Review | New Star Tennis
Format: PC | Genre: Arcade Tennis Sim | Publisher: New Star Games| Developer: New Star Games | Release Date: 22/01/10 | RRP: £10
[This review, and associated score, have been amended since publication. Please see this page for details.]
“Roger Fiderer” pulls back and serves another ace right past me. Game, set and match to Fiderer. My stumpy little character charges off the court and glitches into the stands. Roger Fiderer bobs up and down at the net and the game crashes, my opponent waiting for a handshake that will never come.
New Star Tennis is the latest title from New Star Games, the folks behind the lo-fi-but-quite-good New Star Soccer series. As with New Star Soccer, you’ll take control of your star and lead them through their career, giving them activities to complete from week to week. These activities range from training to cart racing and the occasional bit of tennis. Every so often you’ll be able to take part in tournaments, earn money and sponsorship deals and make the big time as a pro. But New Star’s foray into the world of tennis is a rather serious misstep for the indie developer.
EVERYTHING ON BLACK
Your ability with a raquet is determined by how many stars you have in a given proficiency, be it your serve, your forehand or your speed across the court. In New Star Tennis, you start with no stars at all. You are essentially a man who has never played tennis before. This makes winning anything virtually impossible, which means your only source of income arrives in the form of an occasional handout from the Tennis Association and your winnings at the roulette wheel.
It’s a bad sign when your gambling mini-game is more compelling than the sport you’re trying to simulate. New Star Tennis claims to give you “a glimpse into the life of a young tennis 
star”, which is worrying because my young tennis star is desperately in need of some sort of intervention to keep him away from the blackjack tables. If I just win big, I think, I’ll be able to afford that exercise bike. Then I’ll be able to train harder and win a few matches, win some silver and finally make it into the big time.
“Twist.”
“But sir, you have twenty-”
“I said twist, damnit!”
DOUBLE FAULT
When he’s not busy giving all his money to lady luck, my star spends his days training. In order to improve your skills in a given proficiency, you’re required to complete a mini-game testing that skill. Serve at the targets until you have 100 points, for example. Completion of the mini-game will grant you an improvement of half a star. Half a star.
To put this into perspective, you can achieve ten stars in any proficiency. This means I have to play that damn serving mini-game 20 times to be able to compete with the likes of “Roger 
Fiderer” or “Andy Marray”. That’s just my service game as well. There are four other proficiencies to think about.
The training mini-games are so bad because they’re based on the tennis itself, which is a mess. The arrow keys move both your character and your aim. If you run right your aim also skews right, which makes returning a shot a frustrating process of getting in position and then dragging your aim back from the edge of the court. It’s sluggish, difficult and completely lacking the fluidity and pace of the actual sport.
It’s buggy, too. Half of the time your character will automatically dash to the wrong half of the court in preparation for your opponent’s serve. Finishing games can also be especially tricky if your player decides to leg it out of the stadium before the game is actually over.
It’s available at a budget price, but for £10 you could just buy the superb Virtua Tennis 3. Alternatively, if the real-life roulette wheel has taken all your money, you could always just play Stick Man Tennis for free and enjoy a faster, smoother and infinitely more palatable representation of the sport.
This game made me hate tennis and love gambling. It’s ugly to watch and even worse to play. It’s going to take more than strawberries and cream to fix this one. Avoid at all costs. By Thomas Senior
[ADDENDUM (see this page for details): Having spent some time with the full release version of New Star Tennis, I can thankfully say that many of the bugs mentioned in the review have been cleared up. The game-breaking incidence that sees your player running off the court before the game is finished no longer occurs, and players line up correctly for matches. These bugs previously rendered the game pretty much unplayable, hence the original 1/10 score. To doubly clarify: I did not experience these bugs in the version of the game available for purchase.
However. The other problems outlined above are still very much present. The tennis itself remains deeply unsatisfying, the mini-games provide only a few moments of distraction and, in truth, there is very little here to recommend. Even ardent fans of New Star's games are likely to be disappointed by this lacklustre effort from the indie developer. -TS]
2/10
(This score has been updated – see notes for details.)
What does this score mean?
If you’re so inclined, New Star Tennis is available for purchase from the developer’s website. The New Star Soccer games might be a better bet, though.
I’d like to know which version you have as the version I have is nowhere near as buggy and crap as you make it out to be.
The bugs about running off court etc. are very rare, in my experience.
I play tennis, and usually you have to run to the ball and get into position, THEN you aim. Like in this game. He’s just rubbish, obviously. Maybe he started on Hard.
I have Top Spin 3; you have to play 100 matches to get enough XP to get good. I think I’d rather play mini-games. 20 times isn’t too bad – that’s only 7 weeks of training to get 10 stars if you’re good enough. The way you word that sentence on the half star thing, you’d rather have a star per mini-game and have it out of 20 stars. Maybe that’ll cheer you up.
