TENNIS CUP

  TENNIS CUP is a tennis simulation designed and published by Loriciel and
distributed by Electronic Zoo. CUP offers excellent graphics, superb
animation, digitized voices, 32 opponents, four courts, practice mode,
player editor, save option, joystick control, and copy protection. The
Atari ST version is the basis of this review, and to play it you'll need
512K and a color monitor.

  Based on the sports simulations I've seen so far, TENNIS CUP ranks up
there with the best of them; based on the tennis simulations I've seen so
far, CUP is easily the best: animation is incredibly life-like, the
digitized voices sound smooth and proper, the array of return shots is
unparalleled, and player attributes and (most notably) skill improvements
can be saved to disk. TENNIS CUP is an excellent sports game, a first-rate
tennis simulation, and the second Atari ST package from Electronic Zoo. The
other is TREASURE TRAP, and with the two of them Electronic Zoo wins game,
set, and match.

  Besides Demo mode, from the Main Menu you can select a one-player game, a
two-player game, or practice against the ball machine. Options lets you
adjust match length to 1, 3, or 5 sets, and Low, Medium, or High game
speeds, which are actually difficulty settings.

  Select a one-player (or two-player) game and you'll be in the editor,
where you can create players whose skills begin at 50%. While in the
editor, you'll have 30 points to spread among the skills, after which the
newly-created player can be saved. You can create new opponents, or you can
adjust the 32 computer player-opponents that are already part of the
editor, which means you can give yourself an edge by downgrading their
skills.

  Game possibilities are singles and doubles exhibition matches, training,
tournament, Davis Cup, and Championship. Exhibition matches require the
selection of an opponent (from the 32) or the creation of one in the
editor. Training lets you practice your baseline, volley, or smash shots
against the ball machine. Tournament pits you against top-seeded opponents
at Flushing Meadows, Melbourne, Roland Garros, or Wimbledon; Davis Cup pits
you against top-seeded opponents in a series of singles and doubles
matches. Championship is much the same as the Davis Cup, but with a notable
addition: the better you play, the better your player's skills become, and
these improvements can be saved. Select a clay, indoor, hard, or grass
surface, and a match length (from Options), and you'll be off to the
court.

  The ST screen display is split into two court views: one from behind your
player, and one from behind your opponent. The only possibly upsetting
thing about the display concerns the movement of your player: movement to
the left on your screen (behind the player) is movement to the right on
your opponent's screen. On the courts are two players (four in doubles),
whose movements are unbelievably responsive models of jumpy, jittery
realism. A ballboy retrieves shots that hit the net, and a digitized voice
announces scores.

  CUP on the ST is controlled with a joystick. Serves and returns can be
simple or complicated. To serve, press and release the button. To return,
you must move into a position to hit the ball and then press and release
the button; forehand and backhand returns are automatically selected,
depending on which side of the ball you've positioned your player on. If
you move the joystick before releasing the button, you can return,
depending on court position, eight baseline shots, eight volley shots, or
eight lob shots.

  The TENNIS CUP package comes with two 360K disks that are copy-protected,
and instruction manual, and an ST/Amiga Reference Guide. You'll need a
blank, formatted disk for player edits.

  Throw out TENNIS CUP's excellent graphics, superior animation, digitized
voices, player editor, and the ability to save skill improvements, and
you're stuck with a simulation that's unmatched simply by virtue of an
unprecedented array of shots. There are 24 returns, and since shots move
differently on different court surfaces, the finesse you'll need to climb
up the ranks is considerable: taken solely as a tennis simulation, CUP is
the best and most realistic yet to appear. Put back in all the stuff tossed
out at the beginning of this paragraph, and you've got a knockout game that
looks great, sounds great, and is a blast to play.


  TENNIS CUP is published by Loriciel and distributed by Electronic Zoo.