Take part in the most prestigious championships in the world! Rise from your lowly rank to take your place amongst the giants of the tennis world with this accurate and well-presented tennis sim! Sounds quite inviting, doesn't it? As is usually the case with sports sims, everything you get to do in real life can be done here. So you start off ranked 64th and, by sheer perseverance, elbow grease and sulking at umpires, you work your way up. After days, nay years, of practice against the serving machine or your coach, you make the perfect return. You can lob, you can smash, you can really cut a dash - you're ready for your first championship, the Australian Open.
Pro-Tennis Tour looks lovely (all those golden tans nicely set off by sparkling white shirts - mmmm). The players swing their expensive-looking racquets so smoothly and with such panache that the ball just glides through the air. As it hits the ground it makes a realistic thump.
Why, you can almost hear the strings vibrating as another luscious lob flies over the net. Therefore, it's with great regret that I have to tell you that the controls are agonisingly difficult to grasp.
Okay, ultimately you'll fathom all the whys and wherefores, but, in the meantime, you're left rushing from side to side of the court, only to remember at the last moment that you shouldn't have pressed fire when you did. Contrary to expectations, pressing the fire button does not cause you to hit the ball. Oh no, it simply makes you swing your racquet behind your head.
Flabbergasted, you release the fire button and your racquet comes smashing down in a great swing. It's a shame that the ball's already plopped to the ground, just by your feet. Argh!
Practice makes perfect in this nice-looking tennis sim. If only you got to hit the ball a bit more, it'd be completely excellent. As it is, the fact that it takes a lifetime to master the controls brings the score down.