Game Gush Gamer

Hello friends and gamers,

A few days ago, I had a blog update discussing my gaming adventure for the month of June and early July. At one point in the post, I mentioned one game in particular that caught me by surprise: Matchpoint Tennis Championships! Torus Games is the studio behind Matchpoint. They are most know for Battle Crashers, Praetorians HD Remaster, and Beast Quest. Now this tennis game is not perfect, so I am being upfront and honest that it’s not for everyone. Upon further review of Matchpoint Tennis Championships gameplay, I noticed the developers added a more realistic spin to the sport. Specifically, the ground position of where to hit the tennis ball and the type of swing used are the two most vital aspects to winning against opponents in Matchpoint. You can check out my gameplay footage for a quick tournament match below if you’d like a better idea about how the game looks and plays.

Matchpoint Tennis Championships Gameplay Reviews

Since I am the Game Gush Gamer, one of my deepest efforts is to create a safe space for all types of gamers. A place where you can gush and talk about any video game without being ridiculed for it. Matchpoint Tennis Championships happens to be one of the best examples right now because man, oh man… This game is being tore up in horrible reviews (at least on Xbox)! But I still enjoy this game a lot. To be fair, almost every sports video game known to man shoots below an average of 4-stars. However, I am not rating the game today. I am going to talk about the positive and negative gameplay features with Matchpoint Tennis Championships for the sake of an honest review. Without further ado, let’s start mythbusting Xbox reviews!

Bad Aim Controls

First off, anyone who has installed Matchpoint Tennis Championships on Xbox can leave a review on the Microsoft Store page. Reviews are freedom of choice and personal opinion. So if you leave a 1-star or 5-star, I don’t care. However, I do wish people provided critical reviews that discussed game issues in more detail. When I am interested in a game and check reviews, the first option that says “Terrible, waste of peoples time making this,” does not tell me anything relative to my buying choice. I know you obviously hate the game, but it would help others with their decision if you explained exactly why it’s terrible.

Second review: “Aim and move are the same stick?” Now this is true. The left stick aims where you position the ball and it’s also how you move your character. Now this control scheme can be confusing so I understand this argument. After playing Matchpoint for several hours, I learned something important. At least 90% of the time, your character automatically hurries to be behind the ball as soon as possible. Once this was understood, winning Matchpoint Tennis Championships becomes a matter of where you hit the ball and not where you stand on the court.

Minimal Content

Minimal content is true. I never expect a lot of customization in sports titles, and Matchpoint is no different. Select between a few hairstyles, 4 shirts, 2 shorts, and a wristband. Rackets and shoes are also available which provide different stat bonuses. This sort of takes away from customization since you wear the ones with the highest stats anyway. Career mode is a simple calendar of selecting between various tennis tournaments. There is no story or campaign. If you are interested in Matchpoint Tennis Championships, expect a purely gameplay-focused video game.

Prevention from Attacking the Net

I am not sure if the reviewer just didn’t play the tutorial or if they forgot about how you attack the net. Matchpoint has a dedicated button that automatically forces your character to move up to the net. From the review, I am assuming they tried to move forward without pressing the dedicated button. From play testing, the game does apply more and more resistance if you try to move forward without pressing the dedicated button. Pro tip here: press the dedicated button to approach the net.

Matchpoint Tennis Championships is not Mario Tennis

Ah, the good ole comparison between apples and oranges. Matchpoint Tennis Championships is focused on where you hit the ball and how you hit the ball. Mario Tennis is focused on simply hitting the ball  via a basic swing or a power swing. Since the developers of Matchpoint are being innovative with their more realistic approach, I find comparing the two tennis games to be strange. Popularity doesn’t always mean better either. It’s okay to provide a bad rating if you don’t like the game, but I want the review to at least make sense.

Matchpoint Tennis Championships is Addicting

A review I wish I could prove! I pulled this one because I do feel the exact same way though. Matchpoint has an intense learning curve. And that learning curve becomes increasingly difficult if you have never played tennis before. Why? Because the game does not provide a lot of detail on how to play professional tennis. The tutorial will walk through the controls and swings, but it doesn’t actually provide any information on professional tennis rules or even championship rules.

But then, after hours of tournament matches, something in the brain will spark. A tiny ignition that sets fire to the professional athlete hiding deep within the crevices of the mind. Everything starts to make sense. From there, I won more matches, attacked the net more aggressively, risked tighter shot angles, and just started having way too much fun! So yeah, I really like Matchpoint Tennis Championships!

Game Gush Gamer

And that’s a wrap! Thanks for tuning in to my review breakdown, friends and gamers. This post was a little different from what I normally do so I hope it wasn’t too weird. Am I wrong for wanting a review rating to make more sense if a description is provided? Comment your thoughts and let’s talk about it! Also, let me know about a video game you enjoy that has bad reviews! As always, thanks again, and I’ll see you all soon.