Tennis in the Face Review

Tennis in the Face is an arcade puzzle game that has very little to do with tennis. The premise of the game is pretty silly and doesn’t make much sense, but the level design more than makes up for it. Don’t expect to actually play any tennis, though. Despite the odd naming, the game does have a lot of interesting levels and super simple controls.

So, what is it? Tennis in the Face is an aiming and puzzle game. Pete Pagassi is fighting an evil circus the only way he knows how: by serving at them. Players aim his serves at enemies, like clowns or riot police. For enemies that aren’t in a direct line of fire, balls can be bounced off walls. Players don’t get to control the power of each serve, only the direction. And since a dotted line shows the path of the last serve, it’s pretty easy to make small adjustments. Each level rewards players with a different number of tennis balls, which are the key to unlocking different parts of the map.

One thing I really like is that the different levels are on a map and players can choose which levels to move to next. This is feature is really handy for when a certain level is too difficult to beat. Instead of just being stuck, players can move to a different spot and player another level.

The levels start out easy but they get tricky. The levels have obstacles, like glass that stops the balls, and the riot shields police carry. There are other game play mechanics, like pieces of scrap metal or exploding energy drinks that can either be obstacles or necessary for completing the level. Almost every level was interesting since there are many different types of items that show up.

Players earn medals for doing things like hitting three enemies on a first serve or other impressive feats. Game Center leaderboards can be viewed by finding that spot on the game board and the app has the option to create different profiles.

The graphics are a little cartoony, but they fit the absurd premise of the app. The items in the game are cool but they just really don’t seem to make much sense together. An energy drink, Explodz, figures prominently into the game, and the enemies aren’t really related. Some of the items really stand out too, like eyeballs that roll around. There are some newspapers that try tie everything together, though.

In summary, Tennis in the Face is not about tennis at all. It has a crazy premise, but good level design and fun game play. It’s a very easy and casual game to kill a few minutes with.