5) Your computer must be pretty rubbish if the game crashes; I’m using a 3-year-old laptop with 128Mb inbuilt graphics and 2Gb RAM… and that manages to run it well on high quality.
6) ‘As if you’ve never played tennis before’: Last time I checked, when you start a career game, you start with NOTHING. It wouldn’t be very challenging having Federer’s stats at the beginning of the game, would it? And when you start with nothing you have the sense of pride when you beat someone with much better stats than yourself.
That’s just my 2 cents.
Hi Jonathon. For me, the running off the court bug was extremely common. In my experience with the game it happened in well over half of the matches. My player would regularly line up on the wrong side of the court. Losing a training game and then going into a tournament saw the ‘you have failed the training game’ message pop up again and I’d be automatically moved on to the next round. These issues are an important reason for giving the score I did. As a reviewer offering a buyer’s guide I can’t possibly recommend that people pay £10 for a game that often just doesn’t work properly.
I don’t have a problem with having to get into position before playing a shot. As you say, that’s Tennis. The problem was having the aiming reticule tied to the player’s movement and the resultant sluggishness of dragging the aiming reticule from the edge of the court for every shot. However, putting the aiming system aside the tennis model doesn’t allow for topspin, backspin, drop shots or lobs and you can’t play shots on the run. All of these are important elements in the modern game of Tennis and As such the game offers a very poor and limited representation of the sport.
My problem with having so few skills at the start of the game is that it means you’re unable to properly compete in any of the tournaments until you’ve spent a very long time training up. It’ll take seven game weeks to max out one stat. It’ll take almost 9 months to max out all of them. You don’t need to max out your stats to compete, but you’ll want most of them around the 7 or 8 star mark, which is, say, 6 or 7 months of game time playing nothing but subpar minigames before you can even compete. In Topspin 3 you’ll play a lot of matches to gain experience, but at least you’re actually playing Tennis.
I honestly don’t enjoy giving a game such a low score, but it’s my job to let people know whether it’s worth shelling out their hard earned cash. While the game is in the state it’s in, it would be dishonest of me to recommend that anybody purchase the game.
It’s also dishonest to tell people that the game is pure shit by giving it 1 point in 10.
Can I ask you again what version of the game you reviewed? 0.93 or 1.0?
I understand your statement about the variety of shots – but can I just add that lobs and drop shots can be made (double-tapping the ‘hit’ button, and using the aim marker respectively).
With the maxing-up stats:
you can still beat players with no stats. Do you expect to beat Federer first time? And isn’t it realistic? That’s what you keep going on about, how realistic it is to real life. So it takes you 9 months of game time to build up stats… it can take 9 years in real life to become a world-class player. Would you rather just have stats maxed out in a day of game time?
And with regard to your comment in the original review that it’s sluggish at parts. It’s an open source game, where the in-game settings can be modified externally etc. Just have a look at the forums, for example. The basic mechanics of the game can be tweaked to your liking; make the ball travel faster, make the players travel faster, make lob shots go higher, make the curve ridiculous and so on. Anyone with any computing knowledge can know, just by looking at the NSG forums, how to tweak the game to personalise it for yourself.
Last time I checked, you couldn’t do this with Virtua Tennis. Even on a different sports game, such as FIFA, you have Game Speed as slow, normal or fast. On NST you can change it EXACTLY to how you want it. I myself have tweaked it so that the gameplay is very fastpaced, moreso than the real game itself.
I personally think your 1/10 is a bit harsh.
Sorry for the rant, I just disagree with your review, but I am sure that (if you haven’t already) play the newest release, your experience will be a lot, lot better.
Can I ask you again what version of the game you reviewed? 0.93 or 1.0?
I understand your statement about the variety of shots – but can I just add that lobs and drop shots can be made (double-tapping the ‘hit’ button, and using the aim marker respectively).
With the maxing-up stats:
you can still beat players with no stats. Do you expect to beat Federer first time? And isn’t it realistic? That’s what you keep going on about, how realistic it is to real life. So it takes you 9 months of game time to build up stats… it can take 9 years in real life to become a world-class player. Would you rather just have stats maxed out in a day of game time?
And with regard to your comment in the original review that it’s sluggish at parts. It’s an open source game, where the in-game settings can be modified externally etc. Just have a look at the forums, for example. The basic mechanics of the game can be tweaked to your liking; make the ball travel faster, make the players travel faster, make lob shots go higher, make the curve ridiculous and so on. Anyone with any computing knowledge can know, just by looking at the NSG forums, how to tweak the game to personalise it for yourself.
