on the main screen.
After selecting this, you will have the option of choosing either a boy or a
girl.  There is no significant difference between the two, so it does not
matter who you choose.  Also, pressing select will determine if your character
is a right handed individual or a freak (left handed individual :)  After
choosing your character, and hitting ok you then get a doubles character.  The
boy doubles character will get a guy as a doubles partner, and the girl will
get a another girl asher partner.  You'll have the option of naming both the
characters.  Since I've yet to see any codes at this time, I assume that naming
your character wll not have any significant impact (I say this because in
Harvest Moon your cows would have better milk if you named them (heart) and
then something.)

	Now you'll get the basic story of the game.  According the annoying,
unskippable, 5 minute talking-to you're a promising tennis student who's
entering the club halfway through.  Emily, the old lady who shows (forces) you
around, will take you to the various parts of the club, and tell you general
things about them.  However, if your memory isn't so great, here's a handy
little map of the place:
			     ___________
       | Double Partner's  | |		|
       |	Dormatory  | |	Cafe	| Senior    Junior
       |________  _________| |  ________|  Courts    Courts
		| |__________| |__________| |________| |________
	        |______________________   ______________________ Training Area	      
	
				       | |		___________
				       | |		| Training|
				       | |		| Facility|
				       | |		|____ ____|
				       | |		     =
				       | |	             =
		||==================(   )===================
	Varsity	|  |		       | |
	Court	|__|		       | |
                _______________________| |_______________________
		|						 |
		|						 |
		|		Main Clubhouse			 |
		|_______________________  _______________________|
					| |
					| |
					| |
					| |
					| |
					| |
					

								________________
							       (     Isle Open  )
								

	After Emily stops talking with you, you'll end up in your partner's house. 
From here you're going to want to go towards the Junior Courts to start
challenging the really, really, really easy junior competetors, or to the
training area to beef up your stats and skills on shots.  For our purposes
let's go to the Junior Courts, and talk with the man in the blue sweat jacket
there.  He will talk to you about how you aren't eligble for senior courts yet,
and that you have to beat junior competetors first.  Then, he'll call over your
first opponent.
	This will be your introduction to match playing.  While it shouldn't be too
hard, it's good practice (and exp) for later matches.  You must win 2 out of 3
6-Game sets to win the match.  This will take a good while (grrr...) so make
sure you have time to do this!  Once you easily defeat your competetor, a Win!
screen will pop up.  Hit A.  You'll get various ammounts of Expierence Points
as you
play opponents of varying difficulty.  Anyways, take your expierence and hold
down A to give it to your main character.  Once you've distributed the
expierence, an input box will appear asking you if this is ok.  Choose the top
option (yes) and you'll proceed to the Level Up screen.  For each level your
character gained you will be able to improve one attribute.  Here are the
different attributes:

______________ _______________
|  Spin      | |  Control     |
|   Top ---- | |   Angle ---- |
|   Slice ---| |   Place ---- |
  
_____________  ________________
| Power      | |  Speed        |
|  Stroke ---| |    Speed ---- |
|  Serve ----| |    Dash ----  |
|  Volley----| |    Smart ---- |
  |    Break ---- |
               

	Continue talking to the guy in the blue sweatshirt after each match (until you
beat the fourth junior classman.)  All of these matches should be a piece of
cake, especially for those with any expierence in Mario Tennis.  Infact, these
matches will eventually become so easy that I'd be surpised if you couldn't
beat them in your sleep. Nevertheless, beat the 3 remaining opponents and head
out of the Junior Courts.

	Head out of the courts, and then head down off the path.  You're now going to
be going towards the Training Facility (if you're not sure where it is, check
the map above.)  Once you get there, talk with the man behind the counter. 
He'll tell you that you can now get an upgraded racket.  You'll want to do
this, as it will boost your control of the ball (imperative over power or speed
in the later matches.)

	Now it's time for some more expierence.  Do you see the two metal doors right
past the counter?  I sure hope you do, because they're pretty obvious. 
Anyways, head in the door on the left.  You'll see several people standing
around a metalish tennis court.  Talk with the guy blocking the door to start
training.

Level 1:  This isn't too bad.  The first thing you must do is serve the ball at
one of the arrows on the wall.  The ball will be deflected in an angle
corresponding to the directin of the arrow that you hit.  Once you do this, hit
a few shots against the net on the service line, and when the 4 arrows come
back try to first hit it just to the right, and then just to the left.  Hitting
the arrows may be trouble, because if the ball goes out of bounds before you
get 50 shots totatled, you'll lose.

