Tennis Elbow (video game)

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Tennis Elbow
Genre(s) Sports game (tennis)
Developer(s) Mana Games
Publisher(s) Mana Games
Creator(s)Emmanuel Rivoire [1]
Platform(s) Windows, Mac OS, Linux
First releaseNovember 1996
Latest releaseJanuary 2013
Spin-offs Tennis Elbow Manager

Tennis Elbow is a series of tennis video games developed by France-based firm Mana Games. Its first version was released in 1996 [2] and as of May 2015 it is currently on its 2013 version, available for Windows, Mac & Linux platforms.

Contents

The game is simulation oriented, and is often seen as being the one offering the most realistic tennis experience in term of rallies [3] and tennis sensations. [4]

The most noticeable particularity of its gameplay is that the users have to hold down the strike button till their player actually strikes the ball, unlike most other tennis games that require the users to release the strike button earlier. [5]

After more than 2 years spent in Steam Greenlight, [6] the 2013 version was released on Steam on March 13, 2015. [7]

The game is regularly updated and as of July 2018 has seen 10 major updates for the 2013 edition.[ citation needed ]

The next edition is called "Tennis Elbow 4" and its early version was planned for 2019. [2] It was released on 4 June 2021, and is still in early access as of 10 March 2022. [8]

Games

Tennis Elbow (1997)

The first release in this tennis series allows players to compete in a World Tour of 90 events against 250 players. Single matches can be dirty up and dirty down (two against one) as well as the more conventional singles and doubles. Grass, clay, flexi and cement courts are featured. Action replays can be viewed in slow motion, fast speed, and rewound.

Players can be defined as volleyers, defenders, punchers or varied, with definable kit colours and playing abilities. As you play the game, your player’s ability improves, resulting in faster and more accurate serves as well as faster running and bigger jumps.

The action is viewed from a 3rd-person angle, and side changes are optional. Two buttons are used in combination with directional presses to make slices, 3 different types of lob, and subtle drop shots.

Tennis Elbow 2004 is an enhanced Windows port of the original Tennis Elbow [2]

Tennis Elbow 2006 (2006)

Tennis Elbow 2006 allows players to compete in a World Tour of 125 events against 300 players. Both the entry and Champions' Race ranking systems are incorporated - the former covering the last 52 weeks and the latter being fixed over a single calendar year.

Single matches can be two against one, as well as the more conventional singles and doubles. Network and internet play is offered. There are seven distinct court types - clay, grass, hard, blue-green hard, synthetic, indoor hard and indoor synthetic. Action replays can be viewed in slow motion, fast speed, and rewound.

Players can be defined as volleyers, defenders, punchers or varied, with definable kit colours and playing abilities. As you play the game, your player’s ability improves - by more if your lose. Assign these points for faster and more accurate serves as well as faster running and bigger jumps.

The action is viewed from a 3rd-person angle, and side changes are optional. Two buttons are used in combination with directional presses to make slices, 3 different types of lob, and subtle drop shots.

Tennis Elbow Manager (2009)

In this tennis manager game, you take control of a tennis coach and his player, and your goal is to reach the Number One ranking in the world, to stay there as long as possible and win as many Grand Slam titles as possible.

The game was Greenlit on Steam and later released on October 14, 2016 [9]

Tennis Elbow 2013 (2013)

Tennis Elbow 2013 follows the previous instalments in the Tennis Elbow series. It is described as an updated version of the previous title Tennis Elbow 2011 and it is provided for free to owners of that game. It features a simulative approach to tennis, and offers, along with local and online multiplayer, three singleplayer modes: training, single match, and World Tour, a career mode.

The World Tour sees you play with your created player, or an existing one (there are several dozens of real-world unlicensed famous and less famous, including — as to the males — Sampras, Agassi, Kafelnikov, Becker, Stich, Edberg and more, Graf Navratilova Sanchez Vicario Seles and more as for the females) and start from the bottom of the ranking and the smallest tournaments, with the aim to gain the top position in world rank during a span of 15 years. Available tournaments over a whole year are about three hundreds, but low ranked players can not access main competitions.

Gameplay can be tweaked to more or less simulative through options such as turning fatigue on or off, having the indicators of where our shots and the opponent's will impact on the court displayed or not, different CPU levels (6 in total, from "beginner" to "incredible"), and choosing from Arcade, Simulation, Elite "Controls", which impacts the gameplay, making it easier or harder to do good shots.

Player statistics include parameters for power, consistency, precision, for each of the fundamental shots (forehand, backhand, service), plus for volley play (net presence, forehand and backhand volley, smash), fitness (speed, tonicity, stamina), and special skills (drop shot, lob, counter, stamina); parameters range from 1% to 100%. Doubles can be played with four human players on one computer, or on two computers with two players per computer by LAN or Internet, but not on four computers.

The game was Greenlit on Steam and later released on March 13, 2015 [10]

Tennis Elbow 2009 and Tennis Elbow 2011 are versions of Tennis Elbow 2013 [2]

Tennis Elbow Manager 2 (2018)

Become a tennis coach and manage up to 9 players: take care of training sessions, planning, sponsors, team members, and take control of them on the tennis court if you wish so! Will you be able to lead your players to the top of the world hierarchy?

The game also features a full 3D match engine, which lets you play tennis as you want in the Training Club.

In addition, you can optionally take the control of your player during the tournament 3D matches. A little warning though: the management part will get a bit unbalanced from this, as some skills will be of lesser importance when you play all by yourself.

