I’ll admit, the last tennis game I dove deep into was Mario Tennis on the Nintendo 64. That doesn’t mean I haven’t followed the sport with pensive interest over the past few decades. I have fond memories of watching Opens with my grandmother who had a passion for the sport. I know the ins and outs of the rules, so it’s not like I’m going into Jonah Lomu Rugby Challenge for the Xbox 360 (Which I did. Boy, was I clueless there).

Upon entering Tennis World Tour 2, I noticed they got the likeness of Rafael Nadal and Roger Federer, two of the biggest name in the sport in the past few decades. I got a bit excited to play as these superstars, but in the character selection screen, I found the models to be a bit… inaccurate. Obviously, I was looking at Federer, but we’re wrapping up the eighth generation of consoles and I’ve seen better models in the sixth.

I didn’t pick up Tennis World Tour 2 to critique the character models though, I came for the gameplay. After a brief, descriptive tutorial period of about 10 minutes, I thrust myself into an exhibition match and settled in quite nicely to the mannerisms and movements of high-velocity tennis. If I hit the ball at the wrong time, I was punished accordingly, but several perfect successions and smart placements led me to win my first set convincingly.

That’s the joy of this game, it controls like a dream. Obviously, I utilized a controller as I can’t imagine how the game would handle on a mouse/keyboard layout, but it’s a given that some games warrant controller usage. Thankfully, this has been optimized to perfection. In the span of one second, you can handily score a well-timed, well-placed hit with some fancy fingerwork. When enjoying a videogame, my highest priority is the gameplay, and Tennis World Tour 2 nails this.

There are a variety of modes to tackle in this title. There’s an exhibition mode that you can customize to your liking and a fully-fledged career mode that has all the bells and whistles needed to provide enough depth to be more than just one match to the next. You’ll hire agents that negotiate your payout, trainers that give you gameplay boosts, and a mix between singles and doubles matches. There’s enough going on here to be more than just a one-and-done.

Here’s the catch with Tennis World Tour 2: the dreaded microtransactions. The game is currently sitting at a 41% positivity rating with this detractor being the main complaint. The game contains cards that affect gameplay by increasing stamina on serves, preserve your own stamina, etc. and fans are not having it.

While I see the negativity here, the cards – which the AI used against me almost every volley – were so minute and ineffective that it didn’t impact my gameplay experience. On the surface, it’s a great tennis game, and the leader in the sport with Top Spin and Mario Tennis not getting the same treatment. This is worth it for those wanting a nice tennis sim with a competitive edge!

A PC review copy of Tennis World Tour 2 was provided by Nacon for this review.

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Tennis World Tour 2

$39.99

7

Score

7.0/10

Pros

• Riveting Gameplay
• Licensed Tennis Stars
• Comprehensive Career Mode

Cons

• Microtransactions Hurt the Fun
• Awful Character Models