Mario Tennis 64 Tournament Cups Guide
This is a beginners guide to tournament cups for Mario Tennis 64. This information should be able to help anybody wanting to learn the run and get a grip on the best strategies to deal with each situation.
To get you started I would advise to be using Baby Mario as he is the best equipped for the overall run and the clear best choice in the game from a speedrunning perspective.
Good luck and I hope the guide helps!
[Mushroom Cup]
Every character in the mushroom cup can be dealt with without too much issues. Serving some aces will grant you some free points and time save if possible, but serving can be somewhat inconsistent.
When serving from the deuce court side (right), move slightly to the right and fire a top spin serve (A) whilst holding right as the serve motion ends down the line. When serving from the advantage court side (left) move slightly to the left and hold right as the service motion ends whils firing a flat power shot (A+B). This is the optimal way to get aces during the Musroom Cup, but they are never guaranteed and require good timing and skill to be consistent.
If your serving skills are not up to scratch consider just hitting the ball as fast as possible at the opponent and follow up with a smash or charged top spin to finish the point.
Yoshi & Boo are special cases when it comes to returning in that their behaviour is a little different to other characters and this also applies to later tournaments too. Generally you will want to cover near the doubles lanes as they spend spinning serves out wide very often. However, be aware of a down the line serve too as if you can catch the ball with a powerful shot a return ace is almost guaranteed.
For every other character you will want to just stand near the middle of the court a couple of steps before the service line. If you stand too close it will be hard to generate enough power to hit a return ace. Being in the middle should give you enough coverage to defend either side and react accordingly to finish off the point as quick as possible.
[Flower Cup]
Flower Cup is on clay which is the slowest surface in the game. This is significant when it comes to resets as some characters are guaranteed to lose you time no matter how good you are at the game. If you get Donkey Kong in the final for example, it's almost sure to be a reset if you're playing for a top time. Everyone else can be dealt with fine if you play well enough, but also be weary of the speed of Yoshi and Toad.
This is where matchups start to become important and you're at the mercy of RNG to be dealt the ideal opponents for each round. From my experience, Luigi, Paratroopa, Waluigi, Peach and Boo seem to be the easiest for this tournament. Yoshi and Toad aren't ideal, but can be dealt with but Donkey Kong (if in the final) is a huge road block.
You don't want to be aiming for service aces in this tournament as they are very rare to come by. Most characters pretty much can't be aced here 9.5/10. My srategy of choice is to hit flat serves out wide and follow up close to the net. Hitting top spin serves would also be adequate though and is the safer option for hitting less faults during the run.
Return game is practically identical to that of the Mushroom Cup, except you will have to make sure you generate more power as often as possible to override the slow bounce of the clay. Putting away smashes is harder with the slower surface so you want to make sure you have the best chance to push the ball past your opponent.
[Star Cup]
Star Cup is by far the hardest of the three as you should expect. However, the opening round should not serve as too much of a problem as the CPU difficulty is still identical to that of the Flower Cup. This cup is played on grass so expect a lower bounce and faster gameplay overall.
Your main worry is going to be returning due to the much upgraded serving ability you will be facing. Bowser in the final here is a similar situation to Donkey Kong in Flower, as his power and serve are too big of a weapon to get any easy points. Best opponents you can ask for here from the 2nd round onwards are, Donkey Kong Jr, Luigi, Waluigi, Boo, Mario.
Serving again is not going to see you get aces for almost every situation vs majority of characters. So again just fire the ball outwide with a flat shot if you can, and hope you are able to finish off with a smash or charged up top spin. I have seen Shy Guy has a possibility to be aced, but I wouldn't bank on any consistency there.
With returning there is only one character I would reccomend employing the same return gameplan as Mushroom/Flower and that is Luigi. If you cover the middle of the court again and run forward just as his serve motion is about to end, you can charge a top spin and hit the ball down the line for a good amount of return aces. For anyone else this feels a little too risky for me and the return aces don't flow often enough for it to be worth it. For all other characters I would recommend using an uncharged flat shot, just hold it instead and direct it to where you want the ball to go. This is especially important if you end up with Bowser or Wario in the Semi-Final or Final.
Birdo only every appears here and has similar behaviour to Boo and Yoshi with the outwide serves so take on that same strategy along with the normal flat shot instead of a charged top spin. Donkey Kong Jr also takes on a similar approach, but he is much easier to return ace in this situation. Practicing against these characters with the appropriate difficulty level on the correct courts will give a better insight into this information. I will list this information at the end of the guide.
A final pointer on how the final can play out in this cup. Even if you are dealt a desirable character for the final, don't be fooled if you have an almost 1st set. I have noticed on many occasions that CPU changes their serving behaviour during the 2nd set. If your reactions are sharp enough you should be fine, but don't fall too far into the comfort zone or you can be punished. As an example, Luigi can go his entire 1st service game with a pattern, and then open with that in his 2nd. But the remaining 2-3 points he could bomb a serve down the line so you need to be prepared for that possibility. Shot Types
Shot Types:
Topspin - This shot requires a charged continuos press of the A button to perform and will be displayed with an orange light around the ball. This is best used for finishing off neutral balls near the middle of the court and pushing opponents back to allow net rushing.
Slice - A slice is performed by charging with the B button and is a more defensive shot selection. Best used for returning in star cup or when pushes back from powerful characters. Be aware in most situations this shot is a slower option.
Flat Shot - This will be one of the most used shots during a run, it is the best choice for the majority of serves in my opinion. It is also what you are going to be using when coming for smashes at the net (which has a visual cue of a star being on the ground when this can be done). The neutral, uncharged flat shot is also a great tool for dealing with serves in the star cup also. Just be aware to not abuse it in every situation as it can result in you dumping the ball out of the court if used in a low gravity situation and losing too many cheap points.
Drop Shot - A drop shot is performed when using B + A. I don't see many situations when this should ever be used in a speedrun, so it is best avoided but may come in handy if in a dire situation to draw the opponent to the net.
Lob Shot - Lob shots are performed using A + B, but there should be no situation you should ever use this really as it is both slower and almost useless when trying to go fast. I am just listing this one for reference, so it may be best to avoid this input combo for this run.
Charge Cancel - If you find yourself in a sticky situation when charging too early, you can press the Z button to cancel the charge and change your shot type last second.
If you want to make sure you get optimal power, always aim the stick forwards when possible. Not doing so can result in lacklustre results and allow the CPU to retrive the ball.
When serving, try to aim with a diagonal shot to hit the best possible angle. This works best for me, 2nd best option would be the aim the direction last second.
CPU Difficulties:
[Mushroom Cup]
Round 1 - Novice (Best of 1 sets)
Round 2 - Novice (Best of 1 sets)
Round 3 - Intermediate (Best of 3 sets)
[Flower Cup]
Round 1 - Novice (Best of 1 sets) Round 2 - Intermediate (Best of 1 sets) Round 3 - Intermediate (Best of 3 sets)
[Star Cup]
Round 1 - Intermediate (Best of 1 sets) Round 2 - Expert (Best of 1 sets) Round 3 - Expert (Best of 3 sets)
