Super Tennis

Not to be confused with the Sega Master System game of the same name.
Super Tennis
North American cover art by Tim Girvin
Developer(s)Tose
Publisher(s)
Director(s)Junichi Nagatsuma
Producer(s)Ikurō Urai
Phil Sandhop
Designer(s)Chiemi Haruki
Katsuhiko Motono
Mika Inoue
Artist(s)S. Waki
Writer(s)Yuka Nakata
Composer(s)Yoshiki Nishimura
Platform(s)Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Release
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player, multiplayer

Super Tennis[a] is a 1991 tennis video game for the Super NES. It was an early release for the Super Nintendo and uses mode 7.

Gameplay

[edit]
Gameplay screenshot

The game itself features three different modes: Doubles mode, World Circuit mode, and Singles mode, in which the player competes against a human or chosen computer opponent.[2][3] In doubles mode, the player and a human teammate can face the CPU. Said-players can each pair with a CPU opponent, or one player can pair with a CPU opponent to face two other computer opponents. Circuit mode is the most unlike the other modes and featuring a wide range of sequential tours the player can choose to battle through each to earn ranking points, with aim to finish number one in the rankings. There are four minor tournaments and four major tournaments, each taking place on one of three surfaces that each have different effects on how the ball bounces; the tournaments are based on real-life counterparts and include nearly every world tournament in existence at that current time.

All tennis players, whether playable or the opponents, are cute, short representations of the then-top world players, though their last names are left out of the game. Each playable tennis player has their own talents on the court. Multiple of the right-hand buttons of the SNES controller perform different tennis racket moves and the direction of the ball when hit is influenced by the control pad, which also moves the player around their side of the tennis court in anticipation of the ball. Super Tennis takes time to master, as the game itself neither tells the player how to play, nor gives them any knowledge on how the many different playable characters subtly differ in play style.

Reception

[edit]

Super Tennis was met with critical acclaim by media in the United Kingdom and North America. Mean Machines magazine declared it to be "the best tennis game available [as of October 1991]" and scored all aspects of the game very highly, from sound, to gameplay, to their impressions overall. They were impressed by the attention to detail, like how ball runners get the ball off of the court whenever it gets caught in the net.[3] Computer and Video Games' editors said that Super Tennis is "more fun than should be allowed" when a set is played against a friend. They also echoed the declaration that this was the best tennis game available up until that point.[2] Professional film critics Siskel and Ebert featured the game in a brief segment to end a "Holiday Video Gift Guide" special which was syndicated on television in the United States in December 1991. Gene Siskel praised its realism and claimed it was his "favorite video game".[23][24] [25]

In a 2000s retrospective, Mean Machines' then-editor Damo stated that the game was still "the best representation of the sport to date" and also the most "fantastically competitive", but also said the single player was "nothing special".[26] Super Tennis was included as one of the titles in the 2010 book 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die.[27] IGN ranked the game 84th in their "Top 100 SNES Games of All Time".[28] In 1995, Total! rated the game 40th on their Top 100 SNES Games. They commented that Super Tennis is superb and it does not have as many features compared to Smash Tennis and praised the gameplay as "unbelievably slick".[29]

Notes

[edit]
  1. ^ Also known as Super Tennis World Circuit (Japanese: スーパーテニス ワールドサーキット, Hepburn: Sūpā Senisu Wārudo Sākitto) in Japan.

