2020/6/12: Game Boy: Baseball, Tennis, Malibu Beach Volleyball

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jon
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Joined: April 9th, 2015, 4:30 pm

Re: 2020/6/12: Game Boy: Baseball, Tennis, Malibu Beach Volleyball

Postby jon » July 22nd, 2020, 5:37 pm

I’m really digging the Tennis vs. Virtua Tennis thing. These have to be the best ones. And which one is better is really interesting. I need to play Virtua Tennis bc it’s been a while. If I remember it was fun hitting people off the court. I really want to know if it’s easy to win every point on hard. Because Tennis still gives me so much trouble. It’s still extremely hard to win a match without losing a point. The computer AI is amazing. I’ll still lose rallies just about every match.

goldenband
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Re: 2020/6/12: Game Boy: Baseball, Tennis, Malibu Beach Volleyball

Postby goldenband » July 26th, 2020, 7:26 pm

I really do think the best tennis games I've played are the Namco ones. I don't know their PlayStation releases yet, but I do know that Family Tennis on the Famicom and World Court Tennis on the Turbografx-16 are both excellent in the gameplay department, which makes sense since they use the same engine (if anything I think the Famicom game is a bit better).

I need to invest some time in Super Family Tennis on the SFC, but it annoys me that there's a translated PAL release (Smash Tennis) of the same game that doesn't play properly on a NTSC system.

I really didn't like Virtua Tennis at first but warmed up to it. I still don't like the series's penchant for emphasizing highlight-reel shots and making characters into Gumby figures who can retrieve anything, though Tennis 2K2 is much worse in that department.

There's a Japanese exclusive, World Pro Tennis '98, on the PlayStation that some people rave about. I own it but haven't really played it yet. I also need to spend more time with Final Match Tennis on the PC Engine, which gets rave reviews; Super Final Match Tennis on the Super Famicom was decent.

jon
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Joined: April 9th, 2015, 4:30 pm

Re: 2020/6/12: Game Boy: Baseball, Tennis, Malibu Beach Volleyball

Postby jon » July 26th, 2020, 11:52 pm

goldenband wrote:I really do think the best tennis games I've played are the Namco ones. I don't know their PlayStation releases yet, but I do know that Family Tennis on the Famicom and World Court Tennis on the Turbografx-16 are both excellent in the gameplay department, which makes sense since they use the same engine (if anything I think the Famicom game is a bit better).

I need to invest some time in Super Family Tennis on the SFC, but it annoys me that there's a translated PAL release (Smash Tennis) of the same game that doesn't play properly on a NTSC system.

I really didn't like Virtua Tennis at first but warmed up to it. I still don't like the series's penchant for emphasizing highlight-reel shots and making characters into Gumby figures who can retrieve anything, though Tennis 2K2 is much worse in that department.

There's a Japanese exclusive, World Pro Tennis '98, on the PlayStation that some people rave about. I own it but haven't really played it yet. I also need to spend more time with Final Match Tennis on the PC Engine, which gets rave reviews; Super Final Match Tennis on the Super Famicom was decent.


I'm going to check out those games you mentioned. That World Pro Tennis '98 for the PS1 sounds really interesting. It's interesting that there may be other great Tennis games out there. Especially one from the 90's. I really think Tennis is the best one I've played. If there's one as good as this one then it's very interesting. Apparently WPT '98 is well regarded.

goldenband
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Joined: April 8th, 2015, 10:29 pm

Re: 2020/6/12: Game Boy: Baseball, Tennis, Malibu Beach Volleyball

Postby goldenband » July 27th, 2020, 1:02 pm

One thing I really like about the Famicom game (Family Tennis), BTW, is that the roster is made up of thinly-disguised real-life players who actually play like their real life counterparts. Lendl uses the serve-and-forehand combination, Navratilova comes to the net and volleys really well, and so on. It's a neat touch you don't often see, certainly not in games of that vintage.

jon
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Joined: April 9th, 2015, 4:30 pm

Re: 2020/6/12: Game Boy: Baseball, Tennis, Malibu Beach Volleyball

Postby jon » July 27th, 2020, 3:32 pm

I’m going to try out Family Tennis on Famicom. I haven’t played Virtua Tennis in forever although I remember it being very fun. But I just checked it out on YouTube and it’s way more complicated than I remembered. I didn’t even remember there being many “real” players. I have the same complaint about them not playing like real life counterparts. But what I saw was not that interesting to me these days. I really try to minimize the complexity so mini games and tons of modes and secret characters is not what I have in mind. And I agree it’s not too realistic either being superhuman tennis players. This Japanese 98 PS1 game has really struck my fancy. I’m going to find out if it’s compatible with American system

Breaker
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Re: 2020/6/12: Game Boy: Baseball, Tennis, Malibu Beach Volleyball

Postby Breaker » July 27th, 2020, 6:14 pm

I really enjoyed IMG International Tour Tennis on Genesis. Playing best of 5 can take awhile, so best of 3 is a better option. The CPU can put up a solid challenge. I think Tennis on the 2600 is still a blast. The risk-reward for trying to hit the sharpest angle shot possible is so simple and addicting.

jon
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Joined: April 9th, 2015, 4:30 pm

Re: 2020/6/12: Game Boy: Baseball, Tennis, Malibu Beach Volleyball

Postby jon » July 30th, 2020, 12:04 pm

I agree that the matches take too long. There probably should’ve been an option for maybe 3 games. When beating it without losing a point, only because I like pain, it takes a little over 7 minutes. It’s taken me months and months to relatively rarely beat it without losing a point. Even 7 minutes without losing a point is probably a big too long. And that’s only being crazy enough to try to get good enough to do that on a somewhat occasional basis.
I tried some of those games. The PC Engine game Final Match Tennis is pretty good. I like that you can train with a ball machine with options.


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