Summary
Tennis and gaming have a long history together, withTennis For Two(1958) and table-tennis gamePong(1972) being two of the most important video game releases of all time. Since these primitive beginnings, tennis games have grown and improved alongside the industry as a whole, to the point where tennis video games today are - like many sports games -frighteningly realistic.
Unfortunately, tennis has been overlooked by many publishers in recent years, as companies like EA Sports and 2K Sports have focused more on team-based sports and modes like Ultimate Team that generate eye-watering sums of money each year. Thankfully, though, there have been many fantastic tennis games released over the years that are well-wroth replaying today.
Updated April 15th, 2024, by Jack Pursey:Like golf, tennis works as both a serious simulation-style video game and a wacky,over-the-top style of game, which has given the sport great variety in the gaming world, with franchises like Top Spin and the Mario tennis games providing stellar entertainment despite how fundamentally different their approach to the sport is. To give tennis fans a better idea of what to play next, this list of thebest tennis video gameshas been updated to include a few more entries.
Metascore: 80
Mario Power Tennis
Power Up Your Tennis Game!The Mushroom Kingdom has hosted tennis tournaments before, but never one as explosive as this one! Mario and Co. return to the courts with even more powerful shots and new, character-specific power moves guaranteed to make for absolute tennis lunacy. Throw banana-boomerangs as DK, smack returns with Mario’s hammer, and play your way to the top with all your favorite characters!- A game for everyone! With one- to four-player modes available, prepare for mind-blowing multiplayer madness.- Tennis, Mario-style! Fight off Klaptraps, clean up sludge, fight through Item Battle mode, or play tennis-themed mini-games!- Choose wisely! Each character has a defensive and offensive power move that can send foes reeling or return out-of-reach balls!- Be as crazy as you like! Play traditional tournaments, or hit the Gimmick Courts for the wildest matches you’ve ever seen.
Similar toTop Spin 4,Mario Power Tennisfor the Nintendo Wii was an utter disaster thanks to the motion controls not working well with the game;Mario Power Tennisfor the GameCube, however, is a critically acclaimed gem and one of the best tennis games of all time.
Unlike the aforementionedMario Tennis(N64),Mario Power Tennisleans into the weird and wacky side ofMariosports games with gimmick courses and ridiculously over-the-top Power Shots, makingMario Power Tennisideal for those who don’t take their sports games too seriously.
Developer(s):Clap Hanz
Publisher(s):Sony Computer Entertainment
As the name suggests,Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip(also known asEverybody’s Tennis Portable) is a spin-off ofthe popularHot Shots Golfseries(also known asEverybody’s Golf).
The game continues theHot Shotstradition of largely ignoring realism, opting to provide fun and over-the-top gameplay instead.Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip’s impressive 80 on Metacritic, ten points higher than the lacklusterHot Shots Tennisthat was initially released on the PlayStation 2 in 2006.
Developer(s):Camelot Software Planning
Publisher(s):Nintendo
The Game Boy Advance probably isn’t the first system that springs to mind when most people think of the best places to play sports games, butMario Tennis: Power Touroffered a great time to anyone willing to give the handheld game a try.
Released in 2005, the gameplay is similar to that ofMario Power Tennison the GameCube (more on that game later), with the gameplay being centered around earning Power Shots. Furthermore, there are both offensive and defensive power shots available, which offer a good level of variety and strategy to the gameplay.
Developer(s):Hitmaker
Publisher(s):Sega and Acclaim Entertainment
Virtua Tennis 2(also known asTennis 2K2) was first released in arcades in 2001 before arriving on Sega Dreamcast and then PlayStation 2 shortly after. The game introduced World Tour mode to the series, which would become a staple of the franchise, and it’s not an exaggeration to say that it’s one of the best single-player modes in any sports game ever released.
Virtua Tennis 2- like any successful sports game - has wonderfully well-balanced gameplay and a great roster of playable characters, including top stars from the time, like Serena Williams, Tim Henman, and Patrick Rafter.
Developer(s):2K Czech
Publisher(s):2K
Top Spins 4was developed by 2K Czech and was released on PlayStation 3, Xbox 360, and Nintendo Wii in March 2011. However, it’s only the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 versions that make it onto this list as, unfortunately, the Nintendo Wii version suffered from poor motion controls and lackluster visuals.
Top Spin 4on PS3 and Xbox 360, on the other hand, was an impressive technical achievement as it looked fantastic for the time and played as smooth as butter. It also featured numerous real-life players, along with licensed venues and equipment, making the game feel tremendously authentic.
Developer(s):Sumo Digital
Publisher(s):Sega
Virtua Tennis: World Tourwas released on the PSP in 2005. The game doesn’t offer too many differences from the console releases, but it’s still a fantastic tennis game to play on the go.
Like most games in theVirtua Tennisseries, one ofWorld Tour’s main strengths is its wide range of game modes. Along with the main World Tour mode, players can compete online, play in tournaments, and take on some of the series' quintessential minigames.
Released in the year 2000,Mario Tennisdifferentiates itself from most modernMariosports games by not implementing any power-up mechanics in its gameplay; it instead offers a surprisingly realistic physics-based tennis experience.
With an impressive Metascore of 91,Mario Tennisis the highest-ratedMariosports game ever, excludingkart racers, with justMario Kart 8 Deluxe(92) andMario Kart Super Circut(93) being ahead of it.
