Tennis is a sport involving a racket and a fluorescent yellow rubber ball. It can be played with singles or duos. One might wonder why there are so few tennis video games. Licensing tennis games that contain venues around the world can be complicated. Although it’s possible to get most of the grand slams, many of the smaller events are left out. Still, games like Mario Tennis prove it’s not all about realism, but enjoyability that makes a smash hit.
Let’s take a trip down memory lane to visit the top tennis video games ever made. This is a ranking of the best tennis games of all time.
Updated December 21st, 2020 by Jack Pursey: 2020 has been a tough year for tennis fans; major competitions like Wimbledon have had to be canceled, and many tennis courts were closed due to the pandemic. Thankfully, there is reason to be optimistic that the courts could once again be packed with tennis lovers in the summer of 2021. In the meantime, we have decided to add more entries to this list to tide people over while they’re still stuck indoors.
15 Hot Shots Tennis: Get A Grip
As the name suggests, Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip (also known as Everybody’s Tennis Portable) is a spin-off of the popular Hot Shots Golf series (also known as Everybody’s Golf).
The game continues the Hot Shots tradition of ignoring realism, opting to provide over-the-top entertainment instead. Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip scored an impressive 80 on Metacritic; ten points higher than the lackluster Hot Shots Tennis that initially released on the PlayStation 2 in 2006.
14 Mario Tennis: Power Tour
The Game Boy Advance probably isn’t the first system that springs to mind when people think of the best places to play sporting titles, but Mario Tennis: Power Tour offered a great time to anyone willing to give the handheld game a try.
Released in 2005, the gameplay was similar to that of Mario Power Tennis on the GameCube (more on that later), with the gameplay being centered around earning power shots.
13 Virtual Tennis (GBA Version)
Surprisingly, Mario Tennis isn’t the only Game Boy Advance tennis title worth checking out, as Virtua Tennis provides simple yet addictive gameplay on the limited system.
The game was nominated for GameSpot’s award of Best Sports Game on the Game Boy Advance in 2002, though it ultimately lost out to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3.
12 Virtua Tennis: World Tour
The second, but certainly not the last game from the critically acclaimed Virtua Tennis series to appear on this list, Virtua Tennis: World Tour released on the PSP in 2005.
As would be expected with a PSP title, the game didn’t offer too many differentials to the main series, but it’s still a fantastic tennis game to play on the go today.
11 Mario Tennis (N64)
Released in the year 2000, Mario Tennis is one of Mario’s few sporting titles that doesn’t implement any sort of power-ups in its core gameplay and instead offers a fairly realistic physics-based tennis experience.
With an impressive Metascore of 91, Mario Tennis is the highest rated Mario sports game ever when excluding kart racers; with just Mario Kart Super Circut (93) and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (92) being ahead of it.
10 Super Tennis
Retro gaming is appealing for a variety of reasons. One of which is because winning can be more rewarding. Retro games like Super Tennis came with an instruction manual. It’s yet another thing we miss about games like this.
Super Tennis is one of our favorite tennis games because of the amount of polish for its time. It was released in 1991 and contains characters with different play styles. Fine details like ball runners who grab balls caught in the net enrich the experience.
9 Grand Slam Tennis 2
Yes, EA Sports was in the business of making tennis games. They’ve dipped their hands into nearly every sport by now. Tennis is less prevalent in video games, but it boasts numerous fans worldwide for the sport as a whole, so of course EA Sports was going to make a game or two.
We are waiting for Grand Slam Tennis 3 since there has been a shortage of decent tennis games in recent years. Featuring top players like Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova, the game was praised for its online gameplay. It doesn’t quite measure up to other franchises like Virtua Tennis and Top Spin, but that won’t stop many from picking up this tennis classic.
8 Virtua Tennis
The game that kicked off one of tennis’s biggest video gaming franchises deserves recognition for that and more. Virtua Tennis released for platforms like Sega Dreamcast, Game Boy Advance, and N-Gage.
Don’t feel alone if you hadn’t heard about two out of three of these consoles. The Sega Dreamcast and the N-Gage had limited sales despite Virtua Tennis being a critical success. The console versions integrated a campaign mode, adding to their appeal.
7 Virtua Tennis 3
We’re glad Sega decided to release Virtua Tennis 3 as a multi-platform game despite being out of the video game console market. The Sega Dreamcast may have kicked off the Virtua Tennis franchise, but Virtua Tennis 3 was a significant improvement over the first.
Had this game built more on Virtua Tennis 2, it would have ranked higher on this list. Virtua Tennis 2 and Virtua Tennis 3 are strikingly similar and unfortunately contain most of the same faults.
6 Top Spin
Now we’re getting into some of the most influential tennis games in history. The original Top Spin is a feature-rich game with one of the most aspirational career modes in sports games.
The career mode allows you to sign with sponsors, which in turn unlocks clothing and fame. Virtua Tennis is a masterclass, but where so many failed, Top Spin surpassed Virtua Tennis by having an awe-inspiring career mode.
5 Tennis For Two
Tennis for Two deserves special recognition for being possibly the first video game ever made. You might think that Pong was the first game, but Tennis for Two released years before that.
Tennis as part of video games might not exist if it weren’t for games like Pong and Tennis for Two. While Pong is based on table tennis, Tennis for Two is played from the side view of a tennis court. The screen was a mere five inches, but the appeal of playing the first video game ever was limitless.
4 Mario Power Tennis (GameCube Version)
Mario Power Tennis for the Nintendo Wii was an utter disaster since the motion controls didn’t work well with the game. Mario Power Tennis for the Nintendo GameCube, however, is a critically acclaimed masterpiece and one of the best tennis games of all time.
This game stands out for its whacky antics and unique style of play because it’s not a tennis simulation game like many others on this list. The gameplay mechanics work well, which is why this is a notable entry in the Mario Tennis series.
3 Virtua Tennis 2 (Tennis 2K2)
Although Virtua Tennis 3 did little to differentiate itself from its predecessor, Virtua Tennis 2 was a groundbreaking achievement. It added the slice tennis stroke, which is a fundamental part of the game.
Virtua Tennis 2 released for platforms such as the PlayStation 2 and Sega Dreamcast. The Sega Dreamcast is considered a console that was ahead of its time because of games like Virtua Tennis 2.
2 Top Spin 4
After the release of the first Top Spin, improvements to the series were unimaginable. Top Spin 2 and Top Spin 3 were mediocre improvements, but Top Spin 4 is a masterpiece.
We have to recognize Top Spin 4 for its intuitive gameplay. Tennis has never looked so realistic in a simulation game. You can see the emotion in your player as you strive for a Grand Slam victory.
1 Wii Sports
As one of the best-selling games of all time, Wii Sports is more than a tennis game. It is boxing, golf, bowling, baseball, and tennis.
Launching a forehand or backhand stroke with the Wiimote’s motion controls becomes second nature as you immerse yourself in this game. Tennis has never been as good since Wii Sports.
![\"IT電腦補習](\"http://itteacheritfreelance.hk/test/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/logo2-2.png\"){kind=logo}
www.itsec.hk
www.itsec.vip
www.itseceu.uk
Leave a Reply