The first month of the Top Commentator Contest has come to a close. This month’s winner is Game Hard. Thanks to everyone who participated!
Game Hard wins a copy of Hot Shots Tennis for the PS2.
Stay tuned and keep commenting… we’re announcing the October prize soon.
Hot Shots Tennis is the next in the long line of games from the Hot Shots series from Clap Hanz. With the very strong success of the series worldwide for the PS1, PS2, PSP, and soon the PS3, it was only a matter of time before the series branched out from golf into other sports. Clap Hanz continued with the proven Hot Shots theme in this new setting. How did it pay off for them? Here is a breakdown of some of the facets of Hot Shots Tennis for the PS2:
Presentation and Graphics: Hot Shots Tennis sports some of the better graphics we’ve seen on the PS2. Granted, there isn’t as much going on as in God of War or Gran Turismo, but Clap Hanz made their style work perfectly. The characters and environments looks very crisp, especially upscaled to 1080p through a PS3. There were times when I honestly forgot this is a PS2 title. There are some spots where jaggies are fairly evident, which is to be expected on the PS2. Otherwise, the game looks terrific. 4 of 5
Sony sent over a retail copy of Hot Shots Tennis for the PS2 for us to review. I got to play a good bit the past few days, and the game is very solid.
I gave my impressions of the demo a little over a week ago, and many of the same things apply to the final code of the game. The game has a fairly deep career mode, where you play through against opponents to level up and unlock new characters, stages, costumes, and various other power-ups.
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.
We’re gonna kick it old school for a bit here with some trailers for a PS2 game. Hot Shots Tennis 2 is coming out for the PS2 later this year and the gameplay looks very fun, just like all of the Hot Shots games.
Here’s two videos to show off the gameplay.
There are still waves being made in current-gen systems, and we are happy to report that Hot Shots Tennis 2 is coming to the PS2. At only 29.99, this game is a steal. Combining arcade type game play with the non-stop action of tennis, yeah.. anyway, this game kicks ass. With 14 unique playable characters and five umpires available in the game, all with different attitudes, there should never be a dull moment on grass, clay, or the other one, I guess cement? The game is above the standard visual for current-gen games and has many unlockables including 7 new characters. No word yet if Anna Kournikova is in the game or if she will sit on your face if you win, but definitely check this out if you’re a fan of the Hot Shots series, tennis, or face sitting in general.
Reminder: Monthly Top Commentator Contest
Just a friendly reminder of the Monthly Top Commentator Contest here at Loot Ninja. September 1st is fast approaching, so gear up to be the first winner of this running contest.
September’s prize is a copy of Hot Shots Tennis for PS2. We reviewed this game and absolutely loved it and hope you will too.
For all the rules and such, check out the contest page here. Good luck to all!