Last time I checked, you couldn’t do this with Virtua Tennis. Even on a different sports game, such as FIFA, you have Game Speed as slow, normal or fast. On NST you can change it EXACTLY to how you want it. I myself have tweaked it so that the gameplay is very fastpaced, moreso than the real game itself.
I personally think your 1/10 is a bit harsh.
Sorry for the rant, I just disagree with your review, but I am sure that (if you haven’t already) play the newest release, your experience will be a lot, lot better.
It’s a bit difficult to take Jonathan seriously when he sounds like a developer stung by a bad review. Especially when he starts talking about how the game is modifiable by ordinary players in order to make the game playable… uh last time I checked that was the developer’s job?
Ultimately, the point of a review is for the reviewer to give his honest opinion on a game based on his own personal experience, regardless of what other people claim the experience /should/ be.
I’m not a developer; I’m just a long-term player of the New Star Games series… maybe I’m being biased here. Granted, NST isn’t the best game ever made by NSG, but I just personally don’t see why it should get such a bad review.
I’ll stop now.
The version reviewed was 0.93. This was sent to us a few days before release, leading us to believe it was effectively the release version. However, I have contacted New Star Games to clarify this. If a Version 1.0 is now available, and is the one on-sale, we will absolutely take another look at it, and make any amendments to the review as such.
We were sent version 0.91 for review, but we make it very clear on the about page that
“We review based on code sent by publishers and PR companies, which we always assume to be the final version.”
After all, I can only review the game that’s in front of me.
I agree that you shouldn’t be able to take on Federer straight away but in my experience it was very difficult to beat anybody at all until I had trained an awful lot. Ideally you have a system that lets you play competative games from the start and work your way up from playing amateurs to the big stars. You had no control over who you played against, so in a given tournament there’s a strong likelihood that you’ll be matched against a vastly superior player fairly early on, making it impossible to progress.
Being malleable and open source is good, but when people buy a game they expect the game to feel good and be playable right out of the box. Many won’t have the technical know-how or patience to go into the game files and tweak the game. I have to assume that things like the speed of the aiming reticule have been tuned and optimised by the developers and can’t review based on how the game would play if altered and tweaked by others.
Your comments are fair and I accept them. With regards to version 1.0, that is the one that I purchased when I bought NST from the site.
Oh, you “accept” the comments by the professional editorial staff. All is well then.
Anyway. It must be my web2.0-itis itching again.
Sure, you may have been sent 0.91 or 0.93 or whatever version for testing but the point is that the version that was put up for sale was 1.00, not 0.93 or 0.91 or whatever version prior to that one. Simon Read is not selling the testing versions, he’s selling the final versions. I think it’d be obvious that’s the case because well, it wasn’t version 1.00, and as game reviewers, you should be aware of the conventions used for version numbering.
Have you ever thought there are people with some good sense? Or haven’t you been outside long enough to know that?
In case it wasn’t clear, I accept your excuses as well as Jonathan, we’re humans, we all make mistakes.
It didn’t seemed “professional” at all reviewing a beta version and giving it a 1/10 rating, given it’s A BETA, it’s a indie company with its games being developed mainly by a single programmer, and it’s a fully functional game, fun to play.
I just beat Andy Murray on Easy, with only two stars at the Serve ability. Real f*cking hard game, isn’t it? Of course, I didn’t played the game like this at my very first try, but unlike you, I gave it another shot and understood the game perfectly.
The “professionals” may complain anyway they like, but its a game worthy of at least a 7/10 rating.
You’ll see the future ratings by other sites. We’ll see if they share the same opinion.
Thanks Rui.
I have asked Thomas to take a look at the release version of the game. He’ll be updating this review with his thoughts as soon as he’s had a play around with it.
Thanks for your comprehension mate, I hope the review will come around soon.
Thank you
1 out of 10 is a bit harsh. I’d give the game 2 or maybe 3.
As the writer states, the gambling tables are more compelling than actually playing a match. The gameplay is terrible and one dimensional. If you are real tennis fan and appreciate a good game play then go pick up another tennis game like Tennis Elbow or Dream Match Tennis. New Star Tennis is a “double fault” in the otherwise excellent collection of games fron New Star.
If I’m correct n.s.games is an independant developer who in my opinion has created excellent games,this may not be in the same league as new star soccer,but still deserves more than 1/10 have a heart mate.!!
I must say I don’t know which version you played, but giving this game a 1/10 is surely an abomination?
I’m about to link Wikipedia here, so I apologize for that, but surely a 1/10 puts New Star Tennis up there with the following games: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Video_games_notable_for_negative_reception
And you justify your 1 because, basically, the controls are not intuitive, and there were a few bugs that must have gotten fixed, mostly because the version just I played didn’t have most of the problems you described? Granted, I did see that sometimes at the start of a match the player starts on the wrong side of the court, but I’m sure the developer will stomp out that bug too.
