[Joyful music, reminiscent of day time tennis with tea]
Tennis is one of the earliest games ever represented on a computer, and apart from a game of Pool
developed by William Brown and Ted Lewis on the University of Michigan's MIDSAC computer
in 1954 (which we'll go into another time), it was the first game to feature graphics
updated in real time.
Back in 1958, whilst working at Brookhaven National Laboratory, American physicist William
Higinbotham, discovered that the Donner Model 30 analogue computer, used in the lab, could
calculate ballistic missile trajectories. This wasn't particularity useful the the labs
research into peaceful atomic power uses, but it was useful for a public open day the
lab held once a year. Higinbotham decided to use this functionality, to form the foundation
of a tennis game on a connected oscilloscope, displaying the path of a ball bouncing from
one end of the court of the other. Using two rotational controls, visitors could interact
with the display and in effect, play the first video game instance of tennis. His hopes were
to intrigue visitors and perhaps spike their curiosity for Science. Highinbotham not only
succeeded at this, but also at planting a seed that would go on to help forge the world
of video games we know today.
Fast forward just over a decade later, and we have something more familiar looking. Of
course, we all know it as Pong, but actually Atari's Pong followed a simple game known
as Tennis on the Magnavox Odyssey; the first games console. A slew of "pong" machines during
the 70s and early 80s galvanised this image in our minds. A basic tennis court, two bats
and a square dot for a ball.
Since then, tennis games have come a long way, and given it's currently Wimbledon season;
check me out, I'm actually making a relevant video, I thought we could explore their evolution
on consoles through the ages. Let's begin.
The Magnavox odyssey came with several "pack-in" cartridges - although these cartridges didn't
contain any actual data, they simply rewired the pin outputs to instigate a different screen
output. But one of these carts produced this familiar Tennis scene for us. Originally overlays
were provided to enhance the feel of the game, but underneath, this is the output. Using
2 paddle controllers, 2 players could, for the first time, play virtual tennis in their
homes, with little effort at all, although other than hitting back and forth, there are
no rules.
The Fairchild Channel F would improve proceedings by adding actual programmable cartridges and
COLOUR. Released in November 1976, tennis was supplied as an integrated game, along
with a slight variation, named hockey. Gameplay was also improved by adding the ability to
move all around the court, like a proper tennis match, rather than being limited to sideways
movement.
But, it would take the Atari VCS to put tennis into the form we're more familiar with today,
although this is still strictly an arcade style game. Either playing with a friend,
or against the computer, you simply have to move your player towards the ball, where a
swing is automatically taken. It's fast paced, but the simplicity and lack of challenge means
matches can go on forever, leading to either boredom, or a very sore wrist.
Realsports tennis presented a more realistic environment, adding court lines, scoring,
most of the rules we expect and more importantly hit variation. Here we have a much more engaging
game, however it's control method is a little clunky. Rather than aiming with the joystick
and swinging, here we have to use the num-pad to set where the ball returns to, so top right
would be 3, bottom left, 7 and so on. If anything this takes the tennis formula and over-complicates
it.
Now here's one that should be familiar. Tennis was a launch title for the NES, having been
released for the Famicom in 1984. Here we have an array of features, including a a mario
referee, doubles matches, co-operative multiplayer and configurable difficulty levels. Gameplay
feels at home on the NES control-pad and Nintendo's now-familiar style was already becoming evident.
Of course, Sega would have to follow with something similar for their Master System,
and indeed, the similarities are striking. Of course, we have the Master System's slightly
wider colour palette, and distinct PSG sound effects, but to a layman, these games will
feel like the same experience. We even have a referee, albeit on the other side, and without
that distinctive Plumber moustache. I'm sure we'd even have Sonic in his place, if he'd
existed at this point.
