Roland Garros Paris 2005: Powered by Smash Court Tennis (2005)

Roland Garros Paris 2005: Powered by Smash Court Tennis cover

Developer: Sony Computer Entertainment
Publisher: Namco
Platforms: PlayStation 2
Genres: Sport

The 3D catalog: game boxes on wooden shelves, with the cat sitting at the counter next to its greeting.

The catalog in 3D

The same catalog has a room you can walk around in. The cat behind the counter is the AI Catbot, and they pick real games from it when you tell them what you feel like playing. Nothing is for sale, here or in there. Go in from here and this game is already out on the counter, with more like it waiting on the shelf next to it.

More games like this

How it feels

A measured, timing-driven tennis match where managing stamina and hitting the ball precisely matter as much as raw skill.

competitiveskill-basedprecise timingmoderate difficultysports simulationmethodicalstamina-focusedfamiliar

About

By combining a Roland Garros license with their tried and tested tennis engine, Namco brings a third Smash Court Tennis title for the PlayStation 2. It was released exclusively in Europe, and was based on Smash Court Tennis Pro Tournament 2. In gameplay, the game isn't much different from other tennis games in the market, but it differs from games such as Virtua Tennis by having some emphasis on stamina (some players get tired faster than others, and not only run slower but also lose power to return the ball on longer matches) and by forcing the player to hit the ball as well-timed as possible - a "nice" ball (with a yellow visual cue near the racquet) will be much harder to return, as it will bounce away faster from the player. Featuring 15 real players from both ATP and WTA, the game features several game modes: Roland Garros allows the player to compete in the namesake, exhibition, and spectator, where the player can just sit back and see a game played by the computer, choosing one of the many cameras available, including the classic TV presentation or from the main stand. The beefier mode is the ProTour, where the player creates and customizes his own player, from appearance to playing style, and start a career, taking part in tournaments and completing training sessions in order to improve the player, so he or she can break into the elite. Challenge mode includes the training session mini-games of ProTour, as well as Bomb Tennis, a special mode where the court is filled with bombs, and as a player wins points, the opponent's side is flooded with even more. The goal is to detonate the bombs by pushing them into the flames, and forcing the opponent to get caught in one explosion. Also included is a complete training mode, which explains in detail the differences between shots and allows newcomers to adapt themselves to the gameplay style of this title. By completing certain goals, the player unlocks additional items, such as clothing, music tracks, trivia cards, player information and even secret players.

More games like this

More by Sony

This page is from Underplayed Gems, a catalog of older and overlooked games. Not quite it? You can browse by platform and genre, or take this one into the 3D catalog and ask the Catbot for something closer.