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Super NES Games" (PDF). Nintendo. Archived (PDF) from the original on 2008-09-20. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  2. ^ a b c O'Connor, Frank; Boone, Tim (November 1991). "CVG Review - Super Tennis (Famicom)". Computer and Video Games. No. 120. EMAP. pp. 36–38. Archived from the original on 2018-09-11. Retrieved 2017-09-15.
  3. ^ a b c Rignal, Julian; Leadbetter, Richard (October 1991). "Famicom Review - Super Tennis". Mean Machines. No. 13. EMAP. pp. 82–83.
  4. ^ "Super Tennis for Super Nintendo". GameRankings. CBS Interactive. 2019. Archived from the original on 2019-12-09. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  5. ^ "Now Playing - Super Tennis (Super NES)". Nintendo Power. No. 30. Nintendo of America. November 1991. p. 87.
  6. ^ Rocket; El Nio Nio (October 1991). "Super Famicom Review - Super Tennis". Consoles + (in French). No. 2. M.E.R.7. pp. 56–57. Archived from the original on 2017-09-08. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  7. ^ Riley, Adam (March 12, 2006). "Super Tennis (Super Nintendo) Review". Cubed3. Cubed3 Limited. Archived from the original on September 28, 2018. Retrieved 2020-08-01.
  8. ^ Daldry, Jeremy (November 1991). "Import Review - Super Tennis (Super Famicom)". Game Zone. Vol. 1, no. 1. Dennis Publishing. pp. 56–57.
  9. ^ Ladoire, Frank (November 1991). "Console Test - Super Tennis (Super Famicom)". Génération 4 (in French). No. 38. Computec Media France. pp. 206–207.
  10. ^ "Consoles: Super Tennis (Nintendo — Jeu de Sport — Testé sur Super Nintendo)". Génération 4 (in French). No. 45. Computec Media France. June 1992. p. 150.
  11. ^ Houng, Michel (June 1994). "Megatest: Les simulations de tennis - Super Tennis". Génération 4 (in French). No. 67. Computec Media France. pp. 112–117. Archived from the original on 2017-09-16. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  12. ^ Vialli, Giancarlo (August 1992). "Lo Más Nuevo - Super Nintendo: Super Tennis – A Las Glorias del Match Point". Hobby Consolas (in Spanish). No. 11. Axel Springer SE. pp. 80–81.
  13. ^ Demoly, Jean-Marc; Menier, Marc (November 1991). "Super Famicom | Test: Super Tennis". Joypad (in French). No. 2. Yellow Media. pp. 142–143. Archived from the original on 2017-09-17. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  14. ^ Prézeau, Olivier (June 1992). "French Collection (Super Nintendo): Super Tennis". Joypad (in French). No. 9. Yellow Media. p. 159.
  15. ^ Demoly, Jean-Marc (November 1991). "Console News: Super Tennis (Super Famicom". Joystick (in French). No. 21. Sipress. p. 189.
  16. ^ Rice, Chris (July 1992). "Reviewed! - Best of British: Super Tennis". N-Force. No. 1. Europress Impact. pp. 76–77.
  17. ^ Menne, Oliver (October 1992). "Marios Magic - Super Tennis (SNES)". Play Time (in German). No. 16. CT Computec Verlag GmbH & Co. KG. p. 103.
  18. ^ Pottier, Christophe (May 1992). "Tests De Jeux - Super Nintendo - Super Tennis". Player One (in French). No. 20. Média Système Édition. pp. 52–53. Archived from the original on 2017-10-19. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  19. ^ Gaksch, Martin (December 1991). "Videospiele / Tests: Fair Play - Super Tennis (Super Famicom)". Power Play (in German). No. 45. Future Verlag. p. 176.
  20. ^ Davies, Jonathan (November 1992). "UK Review: Super Tennis". Super Play. No. 1. Future Publishing. p. 73. Archived from the original on 2016-04-09. Retrieved 2020-08-02.
  21. ^ "A-Z of Official Games - Super Tennis". Super Pro. No. 1. Paragon Publishing. December 1992. p. 85.
  22. ^ Gaksch, Martin (April 1991). "Test: Halbfinalist - Super Tennis (Super Famicom)". Video Games (in German). No. 4. Future-Verlag. p. 90.
  23. ^ https://www.rogerebert.com/features/siskel-and-eberts-1980s-holiday-gift-guides
  24. ^ "Siskel & Ebert Classics - 1991 Holiday Video Gift Guide" (video). youtube.com. November 25, 2021.
  25. ^ https://www.imdb.com/title/tt7914612/
  26. ^ Damo (2003–2009). "Super Tennis - Super Nintendo: Retrospective comments". The Mean Machines Archive. Nintendo Life. Archived from the original on 2007-03-10. Retrieved 2017-05-07.
  27. ^ Mott, Tony (2 August 2010). 1001 Video Games You Must Play Before You Die. Quintessence Editions Ltd. ISBN 978-1-74173-076-0.
  28. ^ Top 100 SNES Games of All Time - IGN.com, retrieved 2021-08-14
  29. ^ "Top 100 SNES". Total! (43): 45. July 1995. Retrieved March 2, 2022.
[edit]
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Super_Tennis&oldid=1249816487"