So, from one Super Tennis to another, and we enter, what I consider to be the most significant
era for gaming, at least in terms of taking a game and making it feel like a compelling,
arcade experience. The Super Nintendo's abilities, transform a sedate and somewhat lack-lustre
outing, into a more exciting and gripping extravaganza. Now we have a World Circuit
mode, offering eight tournaments and providing a much more engaging and progressive experience.
Thanks to the graphical abilities of the hardware, we even have sprites resembling the top players
of the time, along with an excitement inducing moving camera and some nice break sequences.
Adding to the realism, there's also voice announcements. Definitely one of the better
Tennis games.
Now here's a game I spent many, MANY hours playing. However, it does highlight a problem
with this flow of progression. Chronologically, we've progressed, but we've also regressed
back to an 8 bit system. I've included it here, because the advancement these underdog
machines took, in a world that was becoming dominated by 16 bit machines is admirable.
I believe Andre Agassi tennis, is a testament to that underdog struggle. The controls aren't
the best, but stick with it and you have a pretty playable and colourful game, with lots
of options, including changing up the court type as and when you feel.
Yes, the early to mid 90s, were a crazy time, especially in terms of gaming. New consoles
were coming and going faster than John Mcenroe descending into an argumentative rant. The
CDi is one of those interesting products, very much aligned with that era. It offered
us a seemingly impressive step up in graphics, but at the grizzly fate of gameplay. International
Tennis Open is no exception, offering you something visually pretty close to a live
action tennis match with it's CD fed background and rotoscoped players, but with the playability
of a Space Crusade set, missing the dividing walls. You can make do, but it's just not
as enjoyable.
So, we head back to the Super Nintendo, seeking something fun and uplifting. David Crane's
amazing tennis tries to deliver that goal to us, but with a distinctly low camera angle.
You can tell they were trying to make something visually impressive, something to stand out
against other games, but actually, it just hampers the enjoyment. You simply can't see
enough of the court to play a decent game, and if asked whether I want my player's back
to take up a significant portion of the screen, or the court, I'm going to side with the court.
Wimbledon Champsionship tennis on the Mega Drive therefore retains a more appropriate,
and familiar viewpoint. Graphically, we're not progressing at this point, in fact these
visuals are close to Master System standard. But I've included it to show the undulation
of change during this era. To be fair, the 16 bit consoles had a long life span, witnessing
many tennis games, and this outing may be safe and lacklustre, but it's still a playable
experience. Interestingly, although it holds the Wimbledon name, we wouldn't get official
player names until it's sequel, ATP Tour Championship Tennis, the following year.
Japan! Is our destination for Ace wo Nerae, derived from a Manga series which translates
to Aim for the Ace! Well well well. The series charts the story of a high school student,
seeking to become a professional tennis player, and made it's way onto the Super Famicom during
December 1993. Now here we get a tennis game that REALLY makes use of the Super Nintendo's
rotational and sprite scaling effects. You can switch between a mode 7 or standard view,
but both offer a compelling game of tennis which arguably knocks the socks off anything
we'd seen before. You know I think this setup would work quite well for Badminton, maybe
even Squash. Now they're really neglected sports.
Alright, so here's one of the later games for the 16 bit machines. We've seen Agassi,
now it was time for Sampras to step up, and although we don't have the mode 7 features
of our previous game, we do have some nice parallax scrolling, new shot types and the
ability to play on indoor courts, if that's your thing. Codemasters have made some pretty
incredible games, and Pete Sampras Tennis is no exception. Mean Machines Sega noted
that this could be the Mega Drive tennis game to beat the Super Nintendo's Super Tennis,
created several years prior, and y'know, it certainly ticks a lot of boxes.
It feels about the right time to finally move onto to the next console generation. We can
ease in with Break Point Tennis on the Sega Saturn. Now this is an era, where in many
ways, the previous generation of graphics looked better. We may be entering the world
of true 3D, which is no doubt impressive, but to counter that, the hardware was in its
infancy and lacked features such as anti-aliasing. What we end up with is jagged edges and low
resolution sprites... a step in the right direction perhaps, but at this stage it feels
a bit disjointed and murky.
