Tennis

"It doesn't have Snoopy or Mario, but makes a good racket!"

Tennis, as the title simply is, is one of the original Game Boy releases that came out with the launch of Nintendo’s original Game Boy back in 1989. When I got my Game Boy Color a few months ago, it was the first game that I played on the system. It may be twelve years old, but it is still a good portable game for Nintendo’s top selling portable platform, the Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket and Game Boy Color.

Graphics – 8/10

For a twelve-year-old game, the graphics look great when tapping into the increased color palette of the Game Boy Color. The players have small details and several animations and the ball flies across the court, all at a brisk speed. There are some glitches, such as when the players change sides; they pass through each other, but no glitches that severely hamper gameplay.

Sound – 5/10

Tennis for the Game Boy features only one menu tune and one tune throughout any gameplay. The gameplay tune is good, but small and gets repetitive. Other sound effects are simple and the typical eight-bit effects. They include the beeps when the ball is served and returned and the hissing cheers and whoops of the crowd. A couple of speech clips would have helped tremendously or cool music like as in the NES game Ice Hockey.

Presentation – 7/10

The presentation is simple, with no introduction sequence. The menus include simple text animation. In between games and sets, a scoreboard (complete with Mario) shows the score. Basic, but it was one of the first portable games outside the Game & Watch.

Gameplay – 9/10

At first, there is one word to describe the gameplay of Tennis: challenging. When I first played it, I could barely score even once. The A button drives the ball while the B button hits the ball slow and high. Obviously, the directional pad moves your player. Over time, I got better with the game. There are four levels of difficulty, dubbed levels one through four. One is the easiest and four is extremely difficult. There is also a two-player link mode, which works well.

Miscellaneous –
The game was developed and published by Nintendo of America in 1989. This game was made before the ESRB rating system, yet contains no objectionable content.

Overall – 7/10

The game features good graphics, yet weak sound. The presentation is simple, but the gameplay is good with a manageable learning curve. It’s a great first tennis effort from Nintendo.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 04/23/01, Updated 04/23/01