Nov 30, 20183 min read

Review #054: Timber Tennis: Versus (Nintendo Switch)

Reviewer: Frank W.

Developer: Crunching Koalas / Digital Melody

Publisher: Crunching Koalas

Category: Arcade, Sports, Multiplayer, Fighting

Release Date: 11.08.2018

Download Timber Tennis: Versus from the Nintendo eShop here.

Must Be the Beard

What comes to mind when you think of large burly men who cut down trees for a living, sweat glistening in the sun's rays as it beats down from the heavens? This game exists to answer that age-old question—it's tennis! Timber Tennis: Versus is a delicious little distraction, and for $1.99, you get a good little bit of content, along with some fun with a friend!

He Just Happens To Be a Lumberjack…

The name keeps you wondering, but actually, this doesn't exactly focus on lumberjacks—its titular character just happens to be one! Timber Tennis: Versus is a game for various platforms, but finds a great medium on the Switch, with its portability and relative ease to pick up and just start playing. Timber Tennis: Versus has lots of power-ups that spawn mid-match, like in a game of Mario Kart or Smash Bros, that can really turn the tide of the match quickly! From turning into a bigger body in order to hit shots, to throwing explosive gas at the other player, Timber Tennis: Versus will keep you on your feet for the whole volley.

Timber Tennis: Versus features a few different game modes as you battle your way through the world championship, including a career mode and online play. Career Mode is divided into two different modes: your basic one-on-one Skirmish match, and a tournament mode. Skirmish lets you pick how many sets you would like to have with a single opponent before the match is considered finished and a winner is crowned—and coins are awarded, but more on what those unlock later—Tournament mode allows you to face a series of opponents one after the other, and as you defeat each enemy, you rise one more slot up the battle pillar, which seems to be a direct homage to Mortal Kombat’s tournament totem. I won a lump sum of coins at the end of this, it’s great for getting more currency quickly.

Gameplay & Fun Factor

The gameplay is essentially your normal tennis fare, but a little more simplified. You move your character one space at a time, left or right, and you automatically hit the tennis ball back towards the other side of the court, all while collecting power-ups and using them—the freeze power-up is pretty much a death sentence! There really isn’t too much more to this than dodging your opponent's power-ups while you move to wherever the tennis ball is moving. Honestly, it’s not very involved, and coming fresh off of something like the new Mario Tennis, the actual gameplay was where this title really started to slack.

There is a TON of unlockable content in this game, however, with skins from a sumo to Mike Tyson there is a lot of stuff to keep your games visually varied. I’ve volleyed with Pocahontas and followed it up with He-Man—or “Hi Man” as the game calls him—and it makes you laugh, that's for sure! You can also unlock various other tennis balls as well. Personally, I prefer to volley back and forth with a cactus!

Wrapping Up

Timber Tennis: Versus is a fun little ditty, and for $1.99, I would say it has an appropriate level of depth and content; but don’t come expecting the level of complexity or depth you would get from a more polished title! Grab it for the short moments when you have 5 minutes but nothing to do!