Actua Tennis on the Playstation would move things along a bit more, although we're trading
jagged edges for the Playstation's renowned texture warping. Still it provides a playable
game, if the court does seem eerily quiet at times. It's almost like the crowd have
had the emotion sucked out of their warping craniums.
Ahhh, now, here's one of my favourite Dreamcast games of all time. Actually, it's one of my
favourite games of all time. Sega absolutely nailed it with Virtua tennis and it translates
extremely well onto the Dreamcast's potent hardware. Everything here seemed so realistic
to me, even today. From the smoothness of the graphics to the sound of the racquet hitting
the ball, everything is spot on. What's more, it's extremely compelling and simple to pick
up and play, especially if you crack open the mini games and four players doubles.
It's no surprise then, that Virtua Tennis 2 keeps up the momentum. It's with these games
where you really realise that tennis can translate beautifully to a digital format. The simplicity
of the early Pong games was something, but here we have an experience that mimics what
we witnessed on TV, whilst adding a generous serving of entertainment. Importantly, Virtua
Tennis 2 adds female characters whilst also improving the visuals.
Over on the Xbox however, new things were brewing, new graphics were emerging, and Top
Spin was there to capture them all. Here you get the complete tennis experience, from training
with a coach, to becoming the best player in the world. The Xbox visuals dazzled, whilst
providing an engrossing experience, depicted in real environments, with real players. You
only have to play on centre court to see how this outing shines.
Let's switch over to the Playstation 2 for Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2, a series
which takes most of its cues from Virtua Tennis, and manages to mostly pull it off in this
second outing, mixed with a focus on precision, which moves this apart from the faster paced
arcade excitement we knew with the former. This feels like Realsports tennis trying to
pull away from the original VCS tennis in the 80s, just with several decades of graphical
improvement.
So, it stands to reason that Virtua Tennis should pop up again, this time on the PS3.
Now here's the generation where things moved from realistic, to what many would describe
as photo-realistic. We're now in the era where you can see a character and know exactly who
it is. You can even see the animations and know who they are. We've still got the Virtua
Tennis arcade roots, but they've been built onto a fabric of real life, which pushes the
genre forward.
So, I skipped over the obvious Wii Sports Tennis, mainly due to it's bubbly cartoon
feel. I want to stick to the evolution of more realistic, serious tennis games, and
so EA Sport's Gran Slam Tennis fills in nicely. Taking advance of the Wii motion controls,
here was the tennis experience we all craved, brought to life. You can imagine in another
few decades we'll all be playing Tennis in VR, unable to differentiate it from the actual
sport. Maybe then we'll ask ourselves what on earth we're actually doing.
By now, Top Spin has reached it's fourth outing, on the inevitable Xbox 360, and along the
way it's refined the things which made it good, and made them better. This is a game
which can cater to both those looking for a casual bit of arcade fun, and the more serious
player who wants to use precision shots to volley their way through the tournaments.
This game has loads of content, all benefiting from the 360s graphical ability and excellent
control pad.
And so, having intentionally missed out computers, because that's a whole world in itself, we
move onto the current generation of consoles. AO International Tennis on the XBox ONE, fills
a void, an absence of Tennis games on the platform. It does it in a pretty good fashion,
bringing the format up to date.
As does Tennis World Tour on the PS4. Both games released in 2018, and both games, making
up for an apparent Tennis hiatus during the previous 5 years. Of the two, AO International
Tennis is probably the best, with the most options and best gameplay.
But playing these modern iterations, with their complexity and high definition graphics
just makes me yearn for something more pixelly. Something simpler. Something like Super Tennis
on the Super Nintendo, because really, somewhere between that and Virtua Tennis is where I
believe the cream of Tennis games reside, and I'm completely up for going back and playing
them again.
Who knows where the future of tennis games will take us. But somehow, I think we've already
peaked. After all, progress doesn't always lead to more fun.
Thanks for watching, have a great evening.