Although I never played Game, Net, and Match a few months
ago, I can honestly say that it must be better than this
particular tennis game. Once again we are presented with
adults in the stands that have to weigh less than 20 pounds due
to the fact that they are as thin as a piece of cardboard. I
would rather see a completely empty stadium or nothing at all
instead of cardboard crowds.
Ok onto the game itself. Of course I ran this in 3DFX so I was
expecting a lot more in the way of graphics than I really got.
The ball will occasionally jump like 5 frames and look choppy.
The view of the players hitting the ball was so bad the first
time I saw it that I banged on my computer to make sure the
3DFX card was working. I remember hitting a ground stroke
and having the ball leave towards the opponent a good half
second before my player even began his swing. It was sort of
like when you see someone banging something real loud
across a big field and you don't hear the sound till like a few
moments afterwards. It was extremely confusing to say the
least.
The game supports not only a tournament mode but also
doubles, mixed doubles, and singles (men and women). They
even used the real players' names from the actual tour to spice
up the excitement of the program. It didn't seem to matter
though, the game is not worth the price of admission to say the
least. Wait on another tennis game if at all possible.
Graphics: 10 / 20
A very poor use of Glide as far as the overall graphics quality.
Very slow animations on the players make the game look like
they're out of synch.
Sound: 13 / 15
Very nice use of sound effects. One of the true good points of
this game are the high quality sounds including the ball noise,
the cheers, and the mumbling of the crowd. This is one area
that the company did a very thorough job on developing.
Gameplay: 15 / 30
What can I say? Very average at best. The weird control and
the delayed animation movement when the player hits the ball
is quite bothersome. I cannot believe they would overlook
something like this before production.
Fun Factor: 10 / 20
This is a gift score as far as I am concerned. The enemy AI
seems to randomly mess up on routinely easy shots. There is
more of a fun factor in some of the other sports games released
recently.
Multiplayer Play: 5 / 5
This tennis title features all the multiplayer options. IPX, TCPIP,
Internet, modem. Nothing lacking in the multiplayer
department.
Overall Impression: 5 / 10
Not a good game overall. The enemy AI is lacking as far as I
am concerned. The game itself may be a bit too easy and
predictable to really have much enjoyment from winning a
match. I would stick to something else like any number of the
other recent releases that are far more enjoyable.