Sony sent over a demo of Hot Shots Tennis for the PS2. Thank God for the Emotion Engine inside my 60GB PS3 (which in fact has a 160GB hard drive).

The demo consists of a short match you can play, 1 set of 3 games, against one opponent. The game plays similar to most tennis games out there now, with a Hot Shots flare. You have options for standard topspin shots with the X button, backspin shots with the Circle button, and lob shots with the Triangle button. The controls are better than you’d think, given the kooky nature of the game. Serving is more difficult than games like Topspin and Virtua Tennis, since it involves a lot of timing to make sure you don’t fault.

While the demo is only single player, the retail game will allow up to 4 players on one PS2 (or PS3) to go at it in a Doubles match. There won’t be any online play, so you won’t be able to school your friends from miles away.

The graphics looked terrific on my PS3 upscaled to 1080p. There were times when I thought it may have been a PS3 title it looked so good. There were some areas where jaggies were very evident, but most of the time the character models and the environment looked very crisp.

Hot Shots Tennis should provide a lot of gameplay depth, just like Hot Shots Golf does. You’ll unlock new characters, costumes, equipment, and courts through career mode. Pick up a copy this Wednesday for a cool $29.99. A great value for what the game provides. I would definitely suggest picking this one up.