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AO Tennis 2 - Finally a good tennis game again?
- Thread starter Kingsora
- Start date
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For people looking for a great realistic tennis game, they should pick up tennis elbow on steam. Its the closest I've felt to playing a real tennis match since top spin 4.
Virtua Tennis 3 was a great launch title for PS3 (in Europe). And it had Federer and Nadal. :-)
Sega should really develop Virtua Tennis 5. Maybe include VR support.
Sega should really develop Virtua Tennis 5. Maybe include VR support.
Tennis Elbow does indeed look like it nails the ball movement much better, but what's with the sound cutting out all the time? It's quite off-putting.
Looks like real tennis nowadays, hardly any net play and mostly all a power game at the base line.
That a modded version with real nadal and federer grunts so its not gonna be pefect. The base game sounds fine.
I've been posting pretty much all the updates on reddit and other places and they've definitely stepped it up presentation wise. The career mode sounds dope, the ying/ yang system is cool, and the gameplay + animations look all around smoother.
I still hold firm that a GOOD tennis game could do numbers. Each of Top Spin, Virtua Tennis and Grand Slam had million selling entries, Tennis World Tour (the distaste that it was) opened with 500k day 1 and Tennis Clash has like over 3 million downloads already and has become one of the fastest rising mobile games.
I still hold firm that a GOOD tennis game could do numbers. Each of Top Spin, Virtua Tennis and Grand Slam had million selling entries, Tennis World Tour (the distaste that it was) opened with 500k day 1 and Tennis Clash has like over 3 million downloads already and has become one of the fastest rising mobile games.
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I am afraid we won't see a Virtua Tennis, Top Spin of a Grand Slam game anymore. If they want to be seriously profitable and deliver great quality they probably have to sell million copies and I don't see a tennis game doing that like FIFA, Madden or NBA games. So why would they bother?
Huh. Hadn't heard of this. I like what I see beyond them not really looking grounded. Is there a solid single player experience?
I've also been playing this on Switch/PS4. Had a preview session a few weeks ago and it was apparent immediately that the game has come a long way. For those that don't know the original game received about 30 patches in the first two months and was a remarkably different game (for the better) after launch.
I'm probably getting it, especially now that Tennis World Tour is dead. But it's probably better that there aren't two tennis franchises to cannibalize each other's sales.
As for what I've seen of the gameplay... it does look better, but still nowhere near realistic tennis. I like the effort that are going towards carreer mode, though.
As for what I've seen of the gameplay... it does look better, but still nowhere near realistic tennis. I like the effort that are going towards carreer mode, though.
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How was the Switch version? Was it on par with the PS4 version?
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I am quite sure though that we will see a new Tennis World Tour this year or in 2021
I love tennis games. I've been waiting a long time for a good one. Unfortunately tennis is also one of the oldest genres in video game, and there's always this war between what simulates an actual tennis match and what feels good to play. Different players will tell you that the games that take the longest to "get good" are the best, while I prefer more arcadey affairs like Virtua Tennis/Hot Shots (yes, I said Hot Shots because I don't like Mario executing a finishing move on me halfway through a point)
I really doubt BigBen acquired publishing rights for AO2 thinking they'd juggle two tennis franchises at the same time. I don't think there's enough of an audience for that.
It's better if they shelf TWT anyway imo since it's got a dreadful reputation.
This seems more Top Spin than Tennis 2K2 (the GOAT tennis game, IMO), but that's fine. I'm interested in it, though IIRC AO Tennis was generally mixed in reception. I'll have to keep an eye on it.
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That's right Big Ben also published Tennis World Tour. That is quite strange when you think about it.
Though, not talking about the quality of Tennis World Tour but they were satisfied with sales and in 2018 it was said that there would appear a Roland Garros edition in 2019 and in 2020 or 2021 a new and fully developed tennis game would be released (the original only had 20% of the planned features) that would aim at a 80 metacritic score.
The RG édition did really happen so I don't see why a Tennis World Tour 2 would suddenly be canceled.
Except Virtua Tennis, Top Spin and Grand Slam all DID sell a million copies...and that was back when they all released at the same time. Now if one came out, they'd have the whole market share to themselves. Word of mouth and hype would also be huge, given the near decade gap between releases.
A million for an AAA game in which you pay royalties to professional tennis players is not much. It would take more.
