When it comes to game of tennis, fans of the sport do have a few choices whether it’s Sega’s Virtua Tennis series or the excellent Top Spin franchise and, finally, the Smash Court Tennis series. While the competition keeps things on the arcade style (Top Spin adds a touch of simulation), Smash Court Tennis is a serious tennis simulator. Now, after a lengthy absence, Smash Court Tennis 3 steps on to the virtual court on the Xbox 360 to bring tennis fans a flawed and unflattering sports game that just doesn’t come close to giving fans a fun tennis game.

 
“We love you, Vin Diesel!”

It’s unfortunate that this third entry in the Smash Court Tennis series didn’t change very much considering most of the current bright stars of professional tennis are featured in this game. The impressive lineup includes everyone from Martina Hingis, Roger Federer, David Nalbandian, Maria Sharapova as well as Rafael Nadal just to name a few of the pros available. The game, once again, takes a more realistic approach to the game modes as well as the gameplay and the results are not quite as good as it could have been considering the fact that this time there are a few mini-games.

For starters, the game’s controls are often not as responsive as they should be considering that this is a game that requires timing and speed. While most of the time the game flows smoothly, there are more times when your character will not respond as quickly as you would like and either reach a return too late or not swing at all. For the most part, you can pick up and start playing the game but if you want to win a match, I highly recommend going through the game’s tutorial mode first. It’s almost impossible to successfully complete any of the mini-games without learning how to make a proper serve or how to pull of a perfect topspin shot.

Steep learning curve aside, the game has a few other gameplay flaws that come in the form of the opponent AI. At times, your opponent will do a great job returning your serves but then during the same match they’ll questionably rush off to the front of the net for no reason at all or turn another direction once you made the shot. This problem gets really out of control during doubles matches but this time it also applies to your partner. I cannot count how many times I slapped my forehead after my partner - Amelie Mauresmo - stood by and let the ball bounce past her.

There are a few moments when the game flows nicely, pitting skill versus skill and not cheap last minute AI tricks such as suddenly increasing your opponent speed. Sadly, these moments don’t come very often and that is too bad seeing as the game has an Exhibition mode as well as an Arcade mode. Pro Tour is the game’s main mode of playing and it is here that you take a created player (male or female) and take your creation through a rather lengthy career starting from an amateur ranking all the way to the pros to make a name for yourself in the circuit and land events such as Wimbledon. Winning matches even allows you to upgrade your player’s skills and improve your existing ones much like leveling up in a role-playing game.

 
“I said ‘Quiet!’ I can stand here all day, people.”

One thing I should note, however, and that is the Pro Tour mode is a straightforward game mode with very little excitement. You do have the opportunity to take a breather from regulation games by taking part in charity events or try to earn an endorsement deal completing a mini-game challenge to earn sponsorship. The mini-games are actually somewhat lame but completing those games mean you can earn new clothing options for your character or better equipment. Sure, you can start a rivalry with pros to spice things up but overall Pro Tour is actually very boring with very little excitement in the tournament phase or any fanfare when you do make a name for yourself. We love realism in our games but there are just some elements - like challenging an unfavorable call - sounds good on paper but annoying in practice.

Graphically, Smash Court Tennis 3 is also something of a disappointment. There are times when the game does look good and the bodies and animations of each player looks natural enough but there are a few visual details that don’t look good at all. Some of the pros really don’t look like the actual players and the few animations repeat themselves constantly. The backgrounds are also hideous to look at and even the visual effects - like shadows - don’t feel like they’re in real-time at all.

 
“Yay! Finally all those years of playing Pong have finally paid off!”

The game’s sound does not fair any better considering the very dated soundtrack that plays during the game’s main menu feels as if it belongs in an old arcade game. The commentary is very limited but not bad at all and sounds of a match in progress are decent. I also like hearing the fans cheer and clap but then you’ll start hearing some nonsensical hollering from male fans. You’ll hear excited male fans yell out “Maria!” even if Maria Sharapova isn’t playing or scheduled to play in a tournament.

Utterly flawed and devoid of any real excitement, Smash Court Tennis 3 for the Xbox 360 feels like a by-the-numbers game of tennis that fails to do the sport justice. Technical problems aside, there is very little in terms of fun matches that should have made this one stand out over the competitor. Yes, there are moments when the good stuff does shine through but it is just overshadowed by all its flaws that keep this one from being fun for very long. It was a good try but, tennis fans; you should definitely skip this one.

Gameplay: 5.0
Poor hit detection and frustrating partner AI is one of the game’s obvious flaws that get in the way of the action so even the pros play as if they have two left feet. There are instances when the matches flow nicely but the steep learning curve will alienate causal players.

Graphics: 5.5
The visuals show a lot of great improvement but the poorly rendered backgrounds and the so-off-it’s-funny facial appearances of the pros will turn off those gamers looking for good eye candy. Still, the players move naturally even though their animations repeat throughout.

Sound: 4.5
The soundtrack is ripped straight out of a 1980s sports game with very little to offer in terms of variety. Still, in a game that requires silence, we can dismiss it. At least the on-court sounds are somewhat decent.

Difficulty: Medium/Hard
First time gamers should certainly try the game’s Tutorial first before trying an Exhibition match or even the game’s main Tour mode since there are some complex details about the shots. Once you get the flow of the game, though, the uneven AI will prove to be frustrating instead of challenging.

Concept: 5.5
Most of the worthy pros are present and taking your created player to the major events is a satisfying feeling but too bad Smash Court Tennis 3 didn’t make it interesting or engaging enough to make players want to care. The mini-games aren’t fun at all but at least multiplayer sours.

Multiplayer: 7.0
At least the framerate runs smoothly online just as it does offline and having a real person as your doubles partner certainly makes up for the poor excuse of an AI partner any day of the week. Trust me when I say that you will definitely play this one more online that as a single-player game.

Overall: 5.0
Unfortunately, Smash Court Tennis 3 is a big step back for the series and fails to make an impression as a tennis simulator. With numerous problems that work against the gameplay, poorly designed game modes don’t make this simulator fun or interesting even for gamers who love the sport. Sorry, this one just isn’t good enough to recommend.