Customer Reviews

Smash Court Tennis 3

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I own a few tennis games for the Xbox 360 (Top Spin 2, Top Spin 3, Virtua Tennis 3), and I have found something to love in all of them. Here are my _opinions_ on how Smash Court Tennis 3 compares with them in terms of graphics, sound, gameplay, depth (longevity), enjoyment.

Top Spin 2:
* graphics: TS2 clearly wins; sorry to say, but projected 1080p on a 92" screen, SCT3 really does look like a PS2 game, even though TS2 is years old by now
* sound: SCT3 wins by a large margin with realistic sound effects, atmospheric crowd noises
* gameplay: SCT3 wins by a large margin again thanks to its realistic game mechanic, which nicely mimics real tennis strokes and movement. TS2's gameplay just never really worked, at least for me. In fact, playing tennis in TS2 was really not enjoyable though the rest of the game: the career progression system, the mini-games, the rival, the charity events, etc. were excellent in TS2.
* depth: I'd say this is a draw. One of the things I loved about TS2 was the variety, depth and amount of things to do
* enjoyment: SCT3 is the clear winner - it's simply much more fun to play than TS2.

Virtua Tennis 2:
* graphics: VT2 has a slight edge here (see TS2 comment above), but neither VT2 nor SCT3 are graphically impressive
* sound: SCT3 sounds more realistic, but VT2 sounds more "exciting" - hard to describe why though. overall, I'd say this is a draw.
* gameplay: i love TS2's very arcade game mechanic, but I also love SCT3's more realistic mechanic. On balance, I'd have to say SCT3 gets the edge just because it is more like a real tennis game. TS2 is more like very exciting ping pong in comparison.
* depth: SCT3 has the edge here, but it's fairly close
* enjoyment: SCT3 again edges out VT2 by a small margin. SCT3 and VT2 are the most fun tennis games available.

Top Spin 3:
* graphics: TS3 is the _clear_ winner over any other tennis game. TS3 has amazing graphics with great details, 3D lighting, shading effects. Watching a TS3 match is like watching a tennis match on TV.
* sound: SCT3 easily beats TS3, which had pretty bad sound effects. The replays in TS3 are outstanding to watch.
* gameplay: SCT3 beats TS3, even though TS3 also has a very realistic game mechanic, perhaps even more realistic than SCT3. However, TS3 matches are never as much fun as SCT3. Is it because the TS3 gameplay is slowed down compared to SCT3 and VT2? I don't know, while it could be rewarding in TS3 to pull off a really elegant shot, it's just more fun in SCT3.
* depth: SCT3 easily wins here. TS3 dropped alot of the variety and depth that was in TS2.
* enjoyment: SCT3 easily wins

Hope this review helps you if you are choosing your next tennis game. At first, I was rather unimpressed with SCT3's graphics, but once I started playing it, I just "got into it" and the actual tennis matches were fun, exciting and realistic - a nice combination of my favorite bits of TS2, VT2 and TS3. The Pro Tour mode has tremendous depth and longevity. I haven't even tried playing SCT3 on Xbox Live yet as there's so much else to do in this game. At the price this game is currently selling for, you can't go wrong with this if you're looking for a great tennis game.

I Love this Game!!!

Anyone that says this game is terrible must not have played more than a couple matches. This game is great!!! I love the player modeling and how the small things like the ambient background noises and the French speaking announcers when you're in France give it a truly epic experience. I love how detailed the courts look and how the crowd re-acts to long rallies and the challenge system (challenge a call of a ball hit in or out).

I enjoy building my player up with the exp points you receive. At first you get to use the points to allocate to building up your backhand, forehand, serve & volley, footwork, etc... for your overall player basic stats. As well you can use points for specific skills like Increased Stamina, Moon ball, Toughness, Nice Shot, Easy Shot, Down the Line, etc...

The sponsor challenges can be tough, but their worth it. Also the fact that you can play doubles and mixed doubles with anyone you can beat in a challenge match is great. Online play is easy and fun as well.

