World Court Tennis (TG16) Playthrough - NintendoComplete
57A playthrough of NEC's 1989 tennis/RPG game for the TurboGrafx-16, World Court Tennis.
This Namco offering for the TurboGrafx was the one of a pair of very unique genre-benders released early in the system's life. Like Final Lap Twin did with F1 racing (see https://youtu.be/6GgMXu5bVF0), World Court Tennis's feature mode isn't a straight traditional sports game, but is instead a Dragon Quest Quest-styled RPG.
There's an overworld populated with towns and boss areas, random encounters, upgradable equipment, and super items found by completing side-quests. Sounds pretty typical of a console RPG from the late 1980, right? Well, there's one huge difference.
You don't fight with swords, guns, fists, or magic. All battles in the game are tennis matches! If a man with a mohawk, Jason Voorhees, or a small child approaches you for a random encounter, you'll engage them on the court. You fight for money to upgrade your racket, shirt, and shoes, all of which dramatically increase your player's skills and are necessary for getting to the final boss.
The story is hilariously bad, with the King in Chicago telling you that the kingdom has gone to hell since "Evil Tennis King" stole the royal treasures and took over the kingdom's courts. Of course it's on you to fix it, so you walk between Chicago, Tokyo, Paris, London and Toronto, fighting would-be tennis douchebags on the most absurd quest ever.
The "translation" adds a lot to the fun here. It's scarily bad, with flubbed word usages, awkward and unintentional puns, and a general sense of senseless senselessness running across the board. Add this to the already hokey premise, and you've got comic gold.
I love World Court Tennis just as much as I did Final Lap Twin, and I have to wonder why we never saw more games like this. It's so odd it nearly defies description. If you like tennis, RPGs, or both (ideally), try it out. You'll be laughing in disbelief the whole time.
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No cheats were used during the recording of this video.
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