There is no doubt that the Top Spin franchise was the be all and end all of tennis games, but the last time we saw one was way back in 2011. Today, we have a new contender with Matchpoint – Tennis Championships, but does it successfully step up to the plate as the next best tennis game?
This Quick Byte Review is coming from a man who put a lot, and I really mean a lot of hours into Top Spin back in the day and I truly loved my experience. Having a career that took me from local park amateur games, all the way to the biggest tennis events in the world, competing in gruelling competitions against some of the best players in the sport has to offer. Lifting the trophy after winning my way through a tough bracket was so rewarding because it took time and effort to make the way to the top.
Matchpoint – Tennis Championships offers this same experience but only sort of. The player begins a new Career Mode, selecting to compete as a male of female player but the customisation of character is seriously lacking, only giving a miniscule number of cosmetic options. Sadly, there is also only 16 in total real-life players with the likes of Nick Kyrgios, Daniil Medmedev and Amanda Anisimova to name a few, with most opponents just being rinse and repeat fictional characters with varying stats.
Matchpoint – Tennis Championships offers this same experience but only sort of. The player begins a new Career Mode, selecting to compete as a male of female player but the customisation of character is seriously lacking, only giving a miniscule number of cosmetic options. Sadly, there is also only 16 in total real-life players with the likes of Nick Kyrgios, Daniil Medmedev and Amanda Anisimova to name a few, with most opponents just being rinse and repeat fictional characters with varying stats.
Controls are very simple, and the placement of shots is shown by a small grey reticule that can be placed on the court. The issue is, with the low stats of a new player in Career Mode, shots made are so accurately and I found myself breezing through the competition through extremely easy ball placement with little to no chance of error. I beat the number 1 ranked player in the world in straight sets in only my second competition, which just doesn’t feel right. While there are new shoes and racquets that can be unlocked that improve the players skills, they were never close to those of a higher ranked player. Even with its low difficulty, I still really enjoyed playing, but the fun factor begins to wear a bit thin over time.
During play it looks and sounds fine, but there are some moments where the ball flight can seem quite unrealistic and it does a good job of ruining the immersion, along with a few other things. When winning a tournament, the player is just sent back to the Career calendar, with no exchange of a trophy or any type of scene that celebrates celebrated the player’s efforts. There is a serious lack of commentary dialogue too and after the first-round most lines have already been spoken, which are then just repeated throughout.
I introduce to the player’s poor character models:
Brandon Waite