I dropped off it so hard. I was thinking it would keep me entertained way the GBA one did and...nope.
This. Haven't found anything worthwhile outside of Top Spin... will look into this. As for boxing... man it's bewn way too long since the last Fight Night.
They were "satisfied" with OG Tennis World Tour sales because they overshipped to retailers who then couldn't return unsold copies. That's how the game made a profit. BigBen's CEO own words, not mine (what a scumbag).
The thing is, you can't pull that trick twice. That's when BigBen switching to a different franchise starts to make sense.
Tennis Elbow will have a new and refined entry later this (?) year from Mana Games. As a tennis player myself, I can tell you that Tennis Elbow nails gameplay a lot better than AO Tennis and Tennis World Tour. You hit a lot more errors in Tennis Elbow at first, don't be fooled be the video above. You should wait for the new Tennis Elbow game with hopefully refined graphics. I think it's supposed to hit consoles this time, too.
I played all the Top Spin games countless hours and nights against friends back in the day. I would buy a rerelease on Switch or Steam in a heartbeat. No game afterwards gave me such exciting matches where tactics and skill mattered. Some of them were epic. If AO Tennis can give me an experience close to that, I'm in.
I bought Mario Tennis as well and hoped for fun matches against some friends, but the trick shot system is insufferable. It matters more than anything else. If I could just turn it off, I would be fine. However, the game is so inexplicably limited in its options to customize the matches.
I bought Mario Tennis as well and hoped for fun matches against some friends, but the trick shot system is insufferable. It matters more than anything else. If I could just turn it off, I would be fine. However, the game is so inexplicably limited in its options to customize the matches.
Simple mode in Mario Tennis Aces is one of the better "realistic" tennis games released since TS4.
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I also play tennis myself on quite a high level, but even I have to admit that realism in tennis games isn't necessarily more fun.
Tennis Elbow always looked great but I found the graphics a little of putting. Also tennis games on PC is not really my thing. Is there really an official confirmation that Elbow is coming to consoles? Could be interesting.
I also play tennis competitively, I can see where you are coming from, it's tough to nail realism while still keeping it fun. But then Super Tennis in 1991 already had very good gameplay for its time, I still feel like there's much room to improve. I don't think modern tennis games are very good about your own position in the court vis-à-vis your shot selection. Also, movement never feels like on court where your recovery position or weight transition after a defensive shot matter quite a lot. I also never enjoyed volleying a lot in tennis games. What Tennis Elbow has always nailed for me is the feeling and impact of the different spins. Let's not get into too many details at this point though.
And yes, the dev confirmed the aspirations to bring the new Tennis Elbow to consoles in 2020 on his forum in late 2018:
BTW, Tennis Elbow can be heavily modded and you will find some very good mods online. The (online) ITST mod is very popular as it simulates a changing roaster of ATP players quite well. To check out more, you can google TE videos with the "ITST" tag. I'll add one example (skip first thirty seconds or so):
Not that I'm aware of. I also don't know what to expect realistically, as Mana Games is a very small indie dev AFAIK.
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I think I've never played it. Was it present from the start (in local multiplayer)?
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I have been playing AO Tennis 2 with a friend for example. And we both play tennis on a very high level and we often both say that's it's absolutely not realistic on the defensive side. In real professional tennis you can't almost never can reach a shot 8 times in a row while you are in total defense. But, would it be fun if 80% of the rallies end at the serve or after 3 shots? Probably not, but that is realistic tennis.
I have to agree on the movement, in all the last tennis games it's really easy to recover after being put completely out of position. But again, would it be fun if it the same as in real tennis?
And I hope that tennis Elbow really comes to consoles. When it comes to shots it does look really good. It's playing against a friend on the couch where tennis games really shine. I am not getting my hopes up though, the developer seems really small. And they are probably completely dependent on the sales. Averages sales in the last year and probably no console release.
$35 Cdn. on one PC store right now.
More so than this? I didn't like the control mechanics though.
Full Ace Tennis Simulator
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Actually they sold well over a million and those games weren't full AAA titles. You are missing the entire point though. A well made tennis game CAN do big numbers and with a pretty empty playing field, those numbers could be doubled or even tripled. Past titles and even the recent TWT have proven the demand and craving for a tennis sim......it's money waiting to be made.
Make that 3. What level do you guys players ( Local tourneys, ITF, college, national?).
