Ian

Everybody's Tennis

Developer: Clap Hanz
Publisher: Sony
Release Date: Before The Great War
Format: PS2


Charm. It's probably the first thing you think of when musing on Clap Hanz Everybody's series of Golf, and now Tennis games. It's more of a bumbling amateur's charm rather than a slick Tom Cruise on Oprah kind of charm. Cute little fellows engaging in the popular sport of ruining a good walk. Golf is a game I have little time for in real life, yet in videogame terms it's something of a favourite genre. Ditto tennis, the prospect of sitting down and watching a real-life tennis match fills me with displeasure (although that could be due to the constant threat of Sir Cliff breaking into an impromptu medley) yet throughout gaming history there's always been a tennis game that captured my attention. I just love wacking those balls around.
Now that Wimbledon is upon us, [when the fuck was this review written? -Ed] it's the perfect time for staying indoors playing tennis games and not actually watching any of it at all. Everybody's Tennis does the job with few real fuckups. It's not new, fresh or particularly beautiful but it plays a good game. Timing is the key here, unlike Virtua Tennis where you can press a button early to gain more power, in ET you have to time your shots just right - hit it too early or too late and accuracy and power suffer, but time it perfectly and a simple defensive slice can be powered across court for a winner.
Presentation is up to scratch and typically cute and loveable. Jaunty theme music tootles about in the background as you play and the characters are lovingly modelled into just the right type of big-headed anime sweetness. The voice acting is rather duff but other than that everything looks and sounds as it should. In terms of the competition, it's far more Super Tennis than Top Spin.
The only real flaw is the fact that Challenge Mode (the main single player mode) is less than challenging, it's a piece of piss infact. I completed it within a week, and I'm rubbish at games. But it was a very enjoyable week. A solid first serve for Clap Hanz

Obligitory Summing-Up Box

Compared to the next-gen might of Virtua Tennis 3 it all looks rather pathetic, but does Virtua Tennis allow you to throw down a 500mph serve with a T. Hawk inspired Mexican in a poncho? Think about it.