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It
may not be grand, but it's sure got slam
By William
Barker
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Quick
thinking is the key to Slam Tennis
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For me, tennis is a big deal. I stay
up late to watch the US Open, Wimbledon, and the French Open.
I like the spectacle of big serves, the personality clashes and
umpires who don't speak English. It's what makes tennis enjoyable.
And, if people didn't enjoy the sport, the advertisers would leave,
which would mean the organisers couldn't pay the huge prizes to
keep the top-flite players coming back, and the world would go into
recession, leading to WWIII and the end of the human race as we
know it!!
So, with tennis' important contribution to the safety of the world
explained, let's look at the first serious tennis title on the Xbox,
Slam Tennis, so that perhaps future generations of gamers will be
able to thwart the end of civilisation.
Before we go any further, it must be said that I really got into
the Virtua Tennis games on the old DC, playing it all the time,
taking it to friend's places - that sort of thing. Sadly, the fun
wore off after about two months of non-stop playing.
It got too easy and, while there was - and still is - plenty of
depth to its gameplay (crafted by the legends that are Sega), it
got to a stage where only a handful of human players posed any threat.
Indeed, I was like a Lleyton Hewitt, complete with lots of screaming
and intimidation tactics.
So, with the advent of Slam Tennis, could my insatiable appetite
for a demanding tennis title be quenched? First impressions point
to the affirmative…
From the outset, one of the best things about Slam Tennis, compared
with Virtua Tennis series, are the increase in shots/buttons and
the improved AI.
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The bonus
challenge games help mix things up
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The 'd-pad' or analogue stick control player movements, while there's
one button for lob, one for flat shot (sic), top spin shot, backspin
shot and lob.
Furthermore, the triggers add left and right spin to any type of
shot you perform, making for a seriously high number of potential
strokes.
AI is also much tougher than in Virtua Tennis. I suppose if you
thought the CPU players in the Dreamcast title were more than a
match, then this game will seem way too hard.
For those who crave more of challenge, you will find it in Slam
Tennis.
Playing human opponents is ultimately more fulfilling, because
there's the trash talk factor, and all the excitement that comes
with real-life competition, but the CPU opponents still manage to
emulate what I'd term fairly human playing styles.
For instance, on the harder difficulty settings, the CPU will be
down-right methodical in trying to take apart your game, but at
the same time still manages to exhibit human behaviour by making
the odd forced error here and there. It's damn good AI programming
from the folks at Infogrames.
One particular aspect of the game I didn't really appreciate was
the arcade-oriented 'special shot meter'. Every time you hit the
ball, you're special meter will fill up a few pixels - just a conventional
fighting game.
Once it's full, you can pull off shots that are almost impossible
to stop.
What this means is that so long as you, or your opponent, slowly
plugs away at you from the baseline, he'll always be able to double-tap
any of the stroke buttons, henceforth unleashing a glowy tennis
ball of doom. Being a tennis purist, I would have preferred complete
simulation rules, but at the same token, you sometimes find yourself
thanking the Lord that the special meter was included.
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Look
who it is -- Moya the Destroya!!
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Game modes are very similar to those found in Virtua Tennis, and
should keep even those with hideous tennis elbow injuries occupied
for quite some time. These include arcade, exhibition, championship
and challenge modes.
Arcade and exhibition (singles and doubles) modes are self explanatory,
while the championship mode differs slightly to the career mode
found in VT.
Similar in form, but not function - instead of travelling all over
the globe, you simply unlock singles, doubles and 'pop the balloons'
challenge matches by slowly whittling away a pyramid of stages.
It sounds confusing, but it's pretty straightforward: Just imagine
one block, which is the hardest level, sitting on top of two blocks,
which then sit on top of three blocks, on top of four, and then
five.
As such, each tournament has 15 levels, with some six tournaments,
which equates to 90 games or matches.
Graphics don't really matter so much in a sports title when the
gameplay is so addictive, but even so, Slam Tennis doesn't disappoint.
The characters appear to be very smooth (though only their last
names are used to avoid hefty royalty fees - cheapskates…)
and lots of work must have gone into the motion capture process,
because not once do the digitised players look awkward.
Sports game developers take note - Slam Tennis has one of the coolest
replay features seen in recent times. We're talking picture-in-picture
stuff here.
The main window will show your player attacking the ball, while
a smaller window in the bottom left-hand corner shows a close-up
of where the ball lands, and sometimes of the grimace on your opponents
face.
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The orange
ball indicator is only on 'Easy' difficulty
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Sure, it's been done to death on the telly, but its simplicity
is what makes it so cool!
The game moves at a lovely clip - 30fps, or thereabouts - which
makes running about the court and smashing the ball to and fro'
an absolute delight.
The controls are silky smooth, making Slam Tennis very hard to
put down and, because there are more shots at your disposal than
the average tennis game, Slam Tennis has more scope than any other
tennis title offered today, period.
I really dig Slam Tennis, and all the eclectic challenge games
that come with it, though the score should be taken with a grain
of salt, as this reviewer is quite the tennis geek.
Four player mutliplayer games are also a hoot - but protective
gear should be worn, as sometimes friendly games can turn nasty...
This is easily the premier tennis game at the time of writing,
and the only one on the Xbox. It may just be a carbon copy of VT,
but that's okay by me, because the amount of moves on offer is more
than doubled.
Fila World Tour Tennis will be coming in 2003, but it's going to
be up against very stiff competition - kudos to Sheffield House
on a job well done.
Game: Slam Tennis
System: Xbox
Players: 1-4
Memory Card: Yes
Developer: Infogrames: Sheffield House
Distributor: Gamenation
Rating: 90%
(Ratings
Key/Explanation)
Slam Tennis is on the shelves now.
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