It’s been almost 11 years since Top Spin 4 graced our Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles, the game many fans no doubt agree is the best tennis game ever made. Since then, tennis video games died out for a good six or so years with no new Top Spin, no new Grand Slam Tennis, no new Smash Court Tennis, and not even a new Virtua Tennis. The future of tennis games didn’t look so bright.
In the last few years, however, we’ve had somewhat of a resurgence in what’s on offer. Putting it politely, most haven’t been great. The first Tennis World Tour game was unfinished and broken to say the least but thankfully the sequel was a lot better even if still not great. The AO Tennis games were better, especially 2, but for all the good, the animations and unbalanced gameplay stopped it from being anything more. Now we’re in 2022, and Torus Games, based in Victoria, Australia, are joining the party with Matchpoint – Tennis Championships trying to deliver the best tennis game in quite some time.
Matchpoint – Tennis Championships
The game will release this spring on the PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, PC and Nintendo Switch. It’s fair to say if you game at all you’ll at least be able to play the game on one of those platforms. Unlike many past tennis games, Matchpoint – Tennis Championships is a simulator which aims to have “authentic ball physics” as well as “sophisticated character animations” and “unprecedented player control.” So far, all of this is bringing a big smile to my face as it’s what many of us have wanted for so long.
To make the deal even better, there’s a deep career mode featuring a unique merit-based ranking system, a character creator which allows you to customize your player’s playstyle and looks through outfits and racquets with real-life sponsors such as Babolat, YONEX and HEAD, training modes–and the biggest deal of them all to me, 16 professional real-life tennis players. These players range from current US Open champion Daniil Medvedev, Top 10 player Andrey Rublev, and the upcoming sensation Carlos Alcaraz on the men’s side to Spaniard Garbine Muguruza, former world #1 Victoria Azarenka, and Brit Heather Watson on the women’s.
As it stands, there’s no doubt the game is sounding as promising as any tennis game has in the previous ten years. I was lucky enough to interview game designer David McIntosh, who answered some more in-depth questions about the game which will be published later this week. For now, check out this new gameplay trailer where even though a little rough around the edges, there’s more than enough good to be seen.
Main Photo from Getty.
