The gaming scene has been crying out for a decent tennis title for several years. I don’t think we have seen one worthy of mentioning in over a decade with the last memorable title being the last outing in the Top Spin series. It makes perfect sense for a new game in the genre to make an appearance amid the real-world tournament Wimbledon which is taking place right now. Developer Torus Games and publisher Kalypso Media have swooped in with perfect timing with Matchpoint: Tennis Championships which makes its mark on Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Playstation 4|5, Nintendo Switch and Windows PC. Those with an Xbox Game Pass subscription will be able to download this as part of the catalogue on launch. The question is though, does this all-new experience serve up to be at the pinnacle of all Tennis games?

Career Mode & Character Customisation

Aside from playing a quick match and online, you have the meat and potatoes of the game which is the Career mode. You’ll be able to create your very own Tennis player, but the customisation suite is extremely lacking and limited. I’m one of those who attempt to create their character as true to themselves as possible, the fact that I couldn’t make my player bald just shows how poor the options are here. Being able to adjust the colours of all your attire was a nice touch with you being able to fine-tune a huge range from a palette on various parts of your shirts, skirts, trainers, caps and wristbands. I wasn’t expecting a top-of-the-range creation suite here but selecting from a small lineup of hairstyles and pre-designed faces just felt very lacklustre.

Career Mode itself is probably the most vital portion of the game aside from the core gameplay. Here you’ll be focused on climbing the world rankings and improving your skillset. When you start your Tennis adventure, you’ll have low stats and will have to build yourself to become more competent and experienced. Tennis coaches and specific rackets will soon have you pushing your skills to the limit. Time is progressed through a calendar where you can partake in training, exhibition matches and small and large-scale tournaments. I was absorbed into this mode for a lengthy period and even after around 12 hours I still have room to progress to try and rise to number one. Some may criticise the slow progression during the Career, but I liked this aspect as you’re invested for far much more than just one sitting. Obviously non-official tournament licencing and a watered-down roster of professional players are filtered through this mode, but I can’t blame Torus Games for not having the budget to acquire the logistical rights to everything in the Tennis world.

How Does it Handle?

Matchpoint: Tennis Championships does have a short tutorial that will guide you through all you need to know to get going. You’ll be learning about different types of shots and serves and how to position them. A, B, X and Y all serve alternative methods of shot and serve. For example, pressing Y when serving will conduct a cheeky underhand serve with low power to try and throw your opponent off if they aren’t alert. Holding buttons before being presented with the opportunity to hit the ball provides your shot with more power, whilst a tap will just return the ball at a normal pace. For ball placement there is a small black dot on the opponents’ side of the court that you can control before you hit the ball, this will be where the ball bounces. You can change this motion at a split second up to the point the ball crosses the netting, so playing really tight angles and obscure shots can really put your opposition in a weak spot. Of course, you’ll have the perfect moments where you can perform an overhead smash which makes for exhilarating fist-pumping scenarios. The control scheme is easy to get to grips with even for the most casual players and is a solid foundation to complement the excellent gameplay.

Graphics & Audio

In appearance Matchpoint: Tennis Championships is great both on and off the court. Menus are simplistic, clear and concise with crisp visual fidelity which makes them a breeze to navigate through. The overall presentation during gameplay is fantastic considering the limited availability of official licencing. The plethora of different arenas depicts real-life environments well and some brand advertising is present from Head, Lacoste and a few others. Unfortunately, though there are some areas where I feel the overall atmosphere could be enhanced. Little touches like ball boys/girls aren’t present whatsoever. There is little passion or expression from Tennis players even during snippets between active play with repeated and reused animations. The referees and officials surrounding the match come across as static with no reactions to what is occurring throughout the game.

I have a few issues with the audio presentation which I feel impacts the overall aura of what Tennis is all about. Firstly, the commentary is extremely poor with repeated one-liners very occasionally during play. You almost forget there is a commentator until he delivers a mundane announcement that you’ve heard three or four times during the match already. Personal tannoy announcements are a nice touch to the audience such as “Quiet Please” and “Deuce”, these are the touches that as a player I love. Sound effects are missing in areas too, such as the squeak of trainers on hard surfaces or the roaring gasp from the crowd as something incredible happens. You instantly feel like you have tunnel vision as there is a lack of enthusiasm from anything but the players themselves. There is some good stuff too though, such as the punchy sound of the ball hitting the racket and the exerting groans as players make the stretch and connect with the ball.

Online Play

I decided to miss the embargo on the review so that I could give the online multiplayer component a good thrashing, and that I did. Many will be pleased to see that cross-play is featured here so that you can link up with players across the globe on all platforms. I feel it’s paramount with games of this calibre to keep these sections of the game alive as it ages. There isn’t a wealth of options here, you can choose quick match or ranked play. Playing ranked matches requires three qualifying games before you’re given an ELO rating. I’d like to think that once the player base clocks up some experience then matchmaking should balance out based on skill level.

It is a shame that doubles aren’t present in Matchpoint: Tennis Championships as playing as a duo with friends would have been a game-changer in the online section. From what I could see, there didn’t seem to be any deep tracking of statistics. This was disappointing as I do like to number crunch from time to time and see how many games I’ve won and lost and so forth. What I did enjoy was how competitive playing against human players felt. Absorbing myself into a consistent rallies and trying to take advantage at 40-40 was like a real tug of war sometimes, you have to be on your game against the best players.

In Conclusion

Matchpoint: Tennis Championships gets one key area of the game spot-on and that is the solid gameplay mechanics and how the game feels to play in the hands. I loved how much concentration I required to outdo my opponents to work for winning results. It’s clear to see that Torus Games were working with a limited budget and resources as there is quite a bit lacking here to make it a fully immersive sports title. Some work needs to be done on more options for character customisation, in-depth commentary, the lack of doubles and a shallow multiplayer package. The absence of a doubles mode is baffling and noticeable, the inclusion of this could have created longevity and replayability to bring friends into the mix.

That said though, I do have to commend all the teams involved for the creation of a Tennis game which absolutely gets what truly matters right and that is tight controls, intense and responsive actions and that edge-of-your-seat feel when going for and preventing that all-important matchpoint. If you’re after playing some Tennis that is great to engage with and challenging to master but you’re not overly bothered about the bells and whistles of customisation and animations, then you’ll love it. On Xbox at least, you have no excuse not to give it a go, since it’s part of the amazing Xbox Game Pass roster.