Tennis (1984 video game)

1984 video game

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1984 video game

Tennis

North American NES cover art

Developer(s)| Nintendo R&D1
Intelligent Systems[5]
Publisher(s)| Nintendo

* JP: Hudson Soft (PC-88, Sharp X1, MZ-1500)

Producer(s)| Masayuki Uemura
Designer(s)| Shigeru Miyamoto[6]
Programmer(s)| Kenji Nakajima
Composer(s)| Yukio Kaneoka
Platform(s)|

Famicom/NES

* Arcade, PC-88, Sharp X1, PC-8001mkII, MZ-1500,[7] Famicom Disk System, Game Boy, Nintendo e-Reader

Release|

January 14, 1984

* Famicom/NES

* JP: January 14, 1984
* NA: October 18, 1985
* EU: September 1, 1986

Arcade (Vs. Tennis)

* JP: January 18, 1984[2]
* NA: March 1984[1]
* EU: 1986[3]

PC-88

* JP: June 1985

* JP: 1985

MZ-1500

* JP: 1985

Famicom Disk System

* JP: February 21, 1986

Game Boy

* JP: May 29, 1989
* NA: July 31, 1989
* PAL: 1990

e-Reader

* NA: September 16, 2002[4]

Genre(s)| Sports (tennis)
Mode(s)| Single-player, multiplayer
Arcade system| Nintendo VS. System, PlayChoice-10

Tennis[a] is a tennis video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer (Famicom). It was originally released in Japan on January 14, 1984, a few months after the launch of the Famicom on July 15, 1983.

An arcade game version titled VS. Tennis released for the Nintendo VS. System the same year, becoming a hit at Japanese and American arcades that year; it was the sixth top-performing arcade game of 1984 in the United States. Tennis is one of 17 launch games for the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) in North America and Europe. It was also ported to the Game Boy in 1989, going on sale about a month after the launch of the handheld console in Japan, and becoming one of the five launch titles for North America.

## Gameplay

[edit]

Tennis features single-player and two-player modes for singles and doubles matches, with either competitive or cooperative gameplay. A computerized opponent's artificial intelligence can be set to one of five difficulty levels. Mario is the official. Unlike other tennis video games, the singles mode puts one player against the AI and the doubles mode puts two human players on the same team against two AI opponents, it is not possible to do 2 player singles, 1 player doubles, or 2 player doubles on separate teams.

## Development and release

[edit]

In 1983, the Famicom had only three launch games, and its library would total seven, including Tennis. Shigeru Miyamoto said he was "directly in charge of the character design and the game design".[6] The game was developed in 1983.[2]

In 1984, it was included in the Nintendo VS. System arcade game series under the name Vs. Tennis,[b] which was released in Japan on January 18, 1984.[2] In 1985, Hudson Soft published Tennis for the PC-8801.[8][additional citation(s) needed] It was re-released for the North American launch of the Nintendo Entertainment System in October 1985. Nintendo ported the game to the Game Boy in 1989,[9] and to the Nintendo e-Reader in 2002.

The NES version is embedded in the life simulation game Animal Crossing (2001), and in the party video game WarioWare: Twisted! (2004) as one of 9-Volt's minigames. For the Virtual Console, Nintendo republished the NES version to the Wii in 2006 and the Wii U in 2013 and the Game Boy version to the Nintendo 3DS in 2011.[10][11][12] This version was added to the Nintendo Classics service in late 2018.[13]

## Reception

[edit]

In Japan, Game Machine listed VS. Tennis in its March 15, 1984 issue as the most successful table arcade cabinet of the month.[14] It again topped the Game Machine table arcade game charts in April[15] and May 1984.[16] In the United States, Vs. Tennis topped the arcade software conversion kit charts of RePlay (July 1984)[17] and Play Meter (August 1984).[18] It became the sixth top-performing arcade game of 1984 in the United States.[19] In Europe, it had become a popular arcade game by 1986.[3]

## Notes

[edit]

