I miss the good old days of NBA Street and NFL Blitz, back before all the big sports video game franchises became obsessed with hyperrealism and little else. Back then, it didn't matter that I knew next to nothing about football or basketball.


I could still have fun, even beat my friends who were more familiar with the world of real sports.

Imagine my excitement, then, when I saw that Rust and Garry's Mod developer Facepunch Studios posted a silly little prototype for a cartoonish tennis game this week. It's provisionally called Deuce, and it mixes one of the drier professional sports up with arcade-style super-powers.


I know, I know: why is Facepunch talking about another prototype when it's still not finished with Rust? They already did that once this week, and fans were pretty pissed.

But, come on: tell me with a straight face that "tennis crossed with Street Fighter" doesn't sound like a great idea. Also, much like Riftlight, Facepunch's other recently unveiled project, Deuce sounds more like a fun side project than something that will actually take time away from Rust.

Facepunch's Ian James said as much in his blog post detailing all things Deuce.

"I wanted to make something different to other projects Facepunch has in development," James wrote. "I'm more of an arcade game developer so wanted to play to those strengths. I also love games with strong local multiplayer modes."


"Basically I want to make a game that we can play over lunch instead of FIFA," he concluded.

I hear you, James. I really do.

A short video he included reminds me of everything I miss from the glory days of NBA Street on the PlayStation 2. The concept art is similarly over the top in the vein of Super Smash Bros. or Street Fighter:



Please make this happen, Facepunch. Someone needs to shoulder the responsibility of making great arcade-y sports games now that EA Sports Big is no more.

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