Gaming
Tennis
The 6 best tennis games of all time
From that game in Wii Tennis to Anna Kournikova's smash, these are the greatest tennis games ever.
It's that time of year when everyone becomes a tennis fan for two weeks. Yes, Wimbledon is back and Andy Murray will be looking to defend his title and lift the silver gilt trophy for a third time, while Angelique Kerber is the top women's seed.
A major tournament always gets us in the mood to play our old tennis games. Here are the six classic tennis titles that you should be playing over the next two weeks.
Wii Sports (Wii)
Wii Sports tennis
© Nintendo
We really have to start with the game that wasn't merely fun but transformed the entire shape of the games industry. Wii Sports was the game that got many non-gamers playing video games for the first time, and while it contained a total of five sports it goes without saying that it was tennis that helped sell the most Wii systems. It may be too simplistic for some (you just swish the Wii Remote to hit the ball) but of all the games on this list Wii Sports is the one that most people in your house will be willing to play with you.
Virtua Tennis (Dreamcast)
Virtua Tennis
© Sega
Some tennis games can be very complicated as players are required to display precision timing to pull off a wide variety of shots, but others are very basic and more forgiving when the buttons aren't pressed at exactly the right moment. Virtua Tennis falls squarely in the latter category and is all the better for it. Despite only featuring two different action buttons, Sega's tennis series has always allowed players to pull off a surprising number of different stroke types, making it the perfect 'easy to learn, hard to master' title. The Dreamcast version of the arcade original was magnificent and PS2 owners got to see what they were missing out on with the sequel. Versions have also been released on PS3 and Xbox 360.
Grand Slam Tennis 2 (PS3, Xbox 360)
Grand Slam Tennis 2
© EA Sports
EA Sports is the king of licenced sports games, owning the rights to official FIFA, NFL, NBA, NHL, PGA and UFC games. For a short while it also tried its hand at tennis with the Grand Slam Tennis games. The first was exclusive to Wii, but the superior sequel came to Xbox 360 and PS3. Featuring the Wimbledon licence and commentary from Pat Cash and John McEnroe, it was the most authentic tennis game ever. It was a shame when EA decided to kill the series after only two games.
Mario Tennis: Power Tour (Game Boy Advance)
Mario Tennis: Power Tour
© Nintendo
There have been five different Mario Tennis games released over the years with a sixth, Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash, due to launch on Wii U in November. However, the best of the bunch to date is Power Tour on the Game Boy Advance. What it lacked in graphical oomph it more than made up for in content, featuring an in-depth RPG-style story mode in which players enroll at the Royal Tennis Academy and must become an expert tennis pro.
Sega Superstars Tennis (Wii, DS, PS3, Xbox 360)
Sega Superstars Tennis
© Sega
These days, thanks to the Sonic & Sega Superstars racing games, the idea of Sega's top characters all coming together doesn't seem strange. Sega Superstars Tennis was the first game to do it though, giving fans that opportunity to see characters from the likes of Sonic, Jet Set Radio, Golden Axe, Alex Kidd and Space Channel 5 interacting. The fact that the game itself featured solid Virtua Tennis-style gameplay was the final cherry on top.
Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis (PlayStation)
Anna Kournikova's Smash Court Tennis
© Namco
Namco (back before it merged with Bandai) had its own arcade-style tennis series which started with Smash Court in 1996. This second game included pro tennis star Anna Kournikova, but more interesting to gamers was the ability to unlock a lot of Namco characters, ranging from the obvious (Pac-Man, Heihachi from Tekken) to more obscure characters (Reiko from Ridge Racer, Richard from Time Crisis). It also had the brilliant Smash Tennis mode, in which players played with bombs instead of tennis balls.
