A Nintendo 64 Game... But Worse – Motion Tennis Review

There is nothing positive to say about this game. The user has almost no control over his player. The only aspect you can control is type of swing - normal, slice, or lob - based on the orientation of your iPhone when the ball is near your player, and even this works only about 20% of the time. Basically, holding your palms facing down is like pressing the 'A' button, facing down is 'B', and facing up is 'C' on a Nintendo 64. Except in this game, you have less control over when the button-press actually occurs, and you don't control at all where the player is on the screen. You can't move up toward the net or back toward the baseline, you can't anticipate where the opponent is going to place his volley, or anything like that. The thing that differentiates this game from a Nintendo 64 (not Wii) game is the way the user controls the virtual player. With all of the iPhone's precise sensors (accelerometer, gyroscope, etc.) along with 20 years of advances in software, I expected more control over the player than I could get with a standard D-pad style controller. The description and tutorial for this game instructs the user to swing his iPhone like it's a tennis racquet. But there is no reason to swing your iPhone. A slight flick of the wrist does accomplishes the same thing, because the user only controls whether it's a normal, slice, or lob shot. Swinging your iPhone faster, slower, with more or less follow-through, etc. does nothing.
Review by SoccerClubChamp on Motion Tennis.