Tennis in the Face Review [Nintendo Switch] – A Bit Of Light Relief?

As someone who enjoys sports, there has always been one that is my Achilles heel; tennis. Not that I don’t enjoy watching it or partaking in the yearly Wimbledon hype, I’ve just never been able to play it. So when it comes to any form of tennis games I’ve always avoided them. That is until now. In what appears to be their continuation of service to the Switch, 10tons bring us their latest instalment to the console; Tennis in the Face.

Albeit a very light-hearted take on the tennis world, Tennis in the Face is an entertaining experience which sees you whacking tennis balls at unsuspecting victims. The clue is in the title really… The story goes that Explodz Inc, the manufacturer of an addictive energy drink, has taken over an unnamed city. It is your job, as ex-tennis superstar Pete Pagassi, to save the city from evil clowns, corrupt business folk and hipsters to name but a few. I knew there was something untrustworthy about those hipsters…

Each set of enemies have different quirks and defences; some cannot be attacked head-on, others take more than one hit to knock down. The task is to find the most efficient way of taking all enemies in each level down in the most efficient way, using as few tennis balls as possible. There are environmental hazards and objects which will both help and hinder you along the way.

Blocks of ice will shatter upon impact, opening up new routes, whilst crates of Explodz will explode when hit, knocking all down within blast range. Altogether there are over 100 levels to complete, each having a crown to collect from it when a certain score is surpassed. Collecting crowns grants you access to the next area of the city before your penultimate showdown with the Explodz factory.

The mechanics within the game are nothing new or ground-breaking but prove to be entertaining nonetheless. Your balls only bounce a finite amount of times (oo-er) meaning you have to find the sweet spot where they hit as many targets as possible before disappearing. This is both a fun and annoying challenge in equal measures.

The only nuance that I found here is that the game is better when using the touchscreen controls, which I don’t like. Given this has been on the mobile platforms this makes sense but if you’re gaming on the Switch it would make sense, to me, to opt for the use of sticks and buttons.