Smash Court
Tennis 3 is an anti-simulator. This new PSP-exclusive release looks realistic
but offers a mixture of play styles that go in opposite directions.
Your first
few matches will be met with the usual frustrations (like your inability to
return the ball), along with a sense of amazement for the player movements. They
are mostly fluid and realistic, so unless you happen to catch the game on an off
moment within the beginning plays, you’re not likely to see it as being
seriously flawed.
Pro Tour is
the primary play mode, but before diving in you must check out the wonderful
mini-games: Pac-Man Tennis, Galaga Tennis, and Bomb Tennis. Each represents a
different style of tennis gameplay. Pac-Man Tennis challenges you to shoot the
ball over the dot-covered court to collect points that are awarded to the first
player that scores.
Galaga
Tennis replaces the standard point system with two lives – score to make the
Galaga Boss appear, who will use his retractor beam to pull tennis players off
the court. As with the classic arcade shooter, Galaga Tennis allows you to
retrieve your fallen man and play the game with two players side-by-side. It’s
hilarious, to say the least.
Bomb Tennis
trades in the two-inch yellow ball for something more explosive. The bomb grows
more deadly with each swing, while every miss causes other bombs to be dropped
on your side of the court. Hit one of the bombs and you’re toast. Three lives
(shown as heart points) are all that are given, but you can make adjustments
before the game begins.
To Serve,
With Love
As a sports
game and as a title that was made exclusively for a handheld system, Smash Court
Tennis 3 needed to have a great single-player mode. All the ad hoc functions in
the world can’t help when you’re alone at the bus stop or stuck on a plane
(where wireless connections are not allowed).
Pro Tour is
the mode created to satisfy your gaming craving during those situations. Start
by creating a player (male or female) by selecting one of a handful of presets
relating to face type, hair and skin color, clothing, shoes, and racket design.
You’ll also get to determine your athlete’s play style, which affects stats like
Power Play, Serve and Volley, and Ground Stroke. The next step involves a couple
more menus, including your rival selection for the first year. Once that has
been completed, the game takes you to the Pro Tour menu, a hub for all your
destinations. New apparel may be purchased down the road, but ignore that and
the other trivial options – it’s time to head for the competition schedule.
Up to four
competitive options are available: train, sponsorship / partners (contract), and
one or two competitions. You train to increase stat points, which can be applied
to your character like a warrior leveling up in an action game. Sponsorship is
necessary to enter certain competitions; partners are needed to participate in
the doubles and mixed matches. Neither sponsors nor partners will sign on until
you’ve proven yourself in a quick match.
The
competitions vary in reward, location, court surface, and number of opponents.
The schedule is separated by weeks, which there are 48 of in each year of the
Pro Tour. Only one action may be taken each week. If you decide to train, that’s
it – the week is gone. If there was a competition you wanted to enter at that
time, it will be lost for the rest of the year.
Don’t
forget to raise your stats.
The game is
not clear about this fact, and as you’ll unfortunately learn, that’s not the
only thing it’s tight-lipped about. Stamina is reduced every week that your
player is active; it increases every week that you decide to skip. There is no
mention of this in the Pro Tour mode, and after skimming through the manual (a
chore I dread every time), it doesn’t appear to say anything about this either.
It refers to stamina and talks about its existence, but it does not reveal how
it can be obtained.
Smash Court
Tennis 3 is a fast and exciting tennis game, so you shouldn’t be surprised that
the Pro Tour mode is fun. However, without any significant side shows to keep
players entertained, continued excitement and entertainment value is placed on
the shoulders of repetitive game competitions. You know how they say that no two
snowflakes are alike? These competitions would be the near opposite of that
statement. Sure, there are slight differences. But I’m still whacking a ball
back and forth – a thrill that can’t be contained in some games, but is squashed
here by lackluster AI and inept teammates.
