Retro Slam Tennis

Not anywhere near as polished as the football counterpart, this title suffers from a variety of issues that set back considerably the amount of fun you can have with it. Your player begins almost incapable of hitting the ball over the net with a full power shot, but is for whatever reason encouraged to participate in tournament play against the best players in the world. Get ready to lose repeatedly even if your shots (the only aspect of the game you have any control over) are on target, as your character is too slow to run towards the opponent’s ball so you end up losing. You will also be responsible for juggling “happiness” as a measure of how often you call your friends family and romantic interest, even though this system offers essentially no rewards and cues at the cost of playing tennis which might actually grant you the necessary experience points to make your little guy fast enough to chase down a tennis ball. I definitely understand why this game is not garnering the attention or downloads of Retro Bowl. Maybe the developer will spend more time fixing typos in the dialogue and tips screens and adjusting gameplay mechanics to feel more rewarding and improve the curve of the character scaling. Until then, you’re safe not playing this title. I’m now uninstalling it.

I’ve played tons of rounds, and I did a tournament where in the final, even though I had good gear, almost max happiness and I put EVERY point I had into speed in order to keep up, I STILL could not get anything past the AI player. He was able to run back and forth and never missed a shot the whole entire set, across the entire court no matter how steep the angle of the shot was, and even though I had invested every point into speed and spent REAL money to get more energy just to make sure and max out my energy meter before the final, I STILL lost because the AI served, I hit it back at a hard to catch angle and the AI moved insanely fast and caught it, and launched it across the court with a hit way steep, almost completely sideways, and my player just literally couldn’t move to the ball, and that was it. All that waste in what could have been a fun experience, ruined because the game says. This whole entire match system needs a rework if it’s possible to lose just because the computer says I lose now, no matter how well I did. I spent REAL money to have the game go, ‘you’re losing this match and you can’t do anything because you have no actual control.’

Retro Slam Tennis is an absolute gem. I’ve never played tennis in real life, but this game makes me feel like a true pro, both on and off the court. The energy system? Completely fair. I REPEAT—do not listen to the complaints. People who struggle with it just don’t know how to manage their resources properly. This game isn’t just about swinging a racket; it’s about living the life of a professional athlete. You have to juggle everything—your social media presence, family, relationships, friendships, sponsorships, training, and even the temptation to splurge on flashy items to boost your following. Every decision matters. If you don’t plan ahead, you’ll run out of energy and struggle. But if you strategize, like I did, you can dominate. I played three full seasons and, in my last one, went undefeated by perfectly managing my calendar and keeping my energy in check. Retro Slam Tennis doesn’t hold your hand, and that’s what makes it great. It challenges you to think like a real athlete, making every victory feel earned. If you’re looking for a deep, rewarding sports sim, this is it.