The Sports Desk – Full Ace Tennis Simulator

This year looks to be a full one for tennis games, with Mario Tennis Aces, AO Tennis, and Tennis World Tour all coming. Hopefully there's one more that joins the crew – Full Ace Tennis Simulator on PC.

The title has been released and updated in various forms for years now, and as of the time of this writing I believe the expectation is for a new version in 2018 [a release timeframe of the first quarter of this year has been subsequently confirmed].

Playing a demo of the title, I really liked how ball placement isn't just about timing. Once you prepare for your stroke, a blue reticle (see shot below) appears indicating roughly where you'll place the ball. The interesting part is that avatar movement and reticle movement are on the left analog (the overall process is similar if you use a keyboard). This may seem difficult at first, but once I got the hang of it, I started to hone in on where I was placing the ball as opposed to just watching my player run around in the foreground. This not only makes you consider strategy of pulling your opponent from side to side, but it also gives a sweet satisfaction when you get the reticle and timing just right to paint the lines.

In my limited time with the demo, the overall gameplay speed is fast – which I think is a good thing. This means if you want to be a baseliner you have to hang back behind the line or you're simply not going to have the time to react to your opponent's topspin shots. The movement feels free and fluid, but I felt there were some timing issues now and again, but of course it was only a demo. I'm sure plenty of work is being done on the title before it releases.

Full Ace Tennis Simulator features a full list of modes, including career, tourney, challenge, tutorial, and practice, as well as a player editor so you can tweak everyone in the title.

Can there be too many tennis games out? Given the sport has been through drought periods in video games, I'd say no.

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Have a suggestion or comment? Put it in the comments section below, send me an email, or reach me on twitter at @mattkato.

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