Level 2:  This is going to take a little paitence to beat.  This time instead
of arrows hitting the ball left or right, they now hit drop shots (down arrows)
or lob shots (up arrows that get really, really high.)  Your best way to beat
this one is to a little past the service line and try your hardest to avoid
hitting your ball at one of the four arrow machines.  Hit the ball back 50
times to get that valuable expierence.

Level 3:  This level, in my opinion, is much easier than the previous level.
You get a lot of free hitting time while the blocks stop and change form.
They'll change forms from Up to Left To Down To Right To Up again.  However,
the annoying down arrows will never appear in the front row (except in the left
corner when they're changing shapes) so you can play it safe and hit the ball
between the baseline and the service line.

Level 4:  Ouch!  This is a really tough one to beat.  Now there are 3 globs of
arrows to mess you up, and they periodicly change their directions.  It's
really quite annoying.  The best strategy is to play pretty far back, and
really pay attention to not over anticipating and having a newly changed arrow
hit a drop shot at you.  Hit 50 shots (after *a_lot* of practice) to win the
final level of this.

	Once you've finished this and have gained all of that expierence points, go
out of the room and go to the room to your right.  This training room is
significantly easier, and consists of just returning balls that the robot sends
to your in various directions.  It's like playing against a tennis machine.

Level 1:  You should not have any trouble with this one.  Just hit all the
balls that the robot returns and try to to dive for them too much to easily get
the 15 shots required for victory.

Level 2:  This one is a little bit harder, but it still should not give you
much trouble.  The robot now moves, and hit balls in varoius directions.  Just
go to the middle after each shot, and then act from there and you'll easily get
30 shots.

Level 3:  The hard part about Level 3 is that it takes quite a while to beat.
60 shots is longer than you think, and that gives you a while to choke.  Plus,
it now shoots drop shots and lob shots, but they're not that bad.  Just don't
overanticapate a shot and find yourself charging up for a drop shot on the
baseline.  Get 60 shots to win.

Level 4:  This might actually take a few tries, because the robot starts moving
and shooting rather fast towards the last 25 shots.  Try your hardest not to
choke, and you'll be able to win.  Stand right in front of where the robot is,
and don't over anticapate, as it'll shoot a lot of drops and lobs.  Hit 100
shots to win.

	Okay, now you can either go and face the senior competetors, or you can go to
the training tennis courts to get some more expierence.  For our purposes let's
head to the Senior Courts and beat the senior competetors.  Once you reach the
courts, talk with Emily who will be standing right in front of you when you go
to the courts.  She'll say a few things, and then you'll face the fourth ranked
player.  This should be just as easy as the previous people in the junior
round.  Just play the net, smash balls to the outsides on serves, and now, with
your new control, hit deadly drop shots to the corners.  The matches are still
the same grueling 3, 6 game Set games.

	After easily creaming the first competetor, do the same on the next 3.  The
only person who may give you trouble is the Senior Champion.  However, he's
pretty slow, so good control should wreck him (he only got 2 points off of me
in the whole match, honestly.)

	Once everyone is beat, head back to the training facility.  Here you can
purchase a new set of shoes (I'd do this) and a new racket (I wouldn't do this
unless you're going for power.)  Now you're ready to fight the 4th ranked
Varsity player (don't worry, you're only going to have to fight him, not the
other guys at this current moment.)  Head out of the training facility, and go
due west to the Varisty Court.

	Talk with a few people here, and eventually they'll ask you if you want to
face the 4th ranked Varsity Team member.  Do this, and as soon as you know it,
you'll be in a Varsity match.  This guy is about as tough as the Senior
Champion, so use the same type of strategies on him.  Your upgraded speed
should really help here, as you can now recover for a bad shot you may have
taken.

	Once you beat him, Emily, Mark, and Travis(?) come over to congratulate you on
making the varsity team.  After talking to you for a while, you'll get a "To Be
Continued" message.  Don't turn the game off!  There's still a lot more to do.

	Select your character again, and choose singles (you'll now have the option of
doubles play if you wish, but if you want to play that see the double's play
section of this guide.)  You'll find yourself in your doubles partner's house,
when you suddenly realize that you're late for a trip.  You'll then see the
headmaster (the guy who bumped into you at the beginning of the game) talking
with the 3 other varsity team members talking about the Island Open.  You'll
rush in at the last minute, and the next morning you'll all take a Mighty Ducks
Flying V formation to the plane.  The Academy Varsity Team members will fly to
the island that hosts the Isle Open.

	On this island you'll be facing a score of tough opponents (actually, more
like 4.)  Your team members will tell you that the tournament will start soon,
but you still have some time to look around.  There's not much going on here,
so just head out to one of the courts and come back in.  You'll see various
people in the groups A and B in the main room.  Walk into an open spot to face
your first opponent.