Look, I played many tennis games and this one is the best to me. It's not perfect but it's the best out their currently. No, it doesn't have the actual names of locations, but you know them, and I want to tell you that the locations they created are simply wonderful. Play at Lyons match aka French open and the opening where you start to walk in and these 2 glass doors that open up and you hear the crowd and the French announcer is just awe inspiring. Then you play and you hear the court judge speaking fluent French is just great.

Please go and buy this game. I took a chance on it a month ago and now I can't stop playing. I feel I finally have a tennis game that is realistic and fun, not an arcade game lit VT3 and TS3. It's in expensive and you will feel that the game should have gotten a better review and sales. I look forward to SCT4. My wife hopes that it will never come out.

One last thing I forgot to mention is that the stats section is really great and helpful into seeing how your player is performing overall. Also, the shop is great too.

So run don't walk to wherever you buy games or make it simple and buy here at Amazon and get ready for some serious fun. Oh, my gamertag is Graf Ulrich 88 on Xbox live (in case you want a match).

Cheers,

Rob

I been reading the reviews on here and even on gaming sites about this game and their all bad and I just don't understand why. i think the people who say its bad didnt go through the tutorial or read the instruction manual. BEcause if you did you would find this is absoutly great tennis game and way more fun than top spin 3 or virtua tennis 3. And the graphics are absoutly gorgeous. the sky court in dubai and the british tennis court are the 2 most beautiful tennis courts in any game and this game also has the best camera angle and the characters look great. dont trust reviews, the game is pretty cheap, play ot rent it. its great.

Smash Court Tennis 3 sacrifices realism for arcade-ish style play, and that sucks a lot of fun out of playing. For example, unforced errors in this game are very, very, very rare. You might as well take down the net, because it rarely ever gets in the way. And the game never lets your ball go wide -- except on rare occasions when it wants to. If the game wants you to lose a rally, it will throw in a little trickery to make sure you lose it, such as your ball going wide, or your opponent getting a sudden 35MPH burst of speed to dash across the court. If the game wants you to win a rally, suddenly your opponent plays like a doofus. I imagine the game does this to add suspense, but it only adds frustration when you know it's the game and not you.

The controlling of the player has some major hang-ups. The stick that moves your player toward the ball is the same control that directs where you want to hit the ball. As a result, I guarantee that your player will occasionally run toward the ball, then pivot and run away from it only to watch the ball sail by. On rare occasions while playing, my player will not even raise his racquet to hit the ball. And when I want to move into the smash zone to hit a smash, my player hesitates before dashing, stops short of the zone, then pops a little volley into the other court.

The graphics are acceptable, but they're quite dated -- the players look gangly and misproportioned, the crowd in the cut scenes is just three or four people cut and pasted throughout the stadium seats, but most annoying of all is the repetitiveness of the cut scenes... they never, ever change. The crowd noises add realism to the game play, but after two games, they, like the cut scenes, are nothing but annoying and repetitive. The makers of this game clearly suffer from extreme laziness.

Another problem this game has is that you cannot move through the game features quickly enough. For example, if you fail a training exercise, it's suggests you try again. But you can't just try again. You have to exit your way out of, and enter your way onto, multiple screens and menus just to get back to where you want to be. It literally takes a half-minute to accomplish.

During my last twenty level upgrades, no new skills have been enabled for me to purchase with my stock to add to my parameters. They remain grayed out so that I cannot select them. I have a full stock of twenty units to add to my parameters, but the game stopped allowing me to spend the stock. Is this a glitch? Without being able to spend my stock to increase my parameters, I am unable to increase my abilities, and therefore cannot get any better at my game. How am I supposed to become #1? What incentive do I have to keep playing?

