Tennis

I expected more, even from an inexpensive game.

Mario Tennis for Nintendo 64 is FAR BETTER than this game, even for grown-ups

Like most good sports games this game takes practice before you get the hang of it. It takes a while to learn the movements and the timing of the game. Once you learn how I guarantee you and your friends and family will love playing this game together. This is one of those games that's best to own, its not a good rental game because of the learning curve required before you can play it right. The better you and your friends get, the more fun this game is.

I highly recommend this game for those video game players that enjoy playing with other people. This game supports 1 to four human (and/or computer) players at once. Players can play solo with 1 to 3 computer players, against each other head to head, against each other as a team, or together as a team against the computer or another team of human players. Each player can choose to be one distinct character from a list of 8 male and 8 female characters. Each character has different abilities. Some are left handed, some have quick reflexes, some deliver a strong stroke, etc. There is a tournament mode and a free mode. You can select how many sets to play. You can also select from three different types of tennis courts: hard, grass, or clay. Each court has unique play characteristics.

I've had more fun playing this game than playing Gran Turismo 3 A-spec on my PS2.

This is a low cost PS1 game so don't expect amazing graphics. The graphics aren't great (3 stars) but they are entertaining. Its funny when you knock your opponent in the head with the tennis ball. The sound and music are OK (3 stars), and its not much fun playing solo with the computer players (3 stars). But that's not the point of this game. Its meant to be played with other people.

I gave this game 4 1/2 stars (which I rounded up to 5 because 4 1/2 stars is not an option here) because my wife any I are having a ball playing this game together. ITS LOADS OF FUN.

BUY IT NOW and take the time to learn to play it right. You'll be glad you did.

When you step onto the court things get bad. It's a $10 game and I wasn't expecting a Virtua Tennis style game but gameplay is a bit slow. It's really tough to hit a passing shot by the computer player. It's also easy to swing and miss or if your timing is a little off, you'll spray the ball way out of bounds. There is a separate button used to hit volleys. This is a great concept since a volley is an important shot in tennis. But, volleys are supposed to be hit sharply and towards the sidelines. In this game, volleys are popped way up high and the ball will land about an inch over the net, allowing your opponent time to walk over and hit it back to you. That is if the computer player were smart enough to walk over and hit it back to you. The AI is bad, and the player will stand and watch these popped up volleys land on its side of the net without hitting it back.

Doubles is awful. Sometimes two computer controlled players will stand face to face at the net and just hit the ball back and forth to each other while your player watches.

And why does the player who is receiving serve stand between the baseline and the service box for all serves. That's way to close and looks unrealistic.

Finally, all my negative points were directed toward the AI and how bad it is. If you have 2 human players (or 4 for doubles) this game might not be that bad. You'd still have some slow gameplay and may swing and miss the ball, but with some practice it could be good. If you have someone else to play this with and you all love tennis, you may want to give this game a chance. It's one of those games that's $10 and might be worth a look. If you don't have someone else to play this with I don't recommend it. Instead use your $10 to buy "Board Game: Top Shop" It's a very unique game and it's like monopoly that takes place in a mall. It's a lot more fun than Tennis is for the $10 price tag.