Tennis World Tour 2 isn’t necessarily the most robust or enticing offering when it comes to tennis games, but it’s one of the only simulation games out there. If you’re a die-hard tennis fan, it’s worth a shot to see if it can keep your attention. But casual fans should consider looking elsewhere.
Tennis has had an interesting foray in the video game world. While not as prolific as football and basketball games, tennis games have been a staple since the very inception of video games. While trending more towards the arcadey and easy access type of game, there is a healthy gap for good tennis simulation games. Enter Tennis World Tour 2.
Tennis World Tour 2 takes the delicate balance of fun vs mastery found in any sports simulation title and runs with it. I’m the type of player who leans more Mario Tennis, so it was pleasant to find that Tennis World Tour 2’s control scheme was easy enough to learn to get the tennis ball across the net. There are simply two options: power and precision shots. As you’d imagine, power shots require you to hold down the button to charge up your swing to send the ball careening across the court.
Precision shots are where things get a little bit more interesting. While you could simply time your swing and hit the ball back with the “flat” button, players can use various other buttons to alter their shot to send the ball to a different part of the court to throw off their opponent. I’ll be completely honest: I’m terrible at it. But with some time and practice, Tennis World Tour 2 is the type of game that rewards players for mastering the moves.
The coolest feature in Tennis World Tour 2 was the inclusion of a deck-building mechanic. Tennis World Tour 2 introduces a feature where players can use in-game currency to purchase packs that boost a player’s natural ability. While not super in-depth, it adds an additional element for players to boost certain skills that enhance their preferred way to play.
Visually, Tennis World Tour 2 is hit or miss. In terms of capturing the essence of tennis through its animations, it mostly succeeds as the players move around naturally enough to be convincing. However, there are enough technical hitches to throw off the immersion. It’s not a dealbreaker, since Tennis World Tour 2’s gameplay is fun enough to ignore the small technical issues.
Tennis World Tour 2 isn’t necessarily the most robust or enticing offering when it comes to tennis games, but it’s one of the only simulation games out there. If you’re a die-hard tennis fan, it’s worth a shot to see if it can keep your attention. But casual fans should consider looking elsewhere.
