(11/28/2015 - 12/04/2015) Game of the Week: World Court Tennis

[SamIAm]

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November 28 - December 4 : World Court Tennis
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(chosen by grolt)

I sure didn’t expect much when I popped in WORLD COURT TENNIS – it’s an arcade port of a pretty basic tennis game that itself was based on the simple Famicon game FAMILY TENNIS.  Sports games rarely hold up all that well.  The first impression here, though, is favorable – the control is simple to learn and it’s easy to start up a game by yourself or with three others (an improvement over the arcade, which only allowed two players).  The game has a good balance between simplicity and customization – on the surface there’s only two types of shots, a regular hit (Button I) and a lob (Button II), and just knowing that you can get pretty far in the game.  Dig deeper, and you can improve your game by using the direction buttons to put different kinds of spin on the ball or different timings to dictate whether it’s a hard smash or a sharp return to the corner.  There’s also three different court surfaces that all feel different with different bounces, control and speed that’s relatively accurate to real tennis.  With options for singles or doubles with different permutations of players, it’s a great game to just fire up for some quick competitive fun.

Those who know the game know I’m failing to address the obvious, the elephant in the room…the “Quest” mode.  Simply bringing an arcade comparable port home was really all that was ever expected of video games from this era, and the console generations directly before and after.  WORLD COURT TENNIS, though, is one of those games that goes the extra mile (which is all the more surprising considering it was one of the very first games released on the PC Engine), taking what was a simple arcade sports experience and turning it into a full-fledged RPG.

You get the story – all the land’s tennis courts have been overtaken by an evil tennis player and to quote the King, “people can’t play tennis and are complaining”.  The humanity!  There’s an overworld just like DRAGON WARRIOR, where you can traverse a large world map and visit villages to buy goods and talk to locals.  Some of the locals are a little off (one man offers you only this bit of advice when you enter his home: “I am a notorious strange man.”) and some of them look downright scary wearing a hockey mask right out of Friday the 13th (and this time it’s white, not red…y’here that SPLATTERHOUSE!?).  Then, of course, there’s the central component of any RPG – battles, except the twist here being that the fights are done on the tennis court.  You’ll find random encounters on the world map as well as specific tennis courts where you can play tournaments in order to win items that will help you progress in the game.  As someone who grew up playing countless RPGs where you’re always just killing people, animals and blobs it’s kind of refreshing to be able to beat them in sport, since it relies a lot more on precision and skill than simply hacking and slashing or choosing menu items.  Sports and RPG gameplay certainly don’t sound like a perfect match (anyone who’s played Blitzball in FINAL FANTASY X can probably attest to that) but in WORLD COURT TENNIS it works surprisingly well.  The Quest mode is a real delight to play.

By no means is the Quest mode in WORLD COURT TENNIS deep or groundbreaking when it comes to role playing games, but the twist on the formula is effective and the mode has just the right amount of customization, quirks and charm to keep you coming back until the final match against the evil green king of tennis, and boy, is that one a doozy!  You can upgrade stats that will alter your speed on the court, the reach and power of your shot, and thankfully your ability to evade random battles.  There are also several items that will make your quest easier, like a tube that will allow you to shortcut through water in the world map or a magic 8-ball that slows the shot of the final boss.  With the bevy of quirky people (with some funny Engrish localization) you meet along the way, it really makes the hours of gameplay that Quest mode offers a delight to play.  I wish more games went this route, and to Namco’s credit they added a similar Quest mode to FINAL LAP TWIN that plays just as well.

I was supposed to keep this short, and I thank you for making it this far, but I implore you to give this hidden little gem a chance.  It’s one of the cheapest games on the system but certainly one of the most unique – hell, look across other consoles and you’ll see that WORLD COURT TENNIS really is one of a kind with that Quest mode.  I love this game and have played through it multiple times, although I confess to you that I’ve never been able to defeat the final boss – I can hold my own when my character’s on the bottom, but after a match when you switch to the top of the screen I find it really hard to adjust my timing and just get annihilated.  It was my goal in picking this game that it would finally motivate me to save the tennis kingdom once and for all…I only hope that many of you fine folks will join me on my quest.  Don’t let the generic cover or title fool you – WORLD COURT TENNIS is in a world of its own.  See you on the court!
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GOTW Schedule:
1. 8/22/2015 - 8/28/2015: Override (lukester)
2. 8/29/2015 - 9/4/2015: Rondo of Blood (o.pwuaioc)
3. 9/5/2015 - 9/11/2015: Street Fighter 2 (Nec.Game.head)
4. 9/12/2015 - 9/18/2015: Bloody Wolf (Gentlegamer)
5. 9/19/2015 - 9/25/2015: Kabuki Itoryodan (Sadler)
6. 9/26/2015 - 10/2/2015: R-Type (crazydean)
7. 10/3/2015 - 10/9/2015: Fray CD: Xak Gaiden (nullity)
8. 10/10/2015 - 10/16/2015: Wizardry 3&4 (BigusSchmuck)
9. 10/17/2015 - 10/23/2015: Lords of Thunder (SamIAm)
10. 10/24/2015 - 10/30/2015: TV Sports Hockey (gredler)
11. 10/31/2015 - 11/6/2015: Blazing Lazers (escarioth)
12. 11/7/2015 - 11/13/2015: Genpei Toumaden (VenomMacbeth)
13. 11/14/2015 - 11/20/2015: Hyper Wars (_joshuaTurbo)
14. 11/21/2015 - 11/27/2015: Drop Off (turboswimbz)
15. 11/28/2015 - 12/4/2015: World Court Tennis (grolt)
16. 12/5/2015 - 12/11/2015: Atlantean (jtucci31)
17. 12/12/2015 - 12/18/2015: SideArms (Punch)
18. 12/19/2015 - 12/25/2015: Galaxy Dekka Gayvan (tknjin)
19. 12/26/2015 - 12/31/2015: Asuka 120% Burning Fest Maxima (Sarumaru)
20. OPEN FOR SUBMISSIONS!!