1. ^ Japanese: テニス, Hepburn: Tenisu
2. ^ Japanese: VS. テニス, Hepburn: Bāsasu Tenisu

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "The Vs. Challenge". RePlay. Vol. 11, no. 3\. December 1985. p. 5.
2. ^ a b c "Vs. Tennis (Registration Number PA0000204665)". United States Copyright Office. Retrieved May 30, 2021.
3. ^ a b Edgeley, Clare (December 16, 1986). "Arcade Action". Computer and Video Games. No. 63 (January 1987). United Kingdom: EMAP. pp. 138–9\. ISSN 0261-3697.
4. ^ Harris, Craig (October 10, 2002). "NES Series 2 Pack Art". IGN.`{{cite web}}`: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
5. ^ "INTELLIGENT SYSTEMS CO., LTD. ゲームソフト". Archived from the original on August 25, 2008.
6. ^ a b Kohler, Chris. "Miyamoto Spills Donkey Kong's Darkest Secrets, 35 Years Later". Wired. Retrieved October 17, 2016.
7. ^ "Nico Nico Rarities: Tennis for MZ-1500". YouTube. Retrieved May 4, 2020.
8. ^ "NEC-8801". Retro Games (in Portuguese). No. 1\. 2003. p. 53. Retrieved December 3, 2023.
9. ^ "Review: Tennis (3DS eShop / GB)". Nintendo Life. June 16, 2011. Retrieved January 23, 2025.
10. ^ "Nintendo - Official Site - Video Game Consoles, Games - Nintendo - Official Site".
11. ^ "Nintendo - Official Site - Video Game Consoles, Games - Nintendo - Official Site".
12. ^ "Nintendo - Official Site - Video Game Consoles, Games - Nintendo - Official Site".
13. ^ "Guide: Nintendo Switch Online FAQ - Everything We Know So Far". Nintendo Life. May 11, 2018. Retrieved May 13, 2018.
14. ^ "Game Machine's Best Hit Games 25 - テーブル型TVゲーム機 (Table Videos)" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 232\. Amusement Press, Inc. March 15, 1984. p. 31.
15. ^ "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 233\. Amusement Press, Inc. April 1, 1984. p. 27.
16. ^ "Best Hit Games 25" (PDF). Game Machine (in Japanese). No. 235\. Amusement Press, Inc. May 1, 1984. p. 29.
17. ^ "RePlay: The Players' Choice". RePlay. July 1984.
18. ^ "National Play Meter". Play Meter. August 15, 1984.
19. ^ "Top 20 Performing Video Games of 1984". Play Meter. Vol. 10, no. 20\. November 1, 1984. p. 47.

## See also

[edit]

* Jimmy Connors Tennis (1993)
* List of Nintendo Entertainment System games
* Super Tennis (1991)
* Top Players' Tennis (1990)

## External links

[edit]

* Tennis at NinDB Archived October 17, 2022, at the Wayback Machine
* Tennis Game Boy (in Japanese)
* Tennis on the Famicom 40th Anniversary page (in Japanese)

* v
* t
* e

Works by Shigeru Miyamoto

Designer|

* Sheriff (1979)
* Space Firebird (1980)
* Donkey Kong (1981)
* Sky Skipper (1981)
* Donkey Kong Jr. (1982)
* Popeye (1982)
* Mario Bros. (1983)
* Donkey Kong 3 (1983)
* Baseball (1983)
* Tennis (1984)
* Golf (1984)
* Devil World (1984)
* Excitebike (1984)
* Hogan's Alley (1984)
* Wild Gunman (1984)
* Duck Hunt (1984)
* Kung Fu (1985)
* Super Mario Bros. (1985)
* The Legend of Zelda (1986)
* Yume Kōjō: Doki Doki Panic (1987)
* Super Mario Bros. 2 (1988)
* Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
* Star Fox (1993)
* BS Zelda no Densetsu (1995)
* Star Fox 64 (1997)
* Pac-Man Vs. (2003)
* Super Mario Galaxy (2007)
* Steel Diver (2011)

