The Story

We’ve been crying out for a decent tennis game to arrive on Android and now, thanks to Cross Court Tennis, the wait is finally over. Featuring some responsive touchscreen controls and plenty of challenging gameplay, this awesome download has grand slammed its way into our hearts.

The Experience

Similarly to Sega’s long running Virtua Tennis series, Cross Court Tennis challenges players to work their way up from world rankings minnows to the global number one. You’ll do this by winning a series of tournaments set at ever-increasing difficulty levels and by training your player up so he’s strong, fast and fresh for the fight.

All movement is carried out for you by the app so you can concentrate on hitting unstoppable aces and winning returns. Simply swipe your finger across the touchscreen to direct a shot with its power determined by the speed of your rallying skills.

While not stellar, Cross Court Tennis’ graphics aren’t bad either with every character mapped out in averagely detailed 3D. Imagine the blocky yet charismatic charm of an early Nintendo 64 title and that’s the general gist of things.

As for the gameplay itself, its difficulty curve drags in early tournaments as your opponents lumber around the court desperate to hand you each match on a plate. Things speed up as the game rolls on with more challenging competitors and mini-games to boost up your own players character statistics. These usually revolve around tapping to run to various areas of the court and hitting specific targets with your serve or forehand but serve as a neat distraction from the game’s typical toils.

With plenty to play through and a marvellous control system to boot, Cross Court Tennis is worthy to sit alongside Flick Golf, Pocket League Story and Madden NFL 12 as one of our favourite Android sports apps.

The Bottom Line

A silky smooth sports app featuring some fantastic touchscreen controls.

Additional Info

Version reviewed 2.0
Requires Android 2.1 or higher

Download Cross Court Tennis from the Android Market

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