81 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
81 lines
4.4 KiB
Plaintext
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TENNIS CUP
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TENNIS CUP is a tennis simulation designed and published by Loriciel and
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distributed by Electronic Zoo. CUP offers excellent graphics, superb
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animation, digitized voices, 32 opponents, four courts, practice mode,
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player editor, save option, joystick control, and copy protection. The
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Atari ST version is the basis of this review, and to play it you'll need
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512K and a color monitor.
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Based on the sports simulations I've seen so far, TENNIS CUP ranks up
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there with the best of them; based on the tennis simulations I've seen so
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far, CUP is easily the best: animation is incredibly life-like, the
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digitized voices sound smooth and proper, the array of return shots is
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unparalleled, and player attributes and (most notably) skill improvements
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can be saved to disk. TENNIS CUP is an excellent sports game, a first-rate
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tennis simulation, and the second Atari ST package from Electronic Zoo. The
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other is TREASURE TRAP, and with the two of them Electronic Zoo wins game,
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set, and match.
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Besides Demo mode, from the Main Menu you can select a one-player game, a
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two-player game, or practice against the ball machine. Options lets you
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adjust match length to 1, 3, or 5 sets, and Low, Medium, or High game
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speeds, which are actually difficulty settings.
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Select a one-player (or two-player) game and you'll be in the editor,
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where you can create players whose skills begin at 50%. While in the
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editor, you'll have 30 points to spread among the skills, after which the
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newly-created player can be saved. You can create new opponents, or you can
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adjust the 32 computer player-opponents that are already part of the
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editor, which means you can give yourself an edge by downgrading their
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skills.
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Game possibilities are singles and doubles exhibition matches, training,
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tournament, Davis Cup, and Championship. Exhibition matches require the
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selection of an opponent (from the 32) or the creation of one in the
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editor. Training lets you practice your baseline, volley, or smash shots
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against the ball machine. Tournament pits you against top-seeded opponents
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at Flushing Meadows, Melbourne, Roland Garros, or Wimbledon; Davis Cup pits
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you against top-seeded opponents in a series of singles and doubles
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matches. Championship is much the same as the Davis Cup, but with a notable
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addition: the better you play, the better your player's skills become, and
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these improvements can be saved. Select a clay, indoor, hard, or grass
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surface, and a match length (from Options), and you'll be off to the
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court.
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The ST screen display is split into two court views: one from behind your
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player, and one from behind your opponent. The only possibly upsetting
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thing about the display concerns the movement of your player: movement to
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the left on your screen (behind the player) is movement to the right on
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your opponent's screen. On the courts are two players (four in doubles),
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whose movements are unbelievably responsive models of jumpy, jittery
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realism. A ballboy retrieves shots that hit the net, and a digitized voice
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announces scores.
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CUP on the ST is controlled with a joystick. Serves and returns can be
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simple or complicated. To serve, press and release the button. To return,
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you must move into a position to hit the ball and then press and release
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the button; forehand and backhand returns are automatically selected,
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depending on which side of the ball you've positioned your player on. If
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you move the joystick before releasing the button, you can return,
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depending on court position, eight baseline shots, eight volley shots, or
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eight lob shots.
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The TENNIS CUP package comes with two 360K disks that are copy-protected,
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and instruction manual, and an ST/Amiga Reference Guide. You'll need a
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blank, formatted disk for player edits.
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Throw out TENNIS CUP's excellent graphics, superior animation, digitized
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voices, player editor, and the ability to save skill improvements, and
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you're stuck with a simulation that's unmatched simply by virtue of an
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unprecedented array of shots. There are 24 returns, and since shots move
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differently on different court surfaces, the finesse you'll need to climb
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up the ranks is considerable: taken solely as a tennis simulation, CUP is
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the best and most realistic yet to appear. Put back in all the stuff tossed
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out at the beginning of this paragraph, and you've got a knockout game that
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looks great, sounds great, and is a blast to play.
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TENNIS CUP is published by Loriciel and distributed by Electronic Zoo.
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