Super Tennis Blast review for Nintendo Switch, PC, Xbox One, PS4

Super Tennis Blast is basically the inverse of Smoots World Cup Tennis: it?s incredibly ugly, it?s short on features, and it plays surprisingly well.

That last part is no small thing. If there?s one thing I?ve noticed in many tennis games, it?s that they do a lousy job of making the sport seem fun or interesting to play. Super Tennis Blast, by contrast, stands out by virtue of the fact it simply works. In fact, even more than that, it works in a way that seems natural: you see the ball, you hit the ball where you want it to go. That may not sound like much, but, after playing a fair amount of lousy tennis games in the past year, it?s actually pretty amazing.

What?s more, even though there?s not a lot to do, what is here is still enough to make a game worthwhile. Maybe it?s because the developers didn?t feel the need to hide their lousy tennis amidst layers and layers of gimmicks, but only having exhibition and career modes (plus one other mode I?ll get to in a second) feels like enough when you have a game that isn?t actively getting in its own way by piling on layer after layer of extras.

And even the one extra — a ?Super Blast? mode — really isn?t all that crazy, and still keeps its focus on tennis when you get down to it. Sure, you can make the net change heights and the lines shift around, but you still play a game that?s identifiably tennis. At most, the quirky rules only force you to work on aspects of your game, rather than shifting the sport into something it?s not.

To be sure, Super Tennis Blast isn?t flawless. Because it?s so no-frills, the matches and venues and opponents can start to seem the same after awhile. It?s hard to have personality when everything is so basic, after all.

But that doesn?t take away from the fact this is a very solid, well-made tennis game. Super Tennis Blast isn?t going to wow you, but compared to its competition, it doesn?t need too — simply being competent is more than enough to make it stand out.

Unfinished Pixel provided us with a Super Tennis Blast Switch code for review purposes.