Pete Sampras Tennis is a sports video game developed by Zeppelin Games and published by Codemasters for the Sega Genesis and Game Gear in 1994. It was followed by Sampras Tennis 96 for the Genesis and Pete Sampras Tennis ’97.

Gameplay – Pete Sampras Tennis

While Pete Sampras Tennis uses all three control pad buttons, the game play remains simple yet realistic, for its time. While serving, the A button sends the ball automatically, and B allows the player to control the ball speed and direction, and is the only way to score aces against the best players. During play, A lobs, B sends a normal shot and C, if pressed alone performs a top spin shot, if in conjunction with left or right on the D-Pad the player dives in that direction. It is also possible to aim the ball by pressing any direction on the D-Pad before there is contact between the racket and the ball.

While managing to make perfect use of the lob and spinning shot aim is essential to play the game, top spins can be more a nuisance than helpful. Since it shares the same button as dives, and a good top spin shot requires additional power control (by either pressing up or down), Sega‘s 8-direction pads, if broken or dirty, or even simply if the user’s finger slipped, top spin shots often ended up turning into a dive, the ball passing uselessly by the helpless player.

Characters – Pete Sampras Tennis

The only real tennis player is Pete Sampras. All players, however, have different ratings for base line, service, speed and volleys, and there is a noticeable difference between left- and right-handed players. Not all players can be used in the World Tour mode, as some of them are actual opponents.