As long as consoles have been around, tennis ‘video’ games have been around. And if you are new to this or are looking to understand at not just which are the best tennis video games but also some of those from the yesteryear, here’s an exhaustive guide for the same.
Having gone through the entire collection of tennis games available, here are top picks that make the tennis fan in you roar with delight.
Wii Tennis
There were a million voices out there crying in dismay when the Wii arrived. They were in the shock that Nintendo had killed the console gaming experience.
The tennis bit included the players moving around automatically and you had to swing your controller like a racket and avoid smashing the television set with it and you could have an absolute amazing game.
The controls were a first and it may not have been the best tennis game in the market but certainly was the most accessible one. Anyone and everyone could get in action and even pull off some amazing moves even though it meant that the little characters looked absolutely ridiculous doing it.
The players can choose from singles or doubles to play according to their likeness and the controller felt like an actual tennis racquet so it also seemed very real.
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Topspin 4
This most recent release of the Topspin series came out in 2011 in all major consoles. It is a game with realistic experience with amazing graphics, real time gameplay and make you like tennis for what it is.
It has been a long-time leader in realistic gameplay, and always will be. Additionally, it also has wide range of players to choose from.
You can choose from a current player or even a retired one on tour while also giving you an option to create a player by yourself. It is still a very popular choice even though the game was released about a decade ago, but will possibly remain so until Topspin 5 comes out.
It is designed for the more hard-core fans, and it is also a reason why people absolutely love it.
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AO Tennis 2
Tennis games are rarity to come by on the PS4 console even though the previous version PS3 had plenty to offer. When the first version of the game came out in 2018, it was deemed very raw and unfinished.
Although the developers tried to fix it and tried to make it better, it never gained popularity. When the studios came out the sequel to the game, in January 2020 it was a much better one the previous one.
You can create extensive characters with a career mode and even a long range of game modes and trainings to sharpen your skills. The technologies used like motion capturing and 3D scanning make the professional tennis players in the game even more realistic.
Mario Tennis
Even though this game in every fashion far away from the actual tennis we play but it sure does make a fun game to play with friends. Mario games have never been a disappointment and this Nintendo 64 game was one of the most popular ones. It had all the characters everyone loves and the game such a hit that they even made two new Mario Tennis games.
Virtua Tennis
This game had the most realistic looking players and was a game changer in the 1990’s when tennis games weren’t really a hype and everyone was trying to take tennis to another level. It even had the best courts and the gameplay was very arcade-like.
Very big names of the tennis industry made it to their players list like Patrick Rafter and Serena Williams. In the latest release of the game, Virtua Tennis 4 it has progressed to be more reality-like and is still very fun to play.
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Super Tennis Blast
This game has a very innovative cartoon style to it, but it is rather a more serious game. It has the old scoring system which makes it very traditional in nature and the game is actual competition even on the easiest levels.
It even brings in fun when you can choose your own avatar and even has different levels to choose if you want a harder level. It is available on the PS4 console and you can even play with you friends. There are even various moves you can choose from where you can do volleys, lobs and even backspins to make you feel like you’re playing just in the real court.
Match Point
When this game came out all the developers were trying really hard to get a good game to the market which was realistic enough and players would even have fun while playing it.
When this game came out, it somehow impressed everyone and the way the court and the player were illustrated along with the fast gameplay this game all in all made a very good deal. Even though the only move you could make with the controller was to swing it but it did offer a wide range of shots to hit from.
Pong
This game was not really tennis but rather just a square ball that just goes around a court and the ball would bounce off its edges. It got more popular when it got introduced to television sets and set off a more arcade tone.
The ball also tends to go faster as the game progresses which makes it even more interesting.
And did we tell you, it came out in 1972, and was manufactured by Atari (we can see a few old nostalgics shed a tear or 15!)
Online Tennis Games Worth Playing
- s1.TennisMania.com: This is one of the more interesting free tennis online games we found online. Once you have registered with the site, there are a few training sessions in which the user is taught to use the keyboard to run around the court and shot-making. The training then moves to rallies before getting you to play matches, and carry out other tasks like building your stadium and practice courts and winning reward points at every level. Must-play if you are a tennis fan.
- Stick Tennis: The age-old online tennis game which comes from the house of StickSports.com. It’s a free gaming platform which allows users to play multiple sports games including tennis and if you want to just play tennis online without the shenanigans of the aforementioned, go with Stick Tennis.
- CrazyGames.com: Another website which has a plethora of online games including multiple tennis games. A rather similarly sounding Stickman Tennis is an obvious one to try but there are others in the list of free online tennis games too, like Crazy Tennis and Mini Tennis 3D.