Director|

* Donkey Kong (1981)
* Donkey Kong Jr. (1982)
* Popeye (1982)
* Mario Bros. (1983)
* Donkey Kong 3 (1983)
* Devil World (1984)
* Excitebike (1984)
* Hogan's Alley (1984)
* Wild Gunman (1984)
* Duck Hunt (1984)
* Kung Fu (1985)
* Super Mario Bros. (1985)
* The Legend of Zelda (1986)
* Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (1986)
* Super Mario Bros. 3 (1988)
* Super Mario 64 (1996)
* Super Mario Run (2016)

* v
* t
* e

Mario sports games

* Mario franchise

Tennis|

| Console|

* Tennis
* Mario Tennis
* Mario Power Tennis
* Mario Tennis: Ultra Smash
* Mario Tennis Aces

|

Handheld|

* Mario's Tennis
* Mario Tennis: Power Tour
* Mario Tennis Open

Golf|

| Console|

* Golf
* NES Open Tournament Golf
* Mario Golf
* Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour
* Mario Golf: Super Rush

|

Handheld|

* Mario Golf: Advance Tour
* Mario Golf: World Tour

Soccer / football|

* Super Mario Strikers
* Mario Strikers Charged
* Mario Strikers: Battle League

Baseball|

* Mario Superstar Baseball
* Mario Super Sluggers

Mario & Sonic at
the Olympic Games|

| Summer Olympic Games|

* Olympic Games
* London 2012 Olympic Games
* Rio 2016 Olympic Games
* Olympic Games Tokyo 2020

|

Winter Olympic Games|

* Olympic Winter Games
* Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games

Sports compilation|

* Mario Sports Mix
* Mario Sports Superstars

Other|

* Dance Dance Revolution: Mario Mix
* Mario Hoops 3-on-3
* Super Mario Spikers

Related|

* SSX on Tour
* NBA Street V3
* Wii Sports
* Mario racing games

* v
* t
* e

Intelligent Systems

Fire Emblem|

* Shadow Dragon and the Blade of Light
* Shadow Dragon
* Gaiden
* Echoes
* Mystery of the Emblem
* New Mystery
* Genealogy of the Holy War
* Thracia 776
* The Binding Blade
* The Blazing Blade
* The Sacred Stones
* Path of Radiance
* Radiant Dawn
* Awakening
* Fates
* Heroes
* Three Houses
* Engage

Paper Mario|

* Paper Mario
* The Thousand-Year Door
* Super Paper Mario
* Sticker Star
* Color Splash
* The Origami King

Pushmo|

* Pushmo
* Crashmo
* Pushmo World
* Stretchmo

Puzzle League|

* Tetris Attack
* Pokémon Puzzle Challenge
* Nintendo Puzzle Collection
* Planet Puzzle League

WarioWare|

* Mega Party Games!
* Twisted!
* Touched!
* Smooth Moves
* Snapped!
* D.I.Y.
* Game & Wario
* Gold
* Get It Together!
* Move It!

Wars|

* Famicom Wars
* Game Boy Wars
* Super Famicom Wars
* Advance Wars
* Black Hole Rising
* Dual Strike
* Days of Ruin

Other games|

* Alleyway
* Battle Clash
* Card Hero
* Trade & Battle
* Kousoku Card Battle
* Code Name: S.T.E.A.M.
* Cubivore: Survival of the Fittest
* Devil World
* Donkey Kong 3
* Dragon Hopper
* Dragon Quest Wars
* Duck Hunt
* Eco Shooter: Plant 530
* Galactic Pinball
* Hogan's Alley
* Kaeru no Tame ni Kane wa Naru
* Mario Bros.
* Mario Kart: Super Circuit
* Mario Paint
* Metal Combat: Falcon's Revenge
* Metroid
* Soccer
* Super Metroid
* Tennis
* Wild Gunman
* Wrecking Crew
* Yakuman

Technology|

* Super Game Boy
* Game Boy Player

People|

* Shouzou Kaga
* Yuka Tsujiyoko

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