It’s too bad Sony waited so late in the life of the PlayStation 2 to launch the new Hot Shots Tennis franchise. With the PS3 drawing so much attention these days, it’s hard for a new franchise on their old platform to draw the accolades it deserves.
Yet Hot Shots Tennis is definitely deserving. Like the numerous Hot Shots Golf titles before it, Sony has taken an anime approach to a lesser sport and made it full of addictive fun. While golf has Tiger Woods to put itself back in the spotlight, there is no single, electrifying personality that is helping lead a revival in the interest in professional tennis who rivals the celebrity of Woods.
Oh sure, every once in a while there’s an Anna Kournikova who comes along and draws attention to women’s tennis, not because of her ability to win but because she looks pretty on a poster or a wall calendar. So tennis is a bit more of an underdog sport than golf.
Also, from a videogame standpoint, the challenge with any tennis title is to avoid making it seem simply like a highly advanced form of Pong! Fortunately, Sony has succeeded by taking the same combination of humor, mad depth and a wide variety of challenges to make Hot Shot Tennis almost as addicting as most Hot Shots Golf outings they have released in the recent past.
There are many unlockable characters, rackets, uniforms, balls and other tennis accoutrements to earn and unlock as one makes their way through the world of singles and doubles tennis competition. The physics are juiced for special moves in the same way there were for golf, and yet despite this and the comedy content, the game portrays a respect for the fundamentals of the sport that rival any more serious tennis title on the market, such as Virtua Tennis. Plus, the signature Hot Shots series style is on display in full force; the game is cute as a button, turning seriously-skilled players into characters almost as adorable as plush animals.
It’s a neat trick to pull off, and the challenge level may surprise you; one has to play good, solid tennis to succeed at any level of the game, just as they must play smart golf to succeed in any Hot Shots Golf title. While Sony is hard at work on the soon-to-be-released Hot Shots Golf PS3 title, this reviewer was intrigued enough by this initial PS2 outing that if they carry the franchise over to the PS3, Hot Shots Tennis PS3 would definitely make for a “must try” experience.
