Game Over Online ~ Actua Tennis

GameOver Game Reviews - Actua Tennis (c) Gremlin Interactive, Reviewed by - Mud

Game & Publisher Actua Tennis (c) Gremlin Interactive
System Requirements P133, 16MB RAM, 4x CD-ROM
Overall Rating 68%
Date Published Sunday, September 27th, 1998 at 01:03 PM


Divider Left By: Mud Divider Right

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.

 

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Rating
68%
 

 

 
 

 

 

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