The match engine is based on the Tennis Elbow 2013 one, already acclaimed by many players as the most realistic tennis game, but with a new & improved physics for the ball, court, strikes & players !

The AI is also greatly improved, with new player strategies and more realistic behaviors.

The game was released early access in the official website on March 8, 2018, [11] then in Steam on June 7, 2019. [12]

Tennis Elbow 4

This game uses the Unity Engine. [13] It launched on 4th June 2021 in early access. [14] [15] As of February 2023, it is still in early access.

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tennis</span> Racket sport

Tennis is a racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket that is strung with cord to strike a hollow rubber ball covered with felt over or around a net and into the opponent's court. The object of the game is to manoeuvre the ball in such a way that the opponent is not able to play a valid return. The player who is unable to return the ball validly will not gain a point, while the opposite player will.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Table tennis</span> Racket sport

Table tennis, also known as ping-pong and whiff-whaff, is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of two, players take alternating turns returning a light, hollow ball over the table's net onto the opposing half of the court using small rackets until they fail to do so, which results in a point for the opponent. Play is fast, requiring quick reaction and constant attention, and is characterized by an emphasis on spin relative to other ball sports, which can heavily affect the ball's trajectory.

<i>Pete Sampras Tennis</i> 1994 video game

Pete Sampras Tennis is a sports video game, developed by Zeppelin Games and published by Codemasters. It was followed by Sampras Tennis 96 for Sega's 16-bit console and later by Pete Sampras Tennis '97, released for the PlayStation and Windows/DOS.

Serve-and-volley is a style of play in tennis where the player serving moves quickly towards the net after hitting a serve, to attempt to hit a volley afterwards. In the serve-and-volley playstyle, the server attempts to hit a volley, as opposed to the baseline game, where the server stays back following the serve and attempts to hit a groundstroke. The serve-and-volley style of play has diminished in recent years with advances in racquet and string technologies which allow players to generate a great amount of top spin on groundstrokes and passing shots. The slowing of court surfaces and deflation of balls, promoting longer rallies for the enjoyment of spectators, has also devalued the serve-and-volley style.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Pickleball</span> Racket/paddle sport

Pickleball is an indoor or outdoor racket/paddle sport in which two players (singles), or four players (doubles), hit a perforated hollow plastic ball over a 36-inch-high (0.91 m) net using solid-faced paddles. Opponents on either side of the net hit the ball back and forth until one side commits a rule infraction. Pickleball was invented in 1965 as a children's backyard game in the United States, on Bainbridge Island in Washington state. In 2022, pickleball was named the official state sport of Washington.

A volley in tennis is a shot in which the ball is struck before it bounces on the ground. Generally a player hits a volley while standing near the net, although it can be executed farther back, in the middle of the tennis court or even near the baseline. The word derives from M. French volée meaning flight.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lob (tennis)</span>

A lob in tennis involves hitting the ball high and deep into the opponent's court. It can be used as an offensive or defensive weapon.

In tennis, there are a variety of types of shots which can be categorized in various ways. The grip you place on will help you have different types of shots, the lower your grip means that the ball is most likely going to be a ground stroke. According to William T. Tilden, "All tennis strokes, should be made with the body' at right angles to the net, with the shoulders lined up parallel to the line of flight of the ball." The serve is the opening shot of a point. Groundstrokes are hit after the ball has already bounced, and can be either forehands or backhands depending on which direction the racket is swung relative to the body. A lob is a groundstroke hit well over the head of an opponent who is positioned at the net. A passing shot is a groundstroke that is hit out of reach of an opponent at the net far to his left or right. A cross-court shot is a shot hit from the left side of one player's court to the left side of the other player's court, so that it crosses the lengthwise centerline of the court. A down-the-line shot is one that is hit more or less parallel to, and near to, one of the sidelines, so that it never crosses the centerline.

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<i>Dream Match Tennis</i> 2006 video game

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<i>Grand Slam Tennis</i> 2009 video game

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<i>Final Match Tennis</i> 1991 video game

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This glossary provides definitions and context for terminology related to, and jargon specific to, the sport of pickleball. Words or phrases in italics can be found on the list in their respective alphabetic sections.

References

  1. "Mana Games: About" . Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  2. 1 2 3 4 "Mana Games • Previsional "Tennis Elbow 4" Planning". www.managames.com. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  3. "TEST. Tennis Elbow 2013 (PC, Mac)". Gameblog (in French). 27 May 2013. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  4. "Steam Community :: Tennis Elbow 2013". steamcommunity.com. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  5. "Tennis Elbow 2013 - Full Documentation". www.managames.com. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  6. "Steam Greenlight::Tennis Elbow 2013". steamcommunity.com. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  7. Green, Shaun (16 March 2015). "Tennis Elbow 2013 Served To Steam; Demo Available". Rock, Paper, Shotgun. Retrieved 23 October 2020.
  8. "Save 20% on Tennis Elbow 4 on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 10 March 2022.
  9. "Tennis Elbow Manager Steam Page" . Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  10. "Greenlit news" . Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  11. "Tennis Elbow Manager 2 - Early Version !" . Retrieved 8 November 2020.
  12. "Tennis Elbow Manager 2 Steam Page" . Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  13. "Forum response from the dev" . Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  14. "Tennis Elbow 4 Planning" . Retrieved 6 November 2020.
  15. "Tennis Elbow 4 on Steam". store.steampowered.com. Retrieved 24 February 2023.