Timber Tennis Versus
Nintendo Switch

Developed By : Crunching Koalas / Digital Melody
Published By : Crunching Koalas
Category : Arcade, Sports
Release Date : Nov 08, 2018

Previously, Digital Melody brought the world Timberman, a mobile app game that put you in control of the tree chopping fiend. Now, they team up with Crunching Koalas to bring us this spin-off sporty title, Timber Tennis Versus. Taking place in the same universe, all your favorite Timberman characters get to participate in the yearly Timber Tennis world championships. When I first saw images and clips of this game while I waited for it to install, I was instantly excited, waiting for something to take me back to the old NES days of games like SuperSpike Volleyball. However, once it finished installing and booted up, things weren’t so exciting.

Timber Tennis spoon feeds you it’s gameplay with the simplest of control schemes. You’ll only really need to make use of three buttons : the B button for initiating a serve when it’s your turn to do so, the X button to activate a power up, and the left joystick to move back and forth across the court. The court itself is essentially splayed out in a five-column grid, on which you can only move side-to-side. There is no depth to the court.

What this means is the challenge of Timber Tennis really only boils down to one thing : how quickly can you clear across the court from one side to the other? Because other than that, the only other thing you really have to do is avoid whatever power-ups your opponent uses. Hitting the ball is done automatically, so you don’t even have to think about doing that. Just be in the right space at the right time, and set up for the next one.

Power-ups are variations on the same thing, different forms of throwing something across the net to either instantly destroy your opponent, or cause a distraction that will hopefully cause them to miss returning the ball. The one that showed any difference was a defensive one which, for a short time, makes you grow to a massive size that takes up three of the five court spaces, returning the ball with ease.

Single player modes in the game cover just a basic Skirmish which is a single round of play, and tournament, which consists of three towers you must climb, each with a different number of opponents depending on which difficulty you choose to tackle. Easy comes with three opponents, Normal with five, and Hard with seven. Outside of this, the game does offer both local and online multiplayer modes, to give you a different gameplay feeling instead of just going up against a computer.

If you’re expecting the world’s greatest challenge from Timber Tennis Versus, you’re going to be sorely disappointed. It’s a game that’s short and sweet, and you’re done with it almost as soon as you start. The feel of this game is more along the lines of a mobile app, which is totally acceptable given it’s origins and the price point. The longevity of this title comes from the fact that completing the tournament towers yields you some coinage, which can be stacked and then spent on unlocking the wide cast of characters available for this game. It may not be a title worthy of shouting it from the rooftops, but it is a lot of fun to play and hard to turn down once you get it rolling. Slide on into the eShop today and grab your copy so you can find your spot as the Timber Tennis World Champ!