Compare that to any of the games on the list above. The tennis is pretty good now. The gameplay forces you to use time management. The training isn’t /that/ hard, and you’re not supposed to become Federer overnight, either – that’s why it’s New Star Tennis. I think that’s why the cursor is sluggish, too – it moves faster the more training you do.
This game certainly has some things going for it, even if you received it maybe a little bit before it had fully ripened. To me that isn’t surprising. New Star Soccer 3 didn’t fully bloom until it hit its 16th micro-version based on input from the people who played it (myself included). While I think it’s fair for you to say don’t buy this game based on what you’ve played, I also think it’s unfair to score it as low as you did. Based on the version I just played, I’m looking forward to the next review (the most recent is 1.02).
Cheers
John
I must say John I absolutely agree with you, that was clearly spot on. I know I haven’t played any New Star game as long as you have, but still, I know that is spot on, you are absolutely right. It’s true that NSS3 took 16 patches to reach its prime but it was pretty clear that the game was already very good like in the 9th patch, perhaps even before that. I am also certain that any remaining bugs in New Star Tennis will be ironed out very soon.
[...] Instead, we have amended the score based on the improved stability of the final build. However, Thomas’ primary gripes were with the content of the game itself. He has explained his viewpoint and clarified the differences between the two builds in an addendum to the original review. You can read that here. [...]
Again, are you serious?
Less than 24 hours ago, you admitted Thomas was going to take another look at it – and now you’ve revised the score upward /by a point/.
This is a career-style game, not breakout. I’m not arguing more time spent with the game would make you like it better, but it’s not an easy game when you start out because you have to build up your players’ stats.
It’s not a perfect game, but by scoring it as low as you have shows your site doesn’t really have a pulse on games.
Your score is very wrong. I thought id take a look at it after you rated it 1/10, but its a really fun game and I have purchased it. AT LEAST should be a 7/10, because its fun, the control with a Xbox 360 controller is great, and on HARD its really fun.
I really discredit this website now, I have always thought this site has been alright, but your having a laugh here.
Whoever reviewed this game is obviously expecting every indie tennis game to be better than Virtua Tennis and Top Spin. Moron.
“Whoever reviewed this game is obviously expecting every indie tennis game to be better than Virtua Tennis and Top Spin.”
Have a look at other indie games like Dream Match Tennis and Tennis Elbow and you will se the score is right. New Star Tennis is nothing compared to these two games.
The problem is that this game isn’t supposed to be competing with the big boys’ games much like the NSS series isn’t supposed to be competing with FIFA or PES or whatever, and besides, Tennis Elbow and New Star Tennis have clearly got different intentions seeing as one focuses on simulation whereas the other one focuses on arcadey-style gaming and on the reminisence of a star.
Once more I second your words John – especially the part where you mention the fact that you have to build your stats up because it’s supposed to be the rise of a star. I find it hillarious how this is a reason for the website reviewers’ dislike of the game because you’ve said that people should instead have a look at NSS – the principle is the same, you have to build your stats up to become a world-class player. Come on, we all know Ronaldo/Messi/whatever weren’t born with those kind of abilities as weren’t Nadal or Federer or Murray. And besides, the words ‘New Star’ are in the title aren’t they?
I apologize, when I mentioned ‘big boys’ I wanted to say ‘the companies that have much larger budgets’.
Was this game reviewed using a keyboard or a joypad?
I don’t know. I’m not arguing NST is better than Tennis Elbow – that will always be more of a “simulation”-style game. I’m just arguing it’s not a 2/10. It might be a 4/10 or a 5/10, especially since it’s an early version of the game. But it’s not THAT bad.
http://captaind-pc-gaming.blogspot.com/2010/01/pc-game-review-new-star-tennis.html = much fairer
Great game – average review by an obviously time poor reviewer….”boo hoo
i cant hit with the FED two minutes after i start a career game and I have to build up my ability”. Clown of the highest order. Game is at least a 6 and if you did your research you would know that the developer is a legend who updates his games on an almost daily basis from early release and responds to any issues – unlike many of the buggy releases from major developers who shut up shop 5 minutes after release.
Steer clear of this reviewer – hes obviously not in touch or doesnt do his home work -I think he was just keen to bash the hell out of something.
Love, not Hate brother!
http://aperturegames.com/review.php?id=new-star-tennis is another proof Resolution is a fail.
and here’s one more to go with yours, rui. http://unnamedgaming.com/?p=11119
Keep up the good work NS Game.
For the Reviewer, well,there is definitely a difference in your view and other game reviewers’views.
I’m just saying!!!