-Tom

i love tennis, and have played it a long time. have played most of the recent video tennis games, from dreamcast virtua tennis, to todays VT3, and topspin 3. they both have there points. AS for smashcourt tennis, the thing i like the most about it, is that i can rally from the backcourt, and it may take several strikes to set up the point. i like the the mechanics there. in vt3, it at some point sends me lunging to make a point, and thus leading to end of the rally. Also in smashcourt i like the net play. actually it makes me look too good lol! i cannot comment on the add on features yet. i simply like the mechanical play of smashcourt 3. kevin

This game is such a blast to play. It is so realistic. If you fail its all your fault.....it requires effort and the challenges are difficult; but the system allows multiple ways to acquire points in order to upgrade your player. If your player has a weakness in his/her play method, that weakness can be overcome by say a more powerful racket or a more technical racket. Player too slow? Then perhaps a pair of shoes that enhance the dash capability......Graphics are nice; courts are many and varied with dynamic shadows cast by the sun's movement through a match. Ambient noises such as helicopters, the sea, sirens etc. create tennis matches that are occuring in an already active world......player grunts and crowd moans create sweet atmospherics. The unpredictability of a match is the true crowning glory of this game as not only does the player make errors but also the AI (both forced & unforced). Spectator participation ranges from polite applause to rude heckling and its pure bliss especially if you've got surround sound. The only downside is that some of the AI animations in walking from one side of the court to the other in between games are somewhat awkward. But that's slight to the overall beauty of this game

This game is great, it has everything. I own and played every tennis game available. The only weakness in the game is serving. But the graphics and replay is great. It has challenges that no other tennis game has.

Well I had already played this game for the PSP and I have to say that it's as good as it gets...
The controls are a bit tricky if it's the first time you play it, but once you get the hang of it you'll enjoy hitting hard drives down the line or sending a short cross court passing shot that leaves your opponent just watching the ball pass by...
I have yet to try the entire pro tour mode, but the multiplayer mode is quite entertaining as long as you have someone to play with. I don't play online, so I can't say anything about that feature, but I'd sure like to test my skills against another human, besides the one that's usually sitting next to me.

If you like tennis and want to play in a video game like you'd like to play in real life, then this is the game to get.

the people who made this game really blew it.they had a great game in smash court tenis 2 that only needed to change 1 or 2 things to make it the perfect game and what do they do,they totally change the game giving it a totally new revamped look and game play feel.the movement is slow and sluggish to respond and it looks good but looks dont mean a great game.smashcourt tennis 2 is still the best tennis game to date so far and top spin 3 is just as bad as smash court tennis 3.top spin 2 is alright but not as good as smashcourt tennis 2.super nintendo has a great tennis game called super tennis while not great looking it is great game play.

I CANT BELIEVE THE BAD REVIEWS OF THIS GAME THE GRAPHICS ARE GREAT COURTS LOOK GREAT EVENTHOUGH NONE HAVE THERE REAL NAMES BUT IT DOESNT MATTER IF U WATCH TENNIS YOU KNOW,THE PLAYER MODELS ARE GREAT THEY EVEN GOT MARIA SHARAPOVA SPOT ON VT3 OR TS3 GOT HER THAT GOOD. THE SOUND IS GREAT TOO ALL THE GRUNTS OF REAL TENNIS THE CROWD REALLY GETS INTO IT WHEN THERES A LONG RALLY GOIN ON AFTER A POINT THEY CHANT PLAYERS NAMES IN SUPPORT OF THEM. THE GAMEPLAY WHICH IS MOST IMPORTANT THE SPEED OF THE GAME IS FINE DESPITE WHAT PEOPLE SAY THE SHOTS AND PLAYERS MOVE A AT GOOD PACE BUT U GOTTA PRACTICE THE THE DIFFERENT SHOTS TO GET THEM DOWN IF U DONT THE SHOTS ARE SLOW LOOKIN BECAUSE U HAVE NO POWER BEHIND THEM BUT IF TIMED CORRECTLY ITS VERY REWARDING BUT IT TAKES YOU PLAYIN IT FOR A WHILE TO SEE RESULTS. SCT3 IS JUST AS GOOD AS ANY TENNIS GAME ON THE MARKET IF NOT BETTER VT3 IS A BUTTON MASHER AND TS3 IS OK BUT NOT AS GOOD ALL AROUND AS SCT3,ANY ONE LOOKIN FOR A GREAT TENNIS EXPERIENCE TRY SCT3 AND ACTUALLY PLAY IT FOR A WHILE BEFORE U JUDGE IT U WONT BE SORRY