Mixed and
doubles matches are all but a lost cause. You never know when you’re going to
have to carry the game for your teammate. He or she may stand there and do
nothing, and your opponents may be no better. Or they might play with
near-perfect returns, hitting the ball as if it were second nature to them.
There’s no rhyme or reason to the outcome. The reward doesn’t seem to have an
effect on it either – some of the most rewarding competitions feature the
dumbest opponents and vice versa.
In the
teammate AI’s defense, they do move well in relation to your position on the
court. If you run to the front of the net, they’ll generally move back. But that
only helps when they’re willing to actually participate in the game and hit the
ball, a function they struggle to perform.
The Pac-Man,
Galaga and Bomb mini-games are great but they don’t offer any long-term value.
No goals are provided – you play, you win, and that’s it. They aren’t
incorporated into the Pro Tour, so you won’t see them appear as a challenge down
the road. Multiplayer makes them worthwhile, but the joy is temporary – gamers
can’t go through these motions, which have no diverting path, without getting
tired.
Smash Court
Tennis 3 is not a game for last-minute actions. It wants its players to be on
top of their opponents, and it wants you to run or stay in the correct direction
and take a shot before the ball is in your territory. I can assume now, after
days of playing the game, that it does this to save time with a swing that
couldn’t have hit the ball anyway. But I’m the kind of gamer that tries even
when I know I can’t make it. Which is why I’m confused by the player lunging,
which occurs at times when your player is far from the ball. If you react
quickly, the game forgets not to swing. It ignores the fact that you are not
within the ball’s reach and literally pushes your player toward the ball to make
the shot.
This jerky
motion is usually accompanied by an animation that at least partially explains
what happened. However, there’s no guarantee that you’re going to get a visual
explanation, let alone believe what was just shown. I’m no tennis expert, but I
know people can’t lunge forward like that, certainly not without bending their
knees. The Man of Steel could, but he’s too busy starring in bad action games to
be play a sport.
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Gameplay: 6.7
The shot
mechanics are a mixed bag, emphasizing the need for prediction and early action
but not perfectionism. Players will have to study the swing, footwork, and
positions of their opponents to stay on top of each move. It’s not that hard of
a goal to accomplish – opponent analysis should be second nature after the first
hour or two. But it can be a bit difficult in the early stages of the game.
Swings are not guaranteed just because you pressed the X (slice shot), circle
(topspin), or triangle (flat) button.
Rather, the
shot will only be executed if the ball is hit in your player’s direction. If the
ball is hit to my right side and I start to run left, the swing won’t go
through. This isn’t a bad feature, per se, but it isn’t clear either.
Graphics:
7.6
Smooth animations
and decent player models were not enough to save Smash Court Tennis 3 from
falling victim to technical issues.
Sound: 5.5
The dead silence
is slightly less annoying than the vacuous sounds of Hot Shots Tennis.
Difficulty: Easy
Bad teammate AI
does not lead to challenging gameplay – it leads to frustrations.
Concept: 6.5
Cool mini-games,
but they lack a significant goal. The Pro Tour mode is not a new concept and
does nothing to expand the sport’s gameplay.
Multiplayer: 6.5
Game sharing
makes it interesting, as do the mini-games. But only ad hoc play is allowed even
if both players have their own UMD.
Overall: 6.7
Smash Court
Tennis 3 scores decent marks for its excitement level but loses points on
gameplay responsiveness, problematic AI, and a troublesome presentation. The
flaws and repetitive nature of the Pro Tour mode are hard to forgive. I enjoyed
Smash Court Tennis 3 initially and am tempted to keep it in my travel bag just
incase I get the urge to play a match or two while on the go. The fact that I’m
still thinking about it after all this is pretty impressive – most flawed games
don’t hold my interest for that long.
But if I do
play it down the road, will the words of my review come rushing back? Will I
regret that this is one of the games I chose to carry, taking up space that
could’ve been devoted to a game with fewer technical issues and higher replay
value?
