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The Plot:    The game's featured players include Venus Williams, Serena Williams, Lindsay Davenport, Magnus Norman, Patrick Rafter, Yevgeny Kafelnikov, Mary Pierce, Ai Sugiyama, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Alexandra Stevenson, Carlos Moyà, Tim Henman, Cedric Pioline, Tommy Haas, Thomas Enqvist, and Monica Seles (No Kornikova!). Gameplay options include tournament, exhibition, and World Tour mode, along with the ability to create your own player to train (with a series of minigames) and play in tournaments. Up to four players can face off against once another, as well. Those who enjoy tennis off-the-court will find "Sega Sports Tennis" a fine offering: the tournament/tour modes provide a lot of depth to the gaming experience. The computer AI also is fairly impressive, as games started to become progressively more difficult to the point where I started to become rather frustrated. The controls, which I'll discuss later in the review, are also phenomenally simple and easy to pick up. However, the game's graphics suffer from several noticable problems. "Sega Sports Tennis" does earn points for making video game tennis more exciting and fast-paced than I'd think the sport could have ever been portrayed outside the court. Still, the game's appearance is rather basic and uninvolving and while there is strong depth to the game, the difficulty starts to become a bit much as the game progresses. I was only mildly entertained by "Sega Sports Tennis", but I'm sure those who are bigger fans of the sport than I am will appreciate having this game around when Winter sets in. Rating:8.2/10 The DVD Graphics: The graphics of "Sega Sports Tennis" are generally okay, but lack a certain polish that could have made the game's appearance noticably more pleasing. Player models are fairly detailed and somewhat convincing. However, the game suffers from irritating shimmering, jagged edges and a level of detail that was just passable. The backgrounds are also nothing special, as the crowds are very generic looking and the courts are just fairly simple courts. Rating: 8.0/10 Sound: "Sega Sports Tennis" includes a booming electronic soundtrack that, while adding a certain boost of energy to the proceedings, started to become a little tiring after a while. Thankfully, the sounds of the tennis matches proved to be more enjoyable, as every grunt and hit of the ball was clearly heard and realistic sounding. Rating: 8.1/10 Gameplay: The controls of "Sega Sports Tennis" are its best aspect. Hitting requires very simple button pushing and the players smoothly move around the court. Players should be able to pick up the control and play right away with no problems whatsoever. Rating: 9.5/10 Rating Issues: "Sega Sports Tennis" is rated "E" (Everyone). Given the fact that this is tennis, I doubt anyone was expecting anything objectionable. However, I wouldn't be surprised if there's eventually a raunchy tennis game. Final Thoughts: "Sega Sports Tennis" offers fine gameplay that's surprisingly fast-paced and intense. The graphics are rather flawed and the audio is just above average, but controls are solid and the gameplay offers a lot of depth. Tennis fans should certainly consider a look, while those who aren't as entertained by the game might want to try a rental. |