Rad Racket Deluxe Tennis II Game Sample - NES/FC (Unlicensed)
0Rad Racket is a mediocre Tennis game that you'll probably get bored of in about ten minutes. If not, you're a bigger man or woman than I. While I'm not asking for over-the-top sophistication when it comes to a Nintendo title, is asking for characters that look different or opponents with some kind of A.I. too much to ask?
I've had this game collecting dust for years and I remember reading a bit about it and how it was a pretty good game, but I must politely disagree. In this game, there are no modes or continuation passwords-- you either play by yourself or with a friend. Where do you play? On three different courts that look and play pretty much exactly the same (the real difference is court color and music; they all advertise the mediocre game "Dudes With Attitude"). How do you play? You serve the ball and then you can just dominate standing just slightly less than half-way from the net, or, if you're daring, you can close in and smash-- it's completely optional and tends to make the ball go outside the play area; it's not necessary at all to win against the CPU.
I don't know why this is called "Deluxe Tennis II" or "Eleven" as I don't recall a first, but if one does exist, it's probably even worse than this game. The characters have different artworks (which are stereotyped and a little offensive) and supposedly specialize in different techniques, but all look and feel exactly the same. If I want to play with the token black guy, why does he look like a tanned or lightskin individual with medium-length hair when his picture clearly shows something different? If I want to play with a woman, her sprite is exactly the same. They all look the same-- it's awful. I'd expect this from the early NES titles, but not something like this.
The one saving grace is "YUK A RAT". What? You heard right. You have the luxury of seeing a rat show up on any court you play. AWESOME! Well, it actually serves a purpose and is the one thing unique about this game. If you manage to hit the rat with a ball and put it out of its misery, you automatically win the set/game. Take note tennis enthusiasts: It's not how well you can lob, serve, or smash, it's all about how good you are at pelting rodents.
It's an unlicensed NES game published by AVE (American Video Entertainment) and developed by Idea-Tek. I personally don't recommend it as there isn't really anything here, though there isn't a huge selection of Tennis games on the NES/FC anyway. It's not as enjoyable as other NES/FC tennis games like Family Tennis, Jimmy Connors Tennis, and, well, "Tennis", but it is colorful enough.
This is a video of four minutes of the game.