How to play Retro Rally 86
A free pixel-art tennis game. Create your pro, start at 500th in the world, and climb all the way to number one.
Retro Rally 86 runs right in your browser on a computer, tablet or phone. There's nothing to download, no account to make, and your career saves automatically.
Play nowHow to play
Matches use real tennis scoring: 15, 30, 40, game. First to two games wins, and at 40-40 the next point takes the game, so matches stay short. Watch the gold corners on the court: they show where the ball is going to land, so get there early.
Hold the drive button before the ball reaches you and your player swings by itself. Fill the bar for a PERFECT shot. Hold a direction as you hit to aim, and hold up to hit deeper. To serve, tap once to toss the ball and again at the top.
Keyboard
| Action | Keys |
|---|---|
| Move (hold a side as you hit to aim) | Arrows or WASD |
| Drive and serve | Space |
| Slice (hold back for a drop shot) | E |
| Lob | Q |
| Sprint (uses stamina) | Shift |
| Trick shots (press one, then hit the ball) | 1 to 0 |
| Ultimate shot | U |
Two players on one keyboard
| Player 1 (bottom) | Player 2 (top) | |
|---|---|---|
| Move | WASD | Arrows |
| Drive and serve | F | . |
| Lob | R | , |
| Slice | T | M |
| Trick shot | G | / |
| Sprint | Left Shift | Right Shift |
Both players get the same even stats and every trick shot, so it's pure skill.
On a phone or tablet
Put your thumb anywhere on the left side of the court and drag to move. Buttons on the right handle Drive, Slice, Lob and Sprint, plus your trick shots and an ULT button when your ultimate is ready.
Career
You start at 17 with a wooden racket on a park court, ranked 500th in the world. Your agent brings you three offers at a time, easy, medium and hard, and harder pays more. Offers are tournaments around the world and one-off challenge matches. Your ranking counts every point you won in the last 52 weeks, and reaching the top 64 gets you into the Grand Slams.
Climb five tours, from the Rookie Tour to the Elite Tour, each with a bigger stadium and tougher opponents who sharpen every season. Every four years the Summer Games come round, where only the top three players from each country get in. Sponsors, news headlines, events off the court and the odd injury keep things interesting until you retire at 36.
Courts everywhere
Play on clay, grass, hard courts, beaches, rooftops and indoor arenas, each with its own city in the background. Courts change the game: clay is slow and high, grass skids low, and sand slows your feet. You can change the weather in Options.
Get better
- Train once a week on the Tour. Good sessions raise your stats.
- Spend coins on stats, trick shots and ultimates. An ultimate charges once per match, then the next ball you reach wins the point.
- Win three in a row and you're on fire, with a boost to every stat. Lose three and you're out of form.
More ways to play
- Quick play: any level you've unlocked, plus a boss for each one.
- Boss Rush: all five bosses back to back. How far can you get?
- Cups: eight-player knockout tournaments for big prizes.
- Doubles: team up with a partner. Your agent sometimes signs you up for doubles events too, and you can switch that off in Settings.
- Daily challenges and a trophy cabinet for everything you win.
- Online: play a friend on another device with a game code, and add friends to see how you compare on the friends leaderboard.
New to the game? Try the Tutorial on the Play tab. The full in-game guide is under Options.
Questions
- Is Retro Rally 86 free?
- Yes. It's free to play, supported by ads.
- Do I need an account?
- No. Just open the game and play. Friends are optional and only need a username you make up.
- Where is my progress saved?
- In your own browser on your own device. If you clear your browser's data or switch devices, your career starts fresh.
- Will it touch my Golazo 86 career?
- No. Each Goalazo game keeps its own save.
- Online play won't connect. Why?
- Online matches connect the two players' browsers directly. Some strict school or work networks block that kind of connection. Try a home network or mobile data.