I just received my import copy of Prince of Tennis for the DS. I can tell you right away that it is the best looking and playing hand held tennis game out there.
Starting with small things, the art work on the game case is great. The 64 page color instruction manual is also nice, although I can't read any of it.
The first thing that I noticed, was that there is a lot of English in this game. Almost every selection has either English or a picture of what you are selecting.
The first options that are available are:
Solo Play
Multi PlayOption
Tactics Edit
Team Edit
Gallery
The options menu is completly in English which is really nice. Even the Tactics and Team Edit have English headers for each selection. Gallery is the one area that looks like it is mostly in Japanese.
Solo Play allows you the ability to select either Official Match or Practice Match. I have only played Practice Match so far, so my impressions are based on that. Practice Match brings up five choices. Singles, Doubles, TR Singles, SV Singles and Mix Match. Once you select the type of game you want it brings you to another options screen. Here you can select how many games per match, how many sets, and what type of course, clay, hard, grass or carpet. There are some other options available as well but they were not in english but looked pretty simple to figure out.
There are four players to choose from initially. There are also two coaches to pick. When the game starts, the bottom screen displays your coach and other players on the bench. There is an advice button by the coach that you can select for advice. The top screen is where all the action takes place. The tennis play is exactly as you would expect a great tennis game to be. The ball physics are perfect, even the sound of the ball bouncing is right on. The control is excellent as well. Your player goes exactly where you want him to go and when you swing the racket, it is quick and responsive.
The characters look really good on screen. The animation is nice and very appealing. During special moves or coaching advice, the back ground will somtimes be taken over by a characters or coaches reaction and this looks really amazing. Special moves are very nice and seem to be very powerful. You have a bar on the left hand side that fills up. I have not really figured out how to pull special moves off yet but the computer has pulled off a few that have looked pretty neat. The music fits the game and is nice but nothing special.
The only slight negative I have come across so far comes when serving from the far side of the court. When you throw the ball up, it actually leaves your view. So, you have to really pay attention when serving from this side.
I really don't know yet how much the touch screen will come into play. It also appears that for multi-player play, every player will need their own copy. Even if I never play the official match mode, I would be more than happy with just what the practice mode offers. Great graphics, play and options make this a perfect portable tennis game.
I am not sure if there is any interest in a DS tennis game. However, I am willing to answer any question if anyone should have them.
Starting with small things, the art work on the game case is great. The 64 page color instruction manual is also nice, although I can't read any of it.
The first thing that I noticed, was that there is a lot of English in this game. Almost every selection has either English or a picture of what you are selecting.
The first options that are available are:
Solo Play
Multi PlayOption
Tactics Edit
Team Edit
Gallery
The options menu is completly in English which is really nice. Even the Tactics and Team Edit have English headers for each selection. Gallery is the one area that looks like it is mostly in Japanese.
Solo Play allows you the ability to select either Official Match or Practice Match. I have only played Practice Match so far, so my impressions are based on that. Practice Match brings up five choices. Singles, Doubles, TR Singles, SV Singles and Mix Match. Once you select the type of game you want it brings you to another options screen. Here you can select how many games per match, how many sets, and what type of course, clay, hard, grass or carpet. There are some other options available as well but they were not in english but looked pretty simple to figure out.
There are four players to choose from initially. There are also two coaches to pick. When the game starts, the bottom screen displays your coach and other players on the bench. There is an advice button by the coach that you can select for advice. The top screen is where all the action takes place. The tennis play is exactly as you would expect a great tennis game to be. The ball physics are perfect, even the sound of the ball bouncing is right on. The control is excellent as well. Your player goes exactly where you want him to go and when you swing the racket, it is quick and responsive.
The characters look really good on screen. The animation is nice and very appealing. During special moves or coaching advice, the back ground will somtimes be taken over by a characters or coaches reaction and this looks really amazing. Special moves are very nice and seem to be very powerful. You have a bar on the left hand side that fills up. I have not really figured out how to pull special moves off yet but the computer has pulled off a few that have looked pretty neat. The music fits the game and is nice but nothing special.
The only slight negative I have come across so far comes when serving from the far side of the court. When you throw the ball up, it actually leaves your view. So, you have to really pay attention when serving from this side.
I really don't know yet how much the touch screen will come into play. It also appears that for multi-player play, every player will need their own copy. Even if I never play the official match mode, I would be more than happy with just what the practice mode offers. Great graphics, play and options make this a perfect portable tennis game.
I am not sure if there is any interest in a DS tennis game. However, I am willing to answer any question if anyone should have them.
