Released 26 Years Ago Today: 'Mario Tennis' Named Among Best Nintendo 64 Games
On this day in 2000, Nintendo released one of its most creative, enjoyable party games: Mario Party . The game marked a crucial departure for the Super Mario franchise, drifting away from the platformers that fans were used to and proving that this IP could survive in multiple gaming formats.
The game was a sequel to 1995's Mario's Tennis , which had briefly been included as a launch title for Nintendo's experimental VR console, the Virtual Boy. The console ended up being a pretty big disappointment for Nintendo, with many critics taking issue with its graphics and complicated controls. The franchise was ultimately rebooted with Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64, which was a resounding success.
Mario Tennis allows players to take control of beloved franchise characters like Mario, Luigi, and Princess Daisy, playing singles or doubles matches of tennis against CPU opponents or multiplayer friends. The game is also renowned for being the introduction of Luigi's arch-nemesis, Waluigi, who has remained one of the franchise's most popular characters.
The game received strong reviews from critics, who generally praised Nintendo's willingness to experiment with totally new game formats without losing the core characters or spirit of the franchise. It quicly became a staple of the Nintendo 64 console thanks to its depth of content, simple gameplay, and fun multiplayer capabilities.
In the years since Mario Tennis ' release, the game has evolved into one of Nintendo's longest-running franchises. Not only was the original game later ported to the Nintendo Wii and WiiU, but a companion version on the Game Boy Color was also released with a more in-depth story mode for single-player gamers to sink their teeth into.
The sequels quickly followed, with Mario Power Tennis later arriving on the GameCube and Mario Tennis: Power Tour landing on the Game Boy Advance. Most recently, the Nintendo Switch 2 received a sequel titled Mario Fever Tennis , which is one of the console's highest-rated titles so far. The original game remains one of Nintendo's crowning accomplishments, with GameSpot ranking it among the greatest N64 games ever made.
This story was originally published by Men's Journal on Aug 28, 2026, where it first appeared in the News section. Add Men's Journal as a Preferred Source by clicking here.
