Final Match Tennis

Final Match Tennis was released in 1991 by Human Entertainment for the PC Engine, the console sold outside Japan as the TurboGrafx-16. Human Entertainment built a reputation in Japan for treating sport seriously rather than simply porting arcade-style knockabout versions of it.

The court is shown from the side, effectively from behind one of the players. That angle turns tennis into a different game than a plan view does: the opponent stands across the net in perspective, depth has to be judged rather than read off the floor, and net play becomes a matter of reaction rather than positioning.

The PC Engine suited this well. It handled a large number of sprites and smooth motion, so ball and players moved without stutter, which is a basic requirement in a tennis game. The HuCard format also meant instant loading and unrestricted access to data during a match.

1991 was an interesting moment for console tennis. The genre was moving from simple rallying towards simulation, with different court surfaces, distinct playing styles and tactics at the net, and Japanese titles frequently led the way on that.

A tennis game is judged on small things: whether spin can be applied, how a player behaves at the net, whether the opponent shifts tactics with the score, and whether long rallies are possible at all. Japanese developers paid attention to those details, which is why their sports titles often looked more sober than colourful Western ones while lasting far longer, because there was always something to improve.

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