Commodore User


On-Court Tennis

Publisher: Activision
Machine: Commodore 64

 
Published in Commodore User #22

On-Court Tennis

Summer games are pouring out at the moment and Activision seem to be responsible for more than half of them. This is their effort at tennis.

Choose a persona from the options available: John Ringler, Bjorn Urrin, Jimmy Orr and Ivan Messier and you'll possess talents applicable to that player. It's fairly obvious who they represent I think you'll agree. Thus, if you choose Jimmy Orr you'll have a great backhand and serve, but poor endurance.

Next you choose the surface you're playing on, which again imitates the real thing, with slow clay and fast grass. Sort out your options and you're ready to play. It would be difficult if you had to move your player to the ball and swing, so your man automatically positions himself, and then it's up to you to time the swing.

It's not quite that easy because there are a variety of different shots you can play just by moving the direction of the joystick. For example, pulling back will make your man lob. If the ball is lobbed by your opponent, you automatically smash it, but timing and direction are important.

Serving has a similar approach to rallying. Your player throws the ball up automatically, and you move the joystick to hit it. As before, you have control over depth and direction of shot. So it all sounds very simple, and in effect it is - the mark of a good game, rather than a bad one. You don't have to spend ages trying to master what to do rather than how to do it. A good sports simulation with more than adequate graphics. Pity about the price though.