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The Red Cap and dungarees have been gathering more than a little dust recently, hung up on a peg in the plumber's dressing room. Now, and possibly or the last time on the Game Boy Color, the little moustachioed Italian has decided to put in an appearance for us all, with a game requiring buckets of strawberries and cream. Except that the strawberries are bound to have funny little faces on them...

You'd think that Mario Tennis would be a bit of a no-no if, like us, you absolutely hate tennis and, moreover, you've never understood the rules for a second. But even a cursory glance at the new title makes you want to rush out and buy a racquet and a nasty sweatband of your own, and start knocking woolly balls about. Just like Mario Golf before it, and as in the N64 version of the game, there's a whole lot more to this title than knocking balls over a net. Even someone who has never had to sit through the endless hours of Wimbledon on telly will be able to master the game, as you're given a thorough guide to tennis and a 'Tennis Dictionary', which happens to be presented by a fetching young lady in a short skirt.

In fact, there's an entire RPG-style adventure to complete. You play a little boy or girl introduced into a massive tennis club, with a pantheon of eager players queuing up to take you on. It's crucial here to have practised a bit before trying to tackle the full adventure, because there are some tough cookies to beat on the way!

Having said that, this isn't a difficult game to get the hang of at all. This is unsurprising, considering that the first videogame ever, Pong, was based on tennis. Even if you've never picked up a racquet in your life, you'll have fun trying to outdo your opponent on court, shimmying up to the net to lob one out of their reach.

Keeping a decent rally going isn't the problem - it's winning a match! But there are loads of fun ways to build up your confidence, with quirky squash matches, sparring matches against tennis robots and Donkey Kong's very own banana-bashing squash game.

The RPG adventure aside, you get the choice of Baby Mario, Donkey Kong and Luigi, plus two hidden players for fun games, and so many game options that this is more like about thirty different tennis games rolled into one! In fact, even if you hate tennis, it's hard to find anything to criticise in this game. Once you win your first match, you're hooked, and there are enough bonuses and hidden extras to keep you playing well past the summer months, and into the rugby season. There's even an excellent link-up option that allows you to play against a pal. It all adds up to just the kind of exhaustive knock-about fun that we've come to expect from Mario, and there's absolutely no threat of Cliff Richard starting up a sing song halfway through either. Hurrah!

What an ace game (hur hur hur). Being a big tennis fan, I was really looking forward to this and I certainly wasn't disappointed.

The graphics are excellent, as are the controls, and it's all so addictive. The chances of getting bored are nil due to the large variety of games to play, from an RPG element to good old-fashioned tennis!

It's easy to pick up, but you won't be winning those games until you've practised a fair old bit. The best game I've played in absolutely ages!

Being an awkward girly-type, I like to be different, but on this occasion I'm going to have to agree with everyone else. Mario Tennis is a great little Game Boy game, whether you're a Wimbledon wannabe or hate tennis with a passion.

There are more options that you can shake a racket at, and it's so playable that even us Brits should be able to handle the gameplay. Game, set and match to Mario and the crew!

Graphics 100%
Cute, cute, cute!

Sound 100%
Juicy tunes!

Playability 80%
Easy to pick up.

Lastability 100%
Never ending fun.

Overall 95%
Another Mario smash-hit winner!