Press , or on the title screen to display the main menu. Select an option with and confirm your selection with .

1P/2P/3P/4P	Play tennis with the number of players you select. Select a character, then decide the game mode.
CONTINUE	If the game’s progress has been saved, select your save file here to pick up where you left off.
SPECIAL GAMES	Play in a special game mode where you try to get five or seven points first. You can also watch a game between computer-controlled players. Note: Ring Tournament is a special event mode used in Mario Tennis™, the original Nintendo 64™ title. This mode is not supported in the Virtual Console version of the software. Even if you enter an entry code, you will not be able to play it.
OPTIONS	Select STATUS to view one-player match results, SAVED DATA to delete saved data, MUSIC to turn in-game music ON or OFF, or SOUND to choose between STEREO and MONO sound. Once saved data is deleted, it cannot be retrieved, so be careful.

Select a player with or . Hold down the or / while selecting a character to make that character left-handed. If you have won the Star Cup with a character, hold down to give that character a star.

Note: Multiple players are not able to select the same character. This version of the software does not support the N64 Transfer Pak™, so you will not be able to interact with Mario Tennis™ for Game Boy™ Color.

ALL-AROUND	Good at all facets of the game.
TECHNIQUE	Hits accurate shots.
SPEED	Moves quickly on the court.
POWER	Hits powerful shots.
TRICKY	Hits curved effect shots.

You can choose from five different play modes: EXHIBITION, TOURNAMENT, RING SHOT, BOWSER STAGE and PIRANHA CHALLENGE.

Note: Tournament Mode and Piranha Challenge Mode cannot be played with multiple players.