Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament
Well, Namco has given us Tennis fans what we've been begging for since the release of the PS2. While the Dreamcast had its Virtua Tennis release 3 years ago - a game that shocked our American culture by bringing us a new level of fun in tennis trough video games - the PS2 developers haven't seemed to catch-on that the Playstation fans might want some of the action too. Well fret not my good fellows, Namco's new tennis game Smash Court Tennis is everything we've hoped for. Sure it suffers from a few miniscule problems, and isn't quite the game VT was on the ill-fated DC; it still holds as a strong sports title that should be scooped up by the majority of sports fans out there.
The first great thing you'll notice about SCTPT is that it contains the majority of the biggest names in the tennis world today, Agassi, Sampras, Rafter, Hingis, Davenport, Seles and Kournaikova just to name a few. Though they are missing some important names from the list - seeing how they've only got a total of 8 playable characters (4 men, 4 women) - but most of the important ones are there. Smash Court Tennis is a game that doesn't necessarily present the best quality tennis game ever made, but it is a solid effort, and frankly, it basically wins by default - seeing as how there isn't another tennis game the PS2. While SMT hasn't made huge waves by way of innovation, we do get a sport we've been longing to play on our slick black controllers.
Namco's effort clearly takes a more realistic approach to the genre. Real Tournaments (The major four; U.S. Open, Australian Open, Wimbledon, and the French Open), 'real' players, and 'real' practice sessions - complete with 'real' partners, and 'real' drills, and 'real' ball effects. Just like in real tennis, the type of courts you play on affect the play of the game. A different kind of material with reflect the ball differently, either speed the game up or slow it down. Clay will certainly slow the game down, grass courts generally play much quicker, and hard-courts play at a speed in-between the two that also allows for a greater effectiveness of spin. Namco has perfectly implemented these differences into SMT; the game stands as a good representation of what "real" tennis is actually like.
Each player must adjust their style of play depending on the both the player they're facing, and the surface they're on. You must know what kind of tactics best fit your characters style, whether they're serve-and-volley, offensive/defensive baseliner's, or all-court players. It continues to be surprising, as I'm sure any tennis followers will notice, how close each character plays like their real-life counterparts, including mannerism, and swing styles. SMT has a solid foundation of fundamentals give it a leg up on the rest of the competition - even though there is little. During Smash Court Tennis' play you certainly get a sense of realism. It's presentation is very nice and almost seem like scenes you see on Sports Center during a replay - the only real thing missing is the commentator action, McEnroe anyone?
Once jumping into the game its easy enough to see how SMT can leave you in another world for hours on end. Just as in the tennis matches I used to play, SMT is easily one game you will lose hours playing. Not to mention that the game has some insane difficulty at times. It should come as no surprise that Namco wouldn't make this game a breeze - even if it might seem like it at first.
At the base of SMT, we get a inheritance left by Sega on its Dreamcast, the real 'core' of the game lies within the wonderful working that Sega pioneered. Namco has adopted their styling and brought not only a bigger challenge but further in depth. In SMT you have three basic hit buttons; Top-Spin, Lob, and Slice. Using the d-pad in variation with these buttons causes for essentially every shot in the game, from top-spin lobs, to drop shots to ones deep in the corners or shallow to the side. The simplistic outlay of the buttons create a of inherent ease when first picking up the controller. The problem here lies in the fact that there's a certain amount of time - just as in real tennis - from not only when you hit the ball, but when you should press the button in order to swing. Pressing the button at the "perfect" time in the correct position in relation to the ball will result in a more powerful and influential shot that just pushing it at anytime.
This delay can cause problems, because unlike the rest of the game, it seems incongruent. There is a delay from the time you push the button to hitting the ball, the player doesn't 'exactly' swing at the ball the instant you press the button, instead - because of a wide varying of shots and time - swings when the ball is most easy to hit. So you can press the button at the moment the ball hits the ground, and the player wont swing till a tenth-of-a-second later. The reason it does this is so that your player doesn't swing aimlessly at a ball that might cause you to miss the shot, so the game in fact waits for the correct time. Don't be mislead however, the game does not 'play for you.' If you press the button at a completely wrong time you will end up missing the ball, but to avoid further problems of exactness Namco was nice enough to give its players a certain margin of error. This delay can certainly cause problems at first, but once you get further into the game the feeling of control begins to show itself.
Originally my problem with this game was the fact that it didn't really feeling like your play put any power into the ball when he hit it, even during serves it seemed as if there was little feeling of a power transfer. It wasn't until I choose to play with the women players how I found the distribution of power. It is clearly known that women hit considerably less powerful, with less spin and more flat strokes than the men. To feel the power I suggest starting the game with a woman, then moving to the man's side to see how much different and how drastic of a change it is to play with the men. They present a much more powerful experience, and a faster paced game - besides for all the men out there, I don't think you'd mind playing with Anna this time around - her covetous features are show plenty of justice in her polygonal caricature. Yet still, as of now, I have only aced someone by the fluke of a 'dink' shot. It seems that my favorite player Sampras doesn't ace as often as I like - as often as he does in the real world, this is really one of the only, 'main' elements I found to be missing from SMT, it in now was diminishes the play of the game. Ahhh. alas it is but a small price to pay for the thrill of this game - its exciting playing with everyone in SMT, seriously.