Rules:
-All members are allowed one submission. When there are no further submissions, we will have a reset and everyone will be able to submit another game.
-Each game may only be submitted once.
-If you wish to retract your submission, please do so at least two weeks before your game is due. Your next submission will go to the back of the cue.
-Please don't submit games that have a high language barrier or will take too long to complete (particularly RPGs).

[MNKyDeth]

Imo, World Court Tennis is a great game.

Playing solo imo just go straight to the Quest mode. The RPG aspect is by far my favorite in this game. This is a fairly enjoyable game because the gameplay is easy to pick up and learn if you have never played it before.

[Bardoly]

Nice writup, grolt!

It's too bad that apparently no one was inspired enough to give this game a try.  (Or perhaps it was a victim of the holiday week.)  I will plan to give it a try this month if I can find the time.

[grolt]

Nice writup, grolt!

It's too bad that apparently no one was inspired enough to give this game a try.  (Or perhaps it was a victim of the holiday week.)  I will plan to give it a try this month if I can find the time.

Thanks man. I really love the charm of the game, I love just wandering around and running into all those colorful NPCs. Was hoping more would play it to give me some tips on how to beat the tennis king at the end.  It's the perfect RPG for a lazy Sunday - not overly complex and short enough to finish in a day or less.

[roflmao]

That's a great write-up. I'll try to put some time into this game this week. I love the Quest Mode in Final Lap Twin but this game always kick's my ass.

[jtucci31]

I want to play the quest mode because it sounds awesome and I like Tennis games. BUT the few games I had played last weekend, I was awful. I just couldn't get the hang of where to position my character and I kept whiffing all the time. Any tips for someone who sucks ass?

[grolt]

I want to play the quest mode because it sounds awesome and I like Tennis games. BUT the few games I had played last weekend, I was awful. I just couldn't get the hang of where to position my character and I kept whiffing all the time. Any tips for someone who sucks ass?

I had that problem starting out too, the timing can be tricky but once you get the hang of it, it should just click.  The other thing that helped me was just lining my body up with the ball rather than trying to hit it from the side (like you would in real life).  Swinging when the ball is heading right at you hits the ball, whereas if the ball is to your side and you swing, even though it might look like it's lined up perfectly, it could be a miss based on the way the game handles its physics.

[Punch]

this game sucks, the quest mode just makes the game go from "famicom tennis port" to "dragon warrior port with famicom tennis battles". At least final lap twin is a solid little racing game.

[GoldenWheels]

As a fan of Final Lap Twin's quest mode (my first turbo experience via emulation) I really wanted to like this game but I also "suck ass" at it.

The game didn't seem to gave the same amount of charm either...as I recall all the equipment is like, Racquet C or Shirt D, whereas in Final Lap the gear had cool names you could actually remember.

I'll have to give it another chance; I got a few minutes in in quest mode and was like "nope"

[ParanoiaDragon]

As a fan of Final Lap Twin's quest mode (my first turbo experience via emulation) I really wanted to like this game but I also "suck ass" at it.

The game didn't seem to gave the same amount of charm either...as I recall all the equipment is like, Racquet C or Shirt D, whereas in Final Lap the gear had cool names you could actually remember.

I'll have to give it another chance; I got a few minutes in in quest mode and was like "nope"

You sir, echo my sentiments exactly.  I suck at tennis games, & I do recall being unimpressed with the names of the equipment.  I'll continue to try to get into this game however, as it's still a cool idea.

[GoldenWheels]

You sir, echo my sentiments exactly.  I suck at tennis games, & I do recall being unimpressed with the names of the equipment.  I'll continue to try to get into this game however, as it's still a cool idea.

Really wish there were more games like it. I love RPG stuff put on top of an action game this way.  But these are the only two games I am aware of which do it.