Genesis ~ Wimbledon Review

Overview

Wimbledon is the official game of the world-renowned Wimbledon tennis tournament for the Sega Genesis. It is officially licensed by the "All England Lawn and Tennis and Croquet Club", which is the thing that ticks me off and you'll find out why. -0

Gameplay

Almost immediately, this game is instantly playable. It will take a few minutes to figure out the buttons, but to save you the trouble they are: A for a high and slow shot, B for a normal shot that isn't too high or low nor too fast or too slow, and C for a low and fast shot. Each tennis player available for you to choose from has 10 different skill levels from 0 to 9 being the best. Well, the game plays like tennis and fairly well too. However, the game just plays too slow for you to have some action packed fun no matter what skill level you choose. The ball travels far too slow, as if the gravity was reduced. Still, alot of fun if you just take this as normal.

7 out of 10

Graphics

The graphics are fairly good, but not excellent. The players look large and blocky, with the animations of them running around as if they were clumsy.

The grass court looks really good, with bits of green and brown for that extra grassy effect.

3.5 out of 5

Sound and Music

The music has a nice pleasant feel to it, but not exactly fitting for the sport of tennis.

Most of the sound effects are surprisingly very realistic, ranging from the umpire, to the rackets hitting the ball. Although at times the umpire voices can get so annoying due to repetitiveness, you'll wish that there were some way to turn it off.

3.75 out of 5

Playability and Versatility

It is this part of the game that really lets it down from being something great. The players have limited range. Imagine yourself positioned around the middle on your side of the court. Your opponent hits it hard at the end to either side of the your court. No matter how hard you try, you player will only manage one pathetic swing at the ball. No long range ability! Although this only sounds minor, it isn't. This is something VERY annoying.

3 out of 5

Options

Now this is where the official licence is completely useless. No real players, no real deal. It is just so obvious that Sega just made up a bunch of generic names and gave them generic skill points from levels 0 to 9. This is made up for by the game modes. There is the normal exhibition match that includes your regular one and one, highly entertaining doubles, both in one or two player mode. Then we predictably have the Wimbledon tournament, male or female. Again I must stress that without any real players, there is no Wimbledon!

3.5 out of 5

For: plays tennis fairly well, fairly good graphics, realistic sound effects, can have doubles.

Against: below par speed, can't hit the ball when it is far from you, annoying umpire sounds, no real players.

It just can't be Wimbledon without real players. Other then the below par speed gameplay and a limited hitting range, this game still manages be fun, but not for those seriously into the sport. -0