Reviews

I'm told that Wii Tennis is better, but I don't believe it.

The first tennis game I played and yet the best one. Newer games surely have better graphics, but they fall in term of adiction and/or simulation.

I've played a lot of tennis game in a lot of platforms and this one is still the best.

Most of Psion's games can be categorized as competent but fairly laid back. Despite doing a couple of token arcade games for the Spectrum's launch, they'd largely specialized in mind games and simulations. However, they created one of the best fast action sports games here, from programmer Steve Kelly, who later went on to greater fame as a founder of the Bitmap Brothers.

The graphics are simple, but very effective with neat animation and some nice attention to detail with ballboys running out to fetch when you hit into the net.

The game itself it works fairly simply too; you run about the court and try to swing your racket at the passing ball to return it over the net. When you start out, most of the time you'll miss and there'll be a few frustrating games whilst you learn to get the timing right.

Then, eventually, once you've started being able to return the few balls a few rallies will break out, most of which you'll probably lose. Finally, something should click and your timing will suddenly get good enough to position the ball, and the game suddenly becomes brilliant fun as you get the computer opponent doing the chasing and can dictate the rallies. It also makes for an excellent two-player game, although ideally not where you share the same keyboard.

All in all, it's a classic that's been the blueprint for pretty much every tennis game since.

Match point - crash smashed in August 1984 , god that looks a long time ago now , loading it up just to refresh my memory as ive not played it for a couple of years , im instantly transported to a world were all that matters is the ball , two bats and a net .

Entering a virtual wimbledon , (the green grass gives it away ) , i start off slowly but i manage to remember some of the old techniques and get to grips with the computer opponent , destroying him in the last set to reach the semis . Wow , the speed and accuracy by the computer opponent seems to have doubled and i am pummelled left right and centre and left battered and beaten by a much better player than me - the cpu.


The game is simplicity supreme , the graphics are well animated but very basic , although saying that i think it helps the speed of play by keeping it all neat and tidy , leaving the cpu to process ball movement so well.

Its a cracking game , much better than a lot of newer variations of tennis and has stood the test of time very well.

One of the best tennis simulators I have ever played.

PSION is a very well respected company for the quality of their products which is quite remarkable. Match Point is no exception to this rule.

Best tennis simulator for any platform. FULL STOP.

As years go by, the importance of this superb PSION production increases.

A landmark in sporting games.

Even better than real tennis !

A 10 out of 5 for PSION and their Match Point.

One of the best sports games on the ZX Spectrum, this really was quite an achievement back in the day. Tennis on the Speccy as it should be, absolutely brilliant game.

1984 Sinclair Research (UK)
by Steve Kelly

Another Speccy classic.
At the time of it's released it generated much buzz. Everything seemed perfect in the game. I personally absolutely loved it.
There are many tennis games but none reached the standard of play of Match Point. And it remains the best tennis game on the Speccy, at least I think so.

The players in Match Point moves a bit too slow which is actually a good thing specially comparing with games like Pro Tennis Tour, that 'tries to get realistic and then fails when it comes to playability making the game extremely difficult near impossible to play.

The matchstick graphics are very simple but do the trick quite well. All in all, everything in the game works great, and still to this day it's a fun game to play. I can only consider it a classic.
Despite everything I said I will rate it a 5 (in fact a 4,5 but that ain't possible) just for the graphics, which I love but admittedly are inferior to a lot of games later produced.
So in all (un)fairness here goes a 4,5.

A fairly decent effort that falls just short of greatness. The Tim Henman of tennis games.

The best tennis game on the Spectrum.

Technically this is very good and it plays a lot like tennis unlike many tennis games on the Spectrum. The one gripe I have though is you don't seem to be in control of your racket, it changes hands quite often while you're moving which creates confusion and adds difficulty returning balls. I thought I cracked it mid-game by pressing fire before the ball reaches me and then when you hit it, but eventualy the problem continues to exist in spite of this. I can guess that's a simulated part of the game. And as with most tennis games, being at the top of the screen is a nightmare! But I admire the technical efforts this presents and that despite its negatives it is a lot more playable than the majority of tennis games.

For me, the best tennis game on the Speccy and one of the best tennis games on any system. This is just wonderful.

The best tennis game for the Spectrum and -probably- for any 8-bit system.

Programmed by Steve Kelly of Psion for Sinclair Research Ltd in 1984, it's a game for one or two players, selecting number of sets (one, three or five) and level of difficulty (quarter finals, semi finals and finals, being the latter really hard).

The simplicity of its graphics, the correct perspective and the realistic & smooth movement make this game a masterpiece of sports videogaming.

You can even select the exhibition (demo) mode in which you can relax and enjoy the watching of an exciting tennis game with a good bowl of straberries and cream, in the best Wimbledon style!

Most addictive game for the Spectrum.

I have decided to write exactly the same for two games that I consider strongly related even though they are very different:

Scuba Dive and Match Point
An excellent example about "less is more"

At a time when the machine's limits were still being discovered, the quality was not overwhelming but more than enough for the intended gameplay.


Simplicity, absolute simplicity but with elegance.

a good lesson for many nowadays games, not only ZX related.

Did I talk about gameplay? Well that's what matters. Also high addiction.

No need to have stunning graphics.
Only the level for you to be able to identify the course of the action.

More than decent, time- tested and simulating very well.