By Jim Drewes - August 28, 2005

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Overview

Outlaw Tennis, Hypnotix's latest addition to the “Outlaw” sports series, is an interesting arcade-style tennis title for the PS2 and Xbox platforms. To fully appreciate Outlaw Tennis, the game must be viewed for what it is, not for what reviewers would like for it to be. The stick by which all tennis games are measured these days is Virtua Tennis, and Outlaw Tennis is decidedly dissimilar. In fact, Outlaw Tennis has more similarities with Mario Tennis, despite the obvious differences in audience targeting. Although Outlaw Tennis suffers in many areas one would expect an arcade tennis game to suffer, such as having an uninspired A.I., over-the-top physics, and a complete disregard for on-court etiquette, for the price tag ($19.99) you sure are buying yourself a lot of entertainment.

The gameplay of Outlaw Tennis suits the arcade nature of the game well. As would be expected, movement is done with the control stick, buttons correspond to slice, topspin, flat, and lob shots, and triggers are used to control spin and “turbo.” The game can be slightly frustrating at the beginning as you get your timings down, and learn how to aim the ball, but players will quickly master the controls and start dominating their opponents. If a player has problems defeating opponents in tournament mode right away, there are several “drills” which help gamers practice certain skills while increasing the stats of the character. Additionally, the drills can serve as a diversion to the normal gameplay, where instead of competing in a normal match, players can aim balls to flip over the tiles of a hidden image, knock over members of a conga line of butchers, or blast apart a robot with powerful shots. Of course, being an arcade style game, even normal gameplay isn't that normal. Players can compete in typical singles or doubles tennis matches, where all of the usual rules apply, however, there is also the option of playing various other game types with different rules. One example of a more arcade-ish game mode is “pinball,” where the court has bumpers which when hit are worth various point values. The player with the most points at the end wins. Possibly the most evil game mode is “hot potato.” In hot potato, a timer counts down during each point. If the timer runs out, the ball explodes. If the ball happens to be on your side of the court when the ball explodes, you lose the point. Its frustratingly entertaining. But don't play hot potato in mixed company, as you'll probably find yourself screaming a few choice words each time you get the exploding ball. Several other modes exist as well, such as football, baseball, and the classic – Australian doubles.

Strategy and tactics, which are normally important elements in the game of tennis, are nowhere to be found in Outlaw Tennis. Computer controlled doubles partners will only play in the “one up / one back” configuration, and frequently won't switch sides at appropriate times. The A.I. Is fairly simple. Many points can be won against most opponents by simply placing a drop-shot down the line, and then volleying the next shot cross-court. Every once in a while the computer will spice it up by hitting the ball to the opposite side than was expected, but point development doesn't really depend too much upon strategic shot placement.

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