Mario Tennis characters

Mario Tennis brings all of the Mario crew from the tee to the hard court as a second Mario sports title for the Nintendo 64. Each character provides his or her own unique edge on the game, and each character has their own abilities on the court.

Mario Tennis also saw the debut of Waluigi. Princess Daisy also makes an appearance, her first since Super Mario Land.

This list is alphabetical.

Baby Mario

Speed

Baby Mario brings us the youthfulness of tennis. Unfortunately, that same youthfulness isn't that great on the tennis court. Baby Mario isn't the great, although he does have speed.

Birdo

Speed

Birdo, for the first time, is playable in a game! She's not that well balanced in Mario Tennis, mainly featuring speed. She's a god beginner character and easy to control.

Boo

Tricky

Boo is a pretty decent character in Mario Tennis. He's not the fast and he doesn't have that much power. However, his shots and serves are great with his Tricky style, allowing the ball to curve.

Bowser

Power

Really, this was expected, wasn't it? Bowser...a power hitter? Our oversized turtle friend is all about power. But with such power comes a very, very slow speed.

Daisy

Technique

It's been a long, long time since Sarasaland was in trouble from Tatanga. Daisy makes a long awaited return in Mario tennis. She brings a Technique style of play to the court and is a relatively decent character.

Donkey Kong

Power

Donkey Kong, like Bowser, brings a lot of force behind the ball with blazing serves and hard forehands. He's not quite as powerful as his counterpart, but he does feature slightly more speed.

Donkey Kong Jr.

Power

Well, it's not quite Donkey Kong, but DK Jr. can still pack some force behind he shots. With his smaller stature, he's a bit faster than Donkey Kong as well.

Donkey Kong Jr. is unlocked by completing and winning the Star Doubles Tournament with any character.

Koopa Paratroopa

Tricky

Time to take to the skies...or at least a little bit off the ground. Koopa Paratroopa is another Tricky player with a lot of different shots and a lot of curve.

Luigi

All Around

Luigi is one of two All Around players, the other being Mario. Luigi is very well balanced in power and speed, as well as technique and is a great beginner character with his overall balance.

Mario

All Around

As the main character of the game, Mario should be the best at tennis, right? Well, he's right up there. Mario is the counterpart of Luigi with his All Around status and is a great character to use.

Peach

Technique

Peach, obviously, is the more popular princess between her and Daisy. Peach, like Daisy, is a technique player with decent power and speed. Do we really need two princesses on the court?

Shy Guy

Technique

Shy Guy isn't just a generic Shy Guy, this one has a bit of tennis skills! Shy Guy is a technique player, although he has some tricky elements in his game.

Shy Guy is unlocked by completing and winning the Star Singles Tournament with any character.

Toad

Speed

It's about time that Mario's little helper gets some long overdue recognition. Toad makes a nice appearance in Mario Tennis. He's a very fast character, but he lacks power.

Waluigi

Technique

Waluigi, regrettably, was introduced in this game, most likely as an opposite of Luigi. Waluigi is a technique player with average speed and power. With his long legs and long arms, he has a big reach.

Wario

Power

Mario's old rival has come to play tennis as well. Wario, like Bowser and Donkey Kong, loves to put some power into his hits. As always, he's a bit slow, but not quite that of Bowser and Donkey Kong.

Yoshi

Speed

We all knew this was coming: Yoshi as a speed character. Yoshi's always been of the speedy type, and it's nothing new in Mario Tennis. Yoshi doesn't have the greatest power, but he can reach a lot of far-away balls.