Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2 Review

By Patrick Garratt Published 15 June, 2004

Japanese tennis brings hardcore RPG action to the hallowed greens of the All England Club, if you can believe that. New balls, etc.

Version tested: PlayStation 2

Tennis is as synonymous with the British summer as abject, horrific failure is to the weasley face of 'Tiger' Tim Henman. And just as the public will never, ever accept that Henman will not win Wimbledon before he finally dies, tennis will always inspire thousands of slightly rotund people with red cheeks to do their only exercise of the year and waddle off to the local courts before getting bored and drinking Pimms and eating strawberries while getting sunburnt. This lemming-like phenomenon has not gone unnoticed by game makers. Anything that makes British people stand up has to be worth game-ifying, says the logic of the corporate man. We’re surprised that we’re still not in receipt of the first summer drinking game. Now that would shift some units. Of alcohol.

And so it is that every year we get new tennis titles. Number one seed this year is Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2 from Namco. And on first impressions it looks “ace”. We kill ourselves [I'll kill you - Ed]. A swift warm up in arcade mode shows a game with believable character graphics (The Weasel pretty much does look like The Weasel, although it’s not really showing any benchmark over the mighty [mighty, mighty] Virtua Tennis) and a system for batting the ball around that has obvious depth. Off to training mode to learn how to use it.

Ice and a slice

'Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2' Screenshot 1

This is all very nice. A jug of iced Pimms on the sideline, we embark on a mission to learn top spins, slices, flat shots, drop shots, smashes, lobs and what the game calls “nice” shots similar to the system in Xbox’s Top Spin, where a timed shot is batted back at the opponent with more power and a deeper stroke. Immediately you’re aware that this is a sim. You can do anything, put the ball anywhere. There are running shots where you combine R1 with a stroke to stretch further, and lob and drop shots are achieved through combination presses. Fortunately, it’s all easy enough to master and by the end of the training you’re kicking the computer's ass. The plump English man is still on court, sweating slightly, but is loving the fact he’s managed to “stand up” today. So far, so good.

Into Pro Tour mode. Here things get a little sticky. You create your player, selecting all manner of options, including face shape and colour, build, hair style and colour, the colour of sweatbands, etc, before picking whether or not your player is left or right handed, how much emphasis they place on which shots; it goes on for a while. The large Englishmen is looking a little bewildered as a thundering top spin flashes past, but he’s still up for it. Just.

And we’re off. The career mode is set into weeks, where training and tournaments are laid out in a grid. You can advance down the grid simply by scrolling down, but obviously you won’t have played anything so you’ll get no experience points (yes, they’re called EXP points). The advantage is that if you move along through time in this way your stamina rebuilds, meaning you’re faster and more powerful on court. You start some training. Hit the little piles of balls, the game says, hit the little piles of balls with serves and we’ll give you some EXP points. So you do and it does. Podgy Englishman just won a game. His persistence at ploughing through all this gumph is paying off. His little heart’s pounding, euphoria spreading through his bacon-crammed mind. He’s actually enjoying himself.

Anyone for RPG Tennis?

'Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2' Screenshot 2

Then things go horribly wrong. You’re taken to a screen where you’re to spend your EXP and boost character attributes. If it wasn’t for the image of your player, you could be in an RPG. If you raise your serve’s level, your top spin suffers. If you build stamina, your power falls. It boils down to a balancing act whereby you’re trying to raise all attributes slightly. Sounds tedious? It is. Englishman feels robbed at this point, smacking balls straight up into the air and huffing. This screen appear every time you get EXP, and, just like in an RPG, you start to skip it even though you’ve got points to spend because it’s such a time consuming process. Not great.

We enter a tournament. You don’t actually get to play the sets, which is kind of laughable. You’re treated to emotion highlights (your player punching the air or looking miserable) until you reach set “turning points” where the game allows you to play in a scenario, say, “Make 20 per cent of your shots Nice shots in the game”, or, “Win two points with the first service”, or, “Win the game in less than 40 shots”, and so on. Between these bouts the match is in fast forward. Get enough of them right and you’re likely to win.

Win enough and your ranking goes up, you get to enter better tournaments and your attributes get higher. Get the picture? English guy is so bored he’s roped in another person from the next court for a game of doubles. Of course, with any tennis game, multiplayer is where it’s at.

Kournikova Pongs?

'Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2' Screenshot 3'Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2' Screenshot 3

Except in Smash Court 2, it isn’t. The major problem with the game is that you have to learn how to use it. The beauty of the likes of Virtua Tennis and, to a lesser degree, Top Spin, is that you don’t. So, if you know how to play the game because you’ve been through all the training and your girlfriend/wife/plump English friend hasn’t, you will win. Unless you know what you’re doing, you’ve got no chance. As a very wise man once said, “Tennis games should be like Pong. Virtua Tennis 2 is like Pong with Anna Kournikova in it. That’s why it’s brilliant.”

