These pro rackets cost anything from 79p up to an arse-clenching £23, which of course makes Stick Tennis as expensive as many recent console games if you want the best possible advantage. You’ll also need to splash out on real money in order to unlock better rackets, which help to speed up your shots and reduce the likelihood of smacking the ball out of the court. The game itself is free to download, although you’ll need to pay up £2.29 to unlock the entire World Domination mode. And if you want to play with a mate, you can do so by logging in with your Facebook account. There’s also a neat little Challenge mode which gives you a mini objective to complete every day, with one chance to beat it. Stick Tennis boasts a selection of modes to choose from, including a basic practice mode to hone your skills, a World Domination mode which pits you against tennis champions past and present, and a Slams mode which sees you defeating a series of opponents one at a time. But your tennis superstar runs about on their own accord, so you only have to worry about getting those balls back into your opponent’s half of the court. You have a little extra control, in that you can also swipe down to perform a drop shot. Instead, you simply tap the screen to toss the ball in the air and swipe a direction to serve, then swipe again to return until the point is won. This iPhone sports sim sees you taking on tennis stars across the globe, but the controls are as simple as they come no awkward on-screen directional pads or other nonsense.
The beauty of the Stick sports games for iOS is their simplicity, and Stick Tennis is no different.
Stick Sports Ltd has just released its latest Stick sports game, Stick Tennis Tour – check out our full review if you haven’t already – but that game is actually a sequel to the original Stick Tennis iPhone game, which laid the foundations for the simple-yet-addictive gameplay despite a few little issues.
Stick Tennis iPhone game review: We smack some balls around in this classic mobile game from the creators of Stick Cricket and Stick Soccer.