In SMT there are 4 basic modes of play; Pro Tournament, Exhibition, Arcade, Time Attack, and Challenge modes. Pro Tournament consists of the four varying main tournaments of the world; the U.S. Open - The Arthur Ashe Stadium (Hard Court), The Australian Open - Rod Laver Arena (Hard Court), Touroi De Paris - Stade International de Paris (Clay Court), and the world renown, tennis originator, and tournament of tournaments Wimbledon - Wimbledon Court in England (Grass Court).
Pro Tournament is exactly that, a career mode for these professional players, and your goal is to win those four major tournaments by getting through each board up to the championship. If you think this is an easy task - like when I first began, we're all cocky sometimes I guess - then you've certainly got another thing coming, SMT will repeatedly whoop your behind until its read and bleeding. Mastering its techniques is not for the faint of heart, or the easily angered while I'm at it. Often I've thrown the controller down in anger, frustration, and defeat, only to pick it up ten minutes later and continue my quest.
The exhibition matches are basically whatever character you choose, pitted against whatever character you want, on any court you'd like, these are mostly for practice sessions, and the inevitable multi-player meetings, you know the ones, they always start like this; "You think you can beat me?! HAH, alright its time to put you in your place, lets GO!" Time attack is basically defeating opponents in a certain amount of time, some pressing you so that you basically can't lose a point, not easy! And finally we come to the Arcade mode, my personal favorite, not because it's basically the same thing as Pro Tournament but because of the multi-player action.
The single player modes are fun, but I really feel bad for those who don't have friends. This game certainly has one of the most fun multi-player facets to date. If you buy this game, get a multi-tap with it, it's invaluable. There's nothing like a 4 player game of doubles, each player is consistently actively involved. You'll scream, you'll shout, and you'll destroy your opponents, all in great fun. This is certainly the epitome of exciting sports. Its almost like playing the real thing, except for the hot sweatiness, physical weakness afterward, and the air conditioned room its played in, nothing but a blast I tell you! Nothing but a blast! ;)~
Graphics, well lets see, certainly not the prettiest game I ever saw but they get the job done. In terms of presentation of tennis, its certainly looks like a cross between the transitionary graphics of MTV, combine with those of ESPN. Almost as if it were a flash presentation, sliding words, phased out pictures etc.
On each court it becomes or evident how the small details make a game, for instance, the foot prints and glides of your characters on clay courts, or the ball markings from hard hits left on the assault of a hard court. The environments are quite realistic, including ball boys and a screaming stadium in each case. The rendered characters are fairly good likenesses of each player, each are easily recognizable on the up-close-and-personal views as I like to call it. Namco certainly got the job done with this one. There certainly isn't anything revolutionary in terms of graphic content it's really more about the gameplay than any other facets, but its still cool to see the ball boys move out of the way of a shot.
What is quite cool however are the instant replays, they've got slow motion, close ups, motion blurs, small cut scenes, and regular replays. There are combinations of making the style very pleasant, reinforcing your victories or losses of those long influential, moral breaking rally's back and forth. I really felt the only thing missing were those commentaries by the commentators; I truly think that would have added that final important piece in Smash Court Tennis' depth of realism. I would have even settled for after game reviews, but its alright, there's always next time, at least it's a solid and thoroughly enjoyable game.
As far as sound goes, the game is more than you could hope for, the quietness of the players grunting, the footsteps of the characters, and the resounding power hits of the ball. My only gripe, well I have a few, is the fact that Seles doesn't' grunt like her normal self, its highly disappointing. Grunting is crucial to the game, and here it's added quietly, and sparsely. If you're any fan of tennis you know that players grunt hardcore - especially Monica Seles - during they're matches, at least they all have their same mannerisms, including bobbing, playing with the racket etc. The court judges are quite and reserved just like in the real matches. One problem remains in sound however, the theme song becomes quite annoying, it seems to have been recorded and pressed louder than the rest of the game, with the high frequencies making you want to cringe every time you here it if your double 5.1 is on a loud volume.
Overall I truly have to applaud Namco for capturing the true essence of tennis in this game, it makes for a great time. Just I said with Virtua Tennis, if you're any kind of fan of tennis, and even if you aren't, you'll find this game fun. Myself being both a tennis, nut and player, found it to stay true to the art while maintaining that enjoyable taste of reality - not to mention that Anna Kournikova is hot; yes even in the video game. I know that's the question you've all been waiting to be answered while reading this whole review. All in all, kudos Namco, I'll certainly be on the look out for your future efforts, hopefully this tennis game should trigger more action on creating a tennis game for our beloved PS2, or XBOX, GCN, and GBA for that matter. Just a note to the developers, all you need to add is more grunting, a less annoying theme song, more players (Williams sisters ANYONE?! COME ON!!!), some kind of 'ace' recognition and you'll have it made. Until that time, quality stuff from Namco, hope they keep it up. Peace, love, and tennis people. ;)~