Dino Galaxy Tennis

Genre: Sports (Pong)

Players: 1-4 Team Competitive (Local)

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Review:

Dino Galaxy Tennis, released on PC in 2021 and ported to Nintendo Switch in 2022, is a game that takes the basic idea of Pong and adds anthropomorphic spacefaring dinosaurs with jetpacks to put a decidedly different twist on the classic formula.

Despite the silliness of the premise, the game’s cartoony 2D visuals give the game a lighthearted kid-friendly look that, while not bad, absolutely fails to capitalize on the comedic premise behind the game. I think this game would have worked so much better if the dinos in question were photo-realistic, making them look even more absurd and out-of-place in space. As-is, the game looks fine, but not at all memorable. The same goes for the game’s synthesized music – it’s fine, but completely forgettable.

As for the gameplay itself, this is a pretty respectable take on Pong, albeit with some fun additions. Giving players multiple kinds of strikes much in the same way you tend to see in actual Tennis games is a nice touch. The jetpacks and the way the game encourages players to strike the ball in the air are also a fun addition to the gameplay. On top of this, there are various level gimmicks and minigames here to add variety and keep things interesting.

My main complaint about this game is the decision to make the area you’re defending a circular planet. This has the unfortunate effect of making it a bit more confusing to know which way to point the stick to move one way or the other – are you pressing up to move counter-clockwise, or pressing in the direction your dino will actually move? What if you’re moving freely in the air using the jetpack? Transitioning from one to the other? In addition, I found the hit detection here to be occasionally a bit iffy.

Despite these flaws, Dino Galaxy Tennis is a fun take on the Pong formula that manages to be pretty accessible and fun despite being varied and having enough depth to make things interesting. The issues with the controls keep this from being a truly great game, but overall this should still make a decent addition to a family-friendly Party Game lineup.

tl;dr – Dino Galaxy Tennis is a game of Pong featuring spacefaring dinosaurs with jetpacks. This makes for an original take on Pong with some good variety and interesting mechanics, though the game’s control issues can be frustrating.

Grade: C+

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