The best Tennis game ever?

davewhite04 · 11 Jul 2015 at 14:06

I will be having a Tennis game session this weekend and will be playing Super Tennis on my SNES. To me this game has never been matched for shear multiplayer or even single player tennis fun. Virtua Tennis on the Dreamcast is also class but Super Tennis with its limited depth still beats it imo.

I've a Tennis game for my PC Engine (Davis Cup) that I haven't tried, but surely there's others out there that give Super Tennis a run for its money?

What's your favourite Tennis game, and what system(s) was it released on?

Ones I've played:

Super Tennis
Virtua Tennis (Dreamcast, PSP, PS Vita, PS3)
Top Spin (360)
Mario Tennis (Gameboy Advance, Gamecube)

davewhite04 · 11 Jul 2015 at 14:21

Pac3y said:
Top spin 2 (360) for me, it was difficult to master but once you got the hang of the controls it was purely amazing.

That seems to be the case with Top Spin. Thing is I'll be playing my brother who doesn't usually game, so if I was a Top Spin pro I'd whip his ass, whereas Super Tennis is really easy to get into.

davewhite04 · 11 Jul 2015 at 14:48

Tallunis said:
i loved top spin but i always remember playing Anna Kournikovas Smash Court Tennis when i was younger =x

Never played that one, shame because I wouldn't mind smashing her

davewhite04 · 11 Jul 2015 at 15:16

Nismo said:
Pete Sampras on the Mega Drive, had lots of fun playing that

Ah I need a good Megadrive Tennis game, this could be it!

Thanks, will try it out.

davewhite04 · 11 Jul 2015 at 15:53

Defy Belief said:
Spent toooooooo many hours on Mario Tennis but the n64 version, great game and the ring challenges etc were awesome fun.

Never played it for the N64, I guess it is probably similar to the Gamecube version.

I like it on the advance because it's like a rpg, same with the Golf which is superb. Damn I need to get my Gamecube setup with the Gamecube Advance add-on.

davewhite04 · 12 Jul 2015 at 15:37

Bigpig said:
this best tennis game ever

I've just got the '96 version off eBay cheap as chips(I collect Megadrive games in anyway, so I need it for my collection), really looking forward to it since the Megadrive is my favourite 16bit Home Console

davewhite04 · 12 Jul 2015 at 15:41

Doohickey said:
Smash Court Tennis 2 on PS2 was so much fun.

Since I get my PS2 out pretty often and after reading up a bit more about this I'll defo be getting it.

Thanks!

davewhite04 · 12 Jul 2015 at 15:43

NorthstaNder said:
The only one I've every played is Match Point on the Spectrum 48k so I'd have to vote for that one!

Just checked this out on YouTube to see if I played it, I did indeed and it was fantastic at the time.

davewhite04 · 12 Jul 2015 at 15:49

Timber said:
However my fave will always be Super Tennis on SNES. Getting that along with F-Zero and Super Mario World in the summer of 1992 was one of the best gaming times ever. Played some epic 2-player 5 setters on that. The single player mode is great fun too although those passwords suck. I've never known a game capture the game as well as this one.

It was a VERY special time indeed, like the beginning of 2001 Space Odyssey! I feel EXACTLY the same about Super Tennis, but will be trying some of these recommendations out.

Remember the boss in Super Tennis, he had only one weakness that I could find.

Happy days indeed. I've got a CRT TV with just my SNES and Megadrive setup on it, and it ain't going nowhere!

davewhite04 · 12 Jul 2015 at 15:57

Doohickey said:
Smash Court Tennis 2 on PS2 was so much fun.

Ordered this and the first one(because it's got Agassi, Sampras etc. in it) for £3.50, a steal.

Can't wait, I mean Namco the developers(when they could do no wrong) it must be smashing

davewhite04 · 12 Jul 2015 at 20:08

Doohickey said:
The Tekken/Soul Calibur unlockable characters were insane, but still worked! So much 2 player fun. Heihachi vs Ling Xiaoyu, has to be played to be believed

Got my PS2 setup ready

davewhite04 · 12 Jul 2015 at 20:13

the shadow said:

Just finished session. Played the Jap version, with "Wagassi" and "Lendou", won my brother on a tie break.