We could go into the whole multiplayer “experience”, but it’s scuttled by this point alone. Sure, you get the real Grand Slam courts, 16 authentically looking pros, yada yada, but that’s not much good when whoever you’re playing against looks baffled and fails to win a single point before getting bored and putting the pad down.

So there you are. Englishman almost had a great day at the courts, but lost badly and eventually did the only sensible thing by smashing his racket to smithereens and retiring for 10 pints of Stella and a quick lobstering in the beer garden. Same as every year.

5 / 10

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Comments (17) Latest comment 6 years ago

Comments threads automatically close after 30 days, but please feel free to continue chatting on the forum!

  • martyngates #1 8 years ago

    just a suggestion but is there any chance of some 'if you liked this also try...' links at the bottom of reviews or ratings of similar titles as i quite fancy a tennis game after reading that and remembering the joys of virtua tennis on the dc, but dont fancy looking through all you old reviews to find the best tennis game available currently

  • Kami #2 8 years ago

    Actually, I feel sorry that SCT has sunk to this...

    I remember it being fun on the PS... how far the mighty have fallen...

  • martyngates #3 8 years ago

    first ridge racer

    then tekken

    now this...

    hello namco do you see a pattern forming?

  • Blerk #4 8 years ago

    Looks like the curse I put on them for not releasing Xenosaga in Europe is finally paying off!

    Bwah-ha-haar!

  • kdsh7 #5 8 years ago

    Except i don't think Kournikova is in Virtua Tennis 2!

  • krudster #6 8 years ago

    Ok Martyngates, we'll look into that. We're about to start on a general site overhaul (which will doubtlessly take some time), but we'll make a note of that suggestion.

  • Eighthours #7 8 years ago

    ....except that Top Spin is far and away the best tennis game out there....and it's online.

  • perilikid #8 8 years ago

    I was playing Top Spin against a friend last week who, to his credit, didn't give up after I only allowed him to win about eight points over the space of 24 games (four sets, natch). It is not strictly for beginners.

    Pro Evo, on the other hand, is playable for beginners. I won a mini-tournament against two friends last week, despite not owning a PS2 nor extensively playing Pro Evo 3 (which both of them have). In my opinion it suitably manages to transfer how you want your team to play into your team actually playing that way. Top Spin is heavily reliant on experience, and can be ruthless otherwise.

    I'm a huge fan of Eurogamer, and quite keen on concept reviews in general (ie the concept has to be funny), but this one was a disappointment despite my usual feelings of glee when reading reviews of bad games on the PS2. Is there still time to re-review the game?
    Edited by 1 at 15/06/04 @ 15:56

  • ssuellid #9 8 years ago

    Pro Evo 3?

  • perilikid #10 8 years ago

    Hey! I'd like to think that although they might not be very good... I'm not half bad? To be fair though, I did own Pro Evo on the PS One, so I wasn't completely unfamiliar with the game.

    Still, sounds like a challenge... come Pro Evo 4 I'll be ready and willing!

  • Kami #11 8 years ago

    In the end, a tennis game boils down to one thing.

    IS? IT? FUN?


    And on tennis games, you have to be ready for wildly varied remarks...

  • Aretak #12 8 years ago

    Kinda disappointed with this review. Like somebody has said, one of the major negative points in the review -- that you don't play sets in tournaments -- is invalid, as you have the option to.

    I think it's a very good game.

  • Tweakmonkey #13 8 years ago

    Interesting to see so many tennis fans here. Was anybody else disappointed with the graphics in the PS2 version of Virtua Tennis? This looks far better.

  • BartonFink #14 8 years ago

    So there still isn't a decent Tennis game on the PS2 then.
    /hugs copy of Top Spin

  • KiLlerKnight #15 8 years ago

    Hugs Topspin? Topspin is an overrated game with one of the most pathetic single-player ever. The single player is so uninspired and so simple it's an insult. Topspin is a multiplayer game ONLY. And even on LIVE it's not that good. It's actually an EA-game, it begins great, but you discover more and more flaws every time you play.

    I like Smash court 2, at last a tennisgame with good controls AND deep gameplay where you don't win with just aces or hard forehands. The single player mode is not perfect, but the best available. Switch to play sets instead of those 'turning points' and it's great. This review is an opinion, like every review, but I strongly disagree. Not only the reviewer miss the option to turn off those turning points, but he thinks it should be played like Pong. LOL, let him play Pong and EA-games and we play Smash Court. The beauty of playing games and winning is know what you are doing and kick your opponent's ass because you are more skilled. THOSE wifes, girlfriends and plump English friends should play Eyetoy, The Sims, or read a book.

  • Monkey #16 8 years ago

    Personally my most enjoyable tennis moment was Super Tennis on the good old SNES... even my mother could play it!
    :)

  • retro_slippy #17 6 years ago

    OMG - cheers ARETAK..... I've had this game for ages and never knew you could turn those frickin scenarios off!!! That was the only reason the disc has stayed on the shelf, everything else I thought was pretty cool. Muchos thankos.

    Oh, and PMSL @ MONKEY - can relate to that SNES moment!
    : )

    Steve