	Your first opponent is signifcantly harder than anything you've faced before
(except maybe the arrows in the Level 4 at the training facility.)  She's going
to be pretty darn fast, and she's also going to have a lot of control.  Your
best option is to hit it hard to her on a server, and then get up to the net,
and blast drop shots to the corners until you draw her forward and to the side.
 Once this happens, hit a slice back and to the opposite side of which she's
on.  This should work pretty effectively when you're serving.

	When you're not serving, watch out for some pretty tough serves from her. 
Play conservatively, and don't make a move until you're postive where it's
going.  It's better to hit a weak return on her than to miss the shot
completely on an ace.  Remember, if you start to go behind early DON'T QUIT! 
There's still a lot of time for you to come back and adjust to how she plays. 
Remember, these Island Open matches are actually a grueling Best out of 5 sets
as opposed the standard best out of 3 sets.  Even if you lose the first set
(like I did) you can still come back and win it pretty easily becasue you'll
get the hang of her style.

	Once you beat her, you'll be congratulated by your peers.  Walk outside the
courts again, take a breather, and then get ready for your next match.  Your
next competetor will be a tall guy with a wicked curve shot (does anyone know
how to do this?)  He's also got wicked power, and knows how to lob the shot
pretty well.  This means he'll have a devastating serve, and that if you don't
get him quickly at the net, he'll hit it over your head and you'll lose the
point.  Do your best to win all the matches when you serve (it shouldn't be too
hard, he's pretty slow), and try to win atleast one per set when you don't
serve.  In order to protect yourself against a service ace, you may want to
cheat towards the middle and forward a little.  This will prevent the wicked
curves from getting to you.

	If you're able to beat him, you'll have to wait for a while for this FAQ to be
updated (don't worry!  It's going to be updated real soon!)

===========================
Chapter 5: Common Questions
==========================

	There are many common questions that you may have while playing the game.
I'll do my best to try to answer them.

Q:  Where can I find the rom of this game?
A:  Roms are illegal dude.

Q:  When does the English version come out?
A:  It's been out.  It came out Monday January 15th, 2001.

Q:  Where can I find a translation guide for this game?
A:  Check out gamefaqs.com.  They have atleast one of those there.  But now
that the English version is out you shouldn't really need it.

Q:  Are there any other versions of Mario Tennis avaliable?
A:  Yes, there is a Nintendo 64 version avaliable.  There are also some SNES
games, but they're a lot different.

Q:  How do I do so and so in story mode?
A:  I'm working on that.

Q:  Is it possible to play Mario Tennis online against someome else?
A:  Obviously not.  You can link play against someone else, though.

Q:  Is there a way to make your player always on the close side like in the N64
version?
A:  To the best of my knowledge, there isn't.  If you know otherwie, give me an
email at ikillkenny@chesco.com

Q:  Is this the latest version of the FAQ?
A:  The only way to be certain is to check out www.gamefaqs.com.  The latest
version is there.

Q:  Something in this FAQ doesn't make sense.  What should I do?
A:  Look it over a few times, but if you're still stuck email me at
ikillkenny@chesco.com.

Q:  A green message keeps comming up whenver I hit the ball!  Arrrgh!
A:  That's not really a question, but I'll try to answer it my best (-Troy
McClure on the Simpsons.)  Anyways, there are some training matches where you
must do exactly what the person says in order to pass them.  This will all be
explained once I put in a Training Area section.

Q:  How can I control my doubles partner?
A:  You can't.

===============================
Chapter 6: Credits/Comming Soon
===============================

Section 1: Credits

Written By:  ikillkenny (ikillkenny@chesco.com)
Contact Information:
	Email: ikillkenny@chesco.com.
	AIM: ikillkenny
	ICQ: 33094162
	Snail Mail: Why would you want to send me snail mail?
Story Mode Help: henryliu@tstonramp.com
Only Mario Tennis Site That Exists: Mario Tennis Anonymous
(http://comicsoft.hypermart.net/mta)
Why do you even care?
Translation Help:   AstroBlue/Shdwrlm3's Mini-FAQ/Translation Guide.  Avaliable
at:  http://www.gamefaqs.com/portable/gbcolor/file/mario_tennis.txt.

Feel free to distribute, sell, whatever with this FAQ.  I've stopped caring.
It would help my ego if you would keep my name in this FAQ, but if you feel
like you're just so important, and have to change the credits around you can go
do that.

Section 2: Comming Soon

	There is a lot that will be added to this FAQ in the future.  Here's a list of
what I hope to add very soon:

Doubles Strategies
Complete Singles Story Mode
Training Area Help

And more...
