Hot Shots Tennis

"A review from a lifelong tennis player/fan"

As a former competitive player in high school (albeit far from a world-beater by any stretch) and someone who's glued in front of the TV screen whenever Wimbledon or the U.S. Open is on, I think I know a thing or two about the game of tennis. But until now, I've stayed away from tennis games on PS2 or any other console. My perception had been that most tennis games fall into two categories: 1) "realistic" games with "real" players that get outdated within 1-2 years as the players' careers rise or fall in real life, or 2) games that lack realism with super-deformed characters and screwy gameplay. Judging from the appearance, Minna No Tennis seems to fall squarely into the latter. But having seen many of my friends and colleagues go ga-ga over Minna No Golf (which I've never even played because I'm not really into golf) and rave about how "realistic" the game is compared to the real golf, I decided to take a risk on the game. After investing about 10 hours of playing time, here's my observation on the game.

VIDEO/AUDIO:
I'm not savvy enough with video/audio to be able to pick out any tiny glitches or flaws, but overall both appear to be quite solid. The courts and the background scenes are wonderfully done, and the characters (which I will touch on later in the "Presentation" section) are disgustingly adorable. The music, as expected, provides a very lighthearted mood, befitting of the title that suggests that the game is meant for everyone. Basically there are no complaints whatsoever.

GAMEPLAY/AI:
This is what caught me by surprise the most. As anyone who has ever played tennis seriously can attest, it's all in the timing and positioning when it comes to generating power and accuracy of a shot, and generally racquet speed doesn't vary a whole lot on the same stroke for a given player. To Clap Hanz's credit, the gameplay is very much authentic compared to the real-life tennis. There are indicators that tell you whether you hit the ball too early, too late or just right, so that it's easier to improve on your timing as you progress. Accurate placement of the ball on the court is possible with your controller or joystick (I actually use my fighting game joystick for this game and find it really useful). But while you may find the gameplay straight-forward and simple, you'll soon find that placing the ball where you want to is anything but in a competition, which nicely leads into the AI discussion. The first few opponents in the Challenge Mode (where you must beat the CPU opposition to unlock characters, courts and costumes) are pretty much a cakewalk. But as you go through over a dozen different levels of competition, the CPU opponents gradually become more difficult, mainly because of the timing and accuracy improvements. (For example, the "Kami [god]" Will you face at the very end of the Challenge mode does not move faster or has a more powerful stroke than the "Ouji [prince]" Will that you face earlier in the challenge, but he surely is much more accurate with his shots. And assuming you use Jun for the entire challenge, she is not going to get faster or more powerful as you "level up" by beating one opponent after another; that "level" is merely a indicator of what the CPU judges your ability to be.) By the time you get to the "Tenshi (angel)" and "Kami (god)" modes, the CPU will pretty much paint the lines and corners on most of its shots, so you really need to get your timing right with your own shots with good placement to even stand a chance. One thing that bugs me is that, when playing doubles with the CPU as your partner, the CPU (regardless of the level) has an annoying tendency to return the serve softly and right at the center of the court, leaving an easy volley finish for the opponent. (In real tennis, you're taught to always return the serve cross-court to the server, unless you want to occasionally hit it down the line to catch the opposing net player off guard. But for this game, the CPU returner often gets those two backwards.)

PRESENTATION:
As I said earlier, the characters are disgustingly adorable, which is always a plus for video games. The whole layout has a lot of pastel colors as somewhat expected, but that's acceptable given its intended appeal to everyone. The hints given out during loading times are actually helpful for the beginners to understand the game and tennis in general (assuming you can read Japanese, of course), and that's no surprise thanks to the game's ties to the Japan Tennis Association.

EXTRAS:
Unfortunately, this is the weakness of this game. A roster of fourteen characters is rather small, and I would've preferred to see at least twenty (which apparently is the case for Minna No Golf). The ability to lock extra costumes (and the fabled "black" versions) of each character is a nice touch, and I have no complaints with the number of courts (11) available. But it would've also been nice to have the option of unlocking different racquets, shoes, hats, and other equipments (just like Minna No Golf once again). A selection of different kinds of balls, which is no trivial matter, would've been a good addition as well.

SUMMARY OF POSITIVES/NEGATIVES:
+ Authentic gameplay with emphasis on timing and placement
+ Lovable character design
+ Variety of CPU skill levels and challenging competition
- Small number of characters
- No choice of equipment (racquets, balls, shoes, etc.)
- Occasional mindboggling mistakes by CPU doubles partners

OVERALL:
Based on the inevitable comparison to Minna No Golf, Minna No Tennis appears to have been rushed out without the added features that made the golf game such a hit. But despite its shortcomings in extras, this is one solid tennis game. It's simple enough to be a party game that everyone can take part in, yet it can also be played with a lot of attention to technical and strategic details. This actually makes me want to go out and buy Minna No Golf.

FINAL VERDICT: 8 of 10

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 09/22/06