Played doubles, bro was Edberg, me Agassi vs Sampras and Mcanroe. Beat 6-4

not bad since my bro hasn't played it for years!

I've went Tennis mad, having a blast on Everyday Tennis PSP on my PS TV now

(Was going to be a Elder Scrolls Online weekend, but Wimbledon's only once a year!)

davewhite04 · 12 Jul 2015 at 20:14

anticonscience said:
Amazing game that is made even better with some amazing cheat codes.

Noted.

davewhite04 · 12 Jul 2015 at 20:15

Tauren said:
I wish an indie would make a super tennis clone with real player names etc. That'd be awesome. It's my favorite tennis game.

The Jap version has all the past greats, with their style etc. plus they swear, it's far superior in character to the Western versions

davewhite04 · 12 Jul 2015 at 20:18

jennidc said:
I forgot about Wii Sports - yep best tennis game ever

Not enough room, plus I'd rather play it for real if I went in the Wii direction.

davewhite04 · 13 Jul 2015 at 17:08

Timber said:
Especially when you remember Super Castlevania, Zelda, Pilotwings, Contra and Actraiser weren't that far behind. One of the better launch lineups.

Unfortunately I've long since sold my SNES so have only played the game occasionally on emulation since. I can't remember playing a boss, but remember there was always a player you'd end up contesting the finals against. I can remember the insane passwords to continue, the credits screen and various other bits like that change sides music (in my head now lol)

I think I worded it slightly wrong though. Its not that it's the best game to have captured tennis, but probably the best at getting the controls so right for the game it was. Such a great use of all those buttons on the controller.

Amazing lineups for both the SNES and Megadrive. I think you worded it fine actually, Super Tennis makes you feel like you are a top tennis player, it's amazing really. Tried Everyday Golf, the gameplay is okay but it's night and day compared to Super Tennis.

Waiting for Sampras and Super Smash Tennis now, high hopes, but mainly for single player as as far as 2 player vs or co-op goes, nothing CAN beat Super Tennis, it just can't be done, maybe a game will be its equal, I'll see.

It was like playing in Wimbledon yesterday.

Virtua Tennis is a class 1 player tennis game, so addictive and just fun, awesome title. I've got the Vita version now, haven't got my Dreamcast setup, but I do have my PS3 setup... hmmm... there's an idea

davewhite04 · 13 Jul 2015 at 17:10

HangTime said:
Most older tennis games are a bit too formulaic for my liking, i.e. the points play out too similarly (in other words there is usually a tactic you can persistently deploy). Pete Sampras gets mentioned a lot in this thread, I have '96(?) on the Megadrive and as I recall once you 'solve' it, it becomes quite boring.

Multiplayer obviously a bit different. I still remember playing Super Tennis on the SNES and having great fun musta been over 20 years ago now.

I quite enjoyed Wii Sports tennis (although never quite figured out how to serve reliably), might have to see if I can pick up a cheap game that works well with motion plus?

Yeah, Virtua Tennis is perhaps the best single player Tennis game available, I like the depth, the rackets etc. and mini games are great, it's also like a RPG. Fantastic game. Not a bad version released I don't think?

davewhite04 · 13 Jul 2015 at 17:12

Timber said:
They didn't update Tennis is Wii Sports Resorts which was a massive shame. I think Grand Slam Tennis is the way to go on Wii if you want something more developed.

Agreed. if I would play a Wii Tennis game I'd practice on the resort and compete in Grand Slam(which isn't supposed to be perfect, but is good apparently).

davewhite04 · 13 Jul 2015 at 17:41

If there's any PC gamers viewing the thread, I've just discovered a potential classic, Tennis Elbow 2013, Not sure if it's worth £19 (100MB) so stuck it on my wishlist. Will defo get it, looks like it plays like Super Tennis but maybe lacks the character, will see eventually.

davewhite04 · 13 Jul 2015 at 17:52

Either Top Spin 4 or Virtua Tennis 4 I want for my PS3... something tells me to try Top Spin for a change, having Virtua on Dreamcast and Vita sort of works in Top Spins favour.