Super Tennis Champs

STORY / GAMEPLAY
The original game was written in AMOS, a popular entry-level BASIC language for the Amiga, but programmer Elton Bird had to re-write the core of the enhanced version in Blitz BASIC, in around a week and a half. There are a number of different tournaments you can take part in, from the Exhibition mode to Grandslam. Tournament (in Paris, New York, Melbourne and London) or League Exhibition allows you to select and play singles or doubles with any players, on any tennis court, in a match of 1, 3 or 5 sets (can be selected on the menu). What is really impressive is that, if you own a four-player parallel port adapter, the game can be played with up to 4 players! What is also innovative here is that Super Tennis Champs introduces the concept of character play! You may choose between 12 available player-profiles, each with different skills and styles of playing, a feature that really adds variety and keeps the game realistic (e.g. players with a flashing back-hand and speed or powerful serve and stunning forehand or running fast around the court). Of course, as with all other tennis titles, you can control the type of serve as well as the spin and velocity of the strike as well. The game is certainly one of the most addictive tennis titles for the Amiga, one that should not be missed but be warned that it takes some time until you win a match, either on Easy mode. There are also extra disks available, one with extra doubles and one with female tennis players.

GRAPHICS / SOUND
The game's graphics are cleverly done in a great cartoon-ish style and 32 colors on screen. The view of the court works well so that you can see all that is going on and employs a raised view from the back of the player. The sprites' animation is impressive, with lots of funny touches (e.g. the player can be seen jumping up and down in excitement if he / she wins). The main-menu theme is great and the sound effects are good and definitely enhance the sports atmosphere. The crowd cheers when you score and there's also have a sampled referee voice that shouts "Net" or "Out" whenever this occurs, a sound extra that works well in adding a touch of authenticity to the whole experience.