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18 of 21 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Fun and accessible, though nagging flaws make it imperfect., August 7, 2004
Fun:4.0 out of 5 stars
I'm a big fan of tennis games as well as the sport, so this release is right up my alley. It helps inspire confidence that the producer of this game is Namco, which has consistently given us quality gameplay and design -- witness the Tekken, Soul Calibur, and Time Crisis game franchises.
Smash Court Tennis 2 Pro Tournament gets most of its pieces right. There are a couple of problems in the game, but I can also say fairly that most tennis games have the same problems.
The pros:
- Good controls; you don't ever feel disconnected from your character.
- Decent graphics. Obviously there's a limit as to how much eye candy you can put into this kind of game, and this game's looks are neither deficient nor excessive.
- Excellent breadth. You get a complete tutorial so you can feel out the controls, 16 stock characters with their own quirks (for example, they throw the ball differently when they serve) plus the ability to create your own; hundreds of unlockables such as tips from the stars, sound tests, tournament histories and so on; and a fascinating Pro Tour mode (see below).
- The Pro Tour mode lets you play through your own character through a calendar-based system, going into training sessions with your coach, playing tournaments, and accepting training matches from players usually much more powerful than yourself. The great thing about the system is that it's so close to real life -- for example, if you train for three weeks non-stop before a tournament, you'll get more points and make your characters stronger, but your stamina goes down and you'll move slower and hit less hard.
The downsides of the game:
- Serving is a pain in the neck. This is the one complaint I have about the controls -- it's too easy for your player to serve faults, and so I'm forced to avoid the corners.
- The enemy never flunks a serve, nor does he/she ever fail to return your serve. I'm not looking for enemies who are sitting ducks, but how about making a tiny mistake once in a while? After about a hundred serves on my end, you would think they'd miss just one. Nope. And to have low-level enemies hit 110mph serves that go for the corner every time, while your character barely nicks 90mph even if you execute the serve perfectly, is a drag.
- The enemy can do things you can never do, such as run from one side of the court to the other and then hit a perfect cross-court shot. I've tried this -- when you attempt it, you would only ever get it to the middle of the court no matter how early you get to the ball. So it feels like you're not 100 per cent able to direct the ball where you want.
- The tutorial levels and training missions are useful -- but could have been more so. The game doesn't tell you what you're doing wrong when you fail a training mission, so it doesn't always help you improve your playing.
- The instant replays are so quick that you might as well not have them. Also, the camera tends to be at a bad spot for capturing the move.
- The interface of some of the menus is a little confusing. The designs look good, but could have been simplified. There is some clutter in the layout.
- Long loading times. And there are too many little presentations (such as that Dolby logo in the beginning) you have to wait out without being able to skip them.
The flaws are minor but enough to take a little out of the enjoyment. I'd still call this a quality game, and to give Namco credit, I've never played a tennis game that doesn't have most of the above problems (eg. enemies who never fail to return a serve, problems aiming your serve, and mechanical inability to hit cross-court shots). As far as tennis games go, this is still one of the best I've ever played.
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11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than TopSpin???, July 6, 2004
I was wary at first to shell out $40 for Smash Court Tennis 2, but now I am overjoyed that I did. The game is addictive and not hard to master. The 16 players you can play as are Andy Roddick, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Tommy Haas, Richard Gasquet, Tim Henman, James Blake, Marat Safin, Lleyton Hewitt, Justine Henin-Hardenne, Kim Clijsters, Serena Williams, Amelie Mauresmo, Lindsay Davenport, Jennifer Capriati, Daniela Hantuchova, and Anna Kournikova. This selection overall is excellent, but I wish they had excluded Kournikova, Hantuchova, and Gasquet and instead chosen Sharapova, Venus, and maybe Roger Federer. These choices are definitely better than TopSpin's, though, which features too many boring American players like Shaughnessy and Harkleroad. In the pro tour mode, my only complaint is that the computer decides what the score is for you based on your playing of a few points in what are called "turning points" of the match. For instance, you may enter a tournament and be playing a higher ranked player, and before you even start the score might be 1(you)-5 (them) in games for the first set, and it will set the score at 30-40, set point for the computer opponent. Then it will tell you that your goal is to win the game. This happened to me and I did win the game, but after the game was over the computer gave the first set 6-3 to my opponent, before I even played another point!!! Still, the pros definitely outweight the cons for Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament II. The players are incredibly realistic, as are the courts. Clijsters and Roddick even use their Babolat racquets, while Capriati uses her black Prince and Serena uses her black and white Wilson and even wears her cat suit. Most of the clothes they wear are items the pros actually wear in real life, and all the players use their actual racquets. However, another con (though not as important) is that the grunts are completely unrealistic. All this aside, you should definitely buy this game, as it is probably more fun than TopSpin and cheaper!!!
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Probably The Best Tennis Game Out There, June 28, 2004
By A Customer
OK, the title may be too long but the game itself is very good. I have played all of the major tennis games out there: Topspin, Sega Sports Tennis, Smash Court I, WTA Tour Tennis, etc. This game is my favorite of the bunch. For starters, it has the best player lineup, including men and women. The gameplay is all about timing and is a good balance between arcade style and simulation. Unlike other tennis games, you can actually make errors in this one. What a novel concept! If you try to hit a flat shot and miss-hit it badly, the ball will go out. The serve takes some getting used to. You can place it pretty well but the controls are very sensitive. The graphics are not quite as good as Topspin but very much adequate. The grand slam courts are recreated very realistically. The AI is fairly balanced. In most tennis games, on normal it is too easy and on hard it is nearly impossible to win. I have been playing this game for a couple of weeks and win most matches against the computer on normal mode but i also still lose at times. Netplay could have been a little better, it is not to your advantage to come to the net unless it is behind a spectacular shot. The running shot that has been incorporated into the game is a neat idea and fun when you can pull one off. Overall I would recomment this game to anyone. The balance between simulation and arcade style gameplay make this game a lot of fun for tennis fans and non-tennis fans alike.
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