Every system has a tennis game of some description. Today we have the Virtua Tennis and Top Spin series, as well as a version on Wii Sports. Tennis games remain popular be they trying to emulate the sport in simulation or in an arcade style.
Back
in the day, there was a handheld console called the Game Gear. It was
widely considered "Game Boy's Bitch", but it did have a number of
games, many of which were graphically enhanced Master System ports.
However, when I got mine, it came with a small collection of games. Sega Game Pack 4 in 1.
Sega Game Pack 4 in 1
is a collection of cut down games. Columns, Penalty Shootout, Rallying
and, of course, Tennis. Three of these games are instantly forgettable,
Columns is not a replacement for Tetris, Penalty Shootout is entirely
based on luck, Rallying is difficult and not fun. Tennis, on the other
hand, is as playable, as fun and as challenging as it was back in 1992.
4 difficulty levels, 1 and 3 set options and Sonic the Hedgehog
playing umpire, in obvious reference to Mario playing umpire in the
Nintendo tennis games. Tennis on the Game Gear was the cure for boredom
on many a car trip (battery draining being the biggest barrier).
Due
to having a hacked PSP and a Game Gear emulator, I was able to give the
game another spin and it's still as addictive. My appreciation of
tennis has grown and, in retrospect, so has my appreciation of this
game that I'm certain no one but myself remembers. Tennis games have
been a staple, like many sports games, but this is one I keep doing
back to. Don't get me wrong, this isn't a perfect recreation of tennis.
Some of the calls are iffy, the player movement is somewhat sluggish
and you only really have two swings... but, it's such a fun game, it
doesn't matter if it's not a perfect recreation of tennis, it's the
most fun.
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I had this on my Game Gear too. The racing game ate up most of my time with it, but the tennis was also good. Sonic Chaos, now that was a great GG game.