The Great Gaymathon Review #30: Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip (PSP)

Game: Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip

Genre: Sports

Developer: Clap Hanz

Publisher: SCEA

System: PSP

Release date: 2010

I've been a tennis fan ever since I watched Steffi Graf win Wimbledon back in 1989. That match did more than make me a fan of tennis, though; it also made me a fan of tennis games. Unfortunately, most of the tennis games that were available at the time completely sucked. In fact, the only good ones I can think of are Nintendo's Tennis for GameBoy (released in 1989) and Namcot's Pro Tennis World Court (aka World Court Tennis, released in 1988) for the PC Engine/ TurboGrafx-16. Thankfully, a number of truly great tennis games hit the streets the world over following my introduction to the genre--games such as Nintendo's Super Tennis (released for the SNES in 1991) and Human's Final Match Tennis (PC Engine, 1991). Well, after playing through--and thoroughly enjoying--it, I can without hesitation add Clap Hanz' Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip to that hallowed list. If I were forced to succinctly describe this game, I'd say it's a mixture of Super Tennis and Nintendo's Mario Tennis titles (especially the Nintendo 64 entry)--topped with a sprinkling of Pro Tennis World Court. I picked those three games as points of comparison because Hot Shots Tennis has an accessible quality to it like Super Tennis, plays and feels like the Mario Tennis games and features an utterly crazy, travel-around-the-world "story mode"--which tasks players with spreading the love of tennis to the depressed and otherwise downtrodden (read more about this mode here)--that brings to mind Pro Tennis World Court. You don't have to play the game's story mode, of course; also available is an exhibition mode, in which you can play singles or doubles matches against a number of computer-controlled opponents, and a multiplayer mode, in which you can compete against friends (or strangers, I guess) locally and globally using Sony's adhoc Party service. If you're anything like me, though, you'll spend the bulk of your time playing through Hot Shots Tennis' story mode--beating opponents, buying and collecting gear (including crazy "outfits" like panda suits and tutus) and visiting all kinds of weird and wonderful locales (like the top of a skyscraper, a river-side stadium and a rural farm). The only negatives I can ascribe to this adorably odd game: 1) It doesn't include a traditional career (aka "world tour") mode, and 2) Too many opponents turn to the hit-a-drop-shot-and-then-lob-over-your-head tactic.

See also: Previous 'Great Gaymathon' posts

Four things I can't help but love about the adorably crazy Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip

As you can probably tell by the number of posts I've published about the game in the last week or two, I'm a bit obsessed with Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip at the moment.

I'd be lying if I said that surprised me; after all, I've always loved a good tennis title. Of course, most, if not all, of the tennis games I've loved over the years--such as Final Match Tennis for the PC Engine, Super Tennis for the SNES and Virtua Tennis for the Dreamcast--have been fairly straightforward approximations of the sport.

One of the few exceptions to that rule: Nintendo's Mario Tennis titles, which tend to eschew both tradition and seriousness in favor of good old-fashioned fun.

Although I'd definitely call the fun that can be had in Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip "good," I wouldn't call it "old-fashioned"--as I'm sure you'll see after you read the following list of four things I love about this crazy, Clap Hanz-developed title.

1. Crazy costumes--I mentioned in a previous post about Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip that I wore some sort of Elizabethan or Victorian gown during a recent match. Well, that crazy "costume" is just the tip of the iceberg in this wackadoodle game. Other head-scratching outfits currently taking up space in my characters' lockers include a grass skirt, a kimono, a panda suit (barely visible in the screenshot above) and a tutu.

2. An even crazier cast of opponents--I seem to be about half-way through the game at this point, and already I've competed against a chef, a cheerleader, a farmer, a Helghast (from the Killzone series), an "island dancer," a maid, a movie star, a ninja, a sumo wrestler and a surfer.

3. Loonier-than-the-Looney-Tunes story--Really, it's like a modern counterpart to the silly, strange story that supports the TurboGrafx-16 "classic," World Court Tennis. The goal in that much-maligned (although not by me) game: To bring peace to a place called Tennis Kingdom. The goal in Hot Shots Tennis: To bring the joy of tennis to, among other folks, the aforementioned cheerleader and movie star.

4. Wide variety of wacky settings--Most tennis titles give you a choice of three or four courts--clay, grass, hard (cement) and, sometimes, indoor--and that's it. Boring! All of them can be found in Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip, of course, but the crazy locales that surround those courts--including a mountaintop dojo, a TV studio set and a wooden pier--help separate this game from its yawn-inducing competitors.

See also: Previous Hot Shots Tennis posts

In case anyone cares: There *are* challenging opponents in Hot Shots Tennis PSP

Yep, you read that correctly: I just faced my first challenging opponent in Hot Shot Tennis: Get a Grip--a dropshot-obsessed wench (actually, she's more of a spoiled brat) named Amorette.

Anyway, she nearly beat me. She ran out to a 3-1 lead--the match in question was of the first-one-to-win-four-games-is-the-victor variety--before I worked my way back into the set, which ended with me winning 4-3. (Or was it 5-3? I can't remember if I had to win by one or two.)

This isn't Amorette, by the way. It's Bridget, a blond cheerleader.

I'd like to add, by the way, that I beat the little terror while wearing some sort of Elizabethan or Victorian gown. Oh, and I had rose in my hair and a giant ruby ring on my finger.

See also: 'Screw Pac-Man Championship Edition, I'm going to play Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip instead'