Arcade Archives Vs. Tennis

Genre: Sports (Tennis)

Players: 1-2 Competitive (Local), 2-4 Competitive (Local Wireless), Online Leaderboards

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Review:

Tennis is a take on the Sport released on Famicom in 1984 and then ported to arcades later that same year, then ported to Nintendo Entertainment System in 1985 as a launch title in the US. This is Nintendo’s first videogame to take on this sport, a full decade before Mario’s Tennis on the Virtual Boy would kick off Nintendo’s series of Mario-headlining Tennis games.

Tennis uses 2D pixel art visuals and chiptune sound design that work well enough for the game. It all has a retro style charm to it, but it’s not exceptional in any way.

Unfortunately, the gameplay here is pretty bad, with extremely stingy hit detection making it difficult to line up properly with the ball when it’s heading to your side, and impossible to aim properly. You can gradually get used to this game’s gameplay… but why would you want to? There are plenty of better Tennis games on the Nintendo Switch.

This release of the game includes a new “Hi-Score Mode” that challenges players to make as many points as they can in one run. There is also a new “Caravan Mode” that does much the same, but with the limit being five minutes. In addition, this release of the game gives players a decent array of options, including various display options, sound options, challenge modifiers, button mapping, and online leaderboards.

So there are only two remaining elephants in the room to discuss. First: Is this game worth its $8 price tag? And second, is it worth buying if you already subscribe to Nintendo Switch Online, which includes a version of this game on its Nintendo Entertainment System app? I’m going to say no on both counts. Not only is $8 pretty steep for a game this old and that plays this poorly, but the Nintendo Entertainment System app version is not different enough to make this version worthwhile in its own right. Really, the only reason anyone would want to buy this release is if they absolutely must own a version of the game. But if you plan on continuing to maintain your Nintendo Switch Online subscription, this release has very little of value for you.

Nintendo’s first Tennis game may have some redeeming value as a footnote in history, but that’s just about all it has. It’s a pretty terrible game of Tennis by today’s standards, and the $8 price tag is just absurd, especially when you can play essentially the same game at no added cost on Nintendo Switch Online’s Nintendo Entertainment System app. Save your $8 and either do that, or buy a better Tennis game.

tl;dr – Vs. Tennis is Nintendo’s first take on the Sport, and by far the worst. By today’s standards this game is terrible, a fact made even worse by an insulting $8 price tag, which is even more insulting given that this same game is available on Nintendo Switch Online’s Nintendo Entertainment System app. Do not buy this.

Grade: D

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