But don’t confuse my newfound addiction to golf and tennis games as an indication that I am an Outlaw Tennis zealot. I do like the game, but there are still a few issues keeping this particular game from an A rating. Before I sling dirt though, I’d like to go over some of the things the game does well.

The best thing this particular game does is borrowed heavily from previous tennis games, specifically Virtua Tennis. Like the aforementioned Dreamcast game, Outlaw Tennis uses a mechanism where you move into position, hold down the appropriate shot button, whether you want a lob, a slice, a top spin or a flat return, aim the ball using the directional stick and release. This particular mechanism can be hard to get used to, but once you do, it makes the game feel incredibly natural. The hold-the-button-down approach really forces you to be in position like a real tennis player because the longer you hold the button down, the more powerful and the more accurate your shots become. When you are out of position, you can use turbo to get to the ball, but you’re probably only going to be able to wimp the ball across the net. And if you have to dive for it, then expect a fast, low return to the far side of the court.

Another attribute this game has in common with Virtua Tennis is the concept of mini-games. These are usually designed to hone your accuracy and involve anything from robots that fire tennis balls and flaming lava at you (hit the robot with the tennis balls, avoid the lava) to hitting pieces of a puzzle until you uncover the picture underneath. These are fun challenges and in addition to increasing your abilities in the game, when you succeed at a given challenge you are awarded points that you can use to pump up the different characters’ attributes.

There are special game modes that are part of the tour mode but can be selected when setting up an exhibition match. One of my personal favorites is Hot Potato. In this game mode, a timer starts ticking down immediately after the serve. If the rally is still going by the time the timer has elapsed, the potato explodes and knocks down the player on the same side. If you are handy you can learn when to use smashes and when to use lobs to put the ball on their side when the timer goes off. If you aren’t careful though, they may just put the ball past you and score points that way.

In addition to Hot Potato, there is a mode based on baseball rules. In this mode, serving has you on offense and you score base hits and homers depending on how well your points are scored. If the defender puts one by you, you get an out. Three outs and you change, you know the drill. There are ping-pong rules and even a pinball mode where there are bumpers on the defender’s side of the court. Here, the server is trying to keep the ball in play as long as he can because he racks up points each time the ball hits a bumper.

Different terrain types can be specified and all of the specific rules existent in tennis can be tweaked to your specific liking. Needless to say, options abound. There are even doubles matches and two-on-ones to accommodate any combination of players.

Where this game really starts to become unique is in its Outlaw persona. The game is rated M – Mature and for good reason. All of the female characters run around practically bare-chested while a combination of dirty jokes from the announcer (The Daily Show’s Stephen Colbert), potty humor and borderline bad language run rampant.

For the most part the Outlaw content of the game comes off as mildly interesting. Often you will find yourself chuckling when the announcer says something sarcastic or derisive. But after playing the game for a while (and you will until you get the hang of the controls) the jokes start repeating themselves and you can start to see a lot of reuse.

Since the jokes are only borderline funny to begin with, most of the content either becomes background noise or is disabled from the game’s menu after playing for an extended period of time.

The only other thing that really warrants negative opinion is the difficulty of the computer opponent. To a person new to the game, myself included, the computer is unbeatable. In my first match, I scored one point. In my second, after scouring the manual and hitting the Internet for tips, I managed to win a game or two. But it wasn’t until after I spent a significant amount of time practicing and completing drills that I was able to even come close to beating the computer. At this point, I have won a fair share of matches, but there are many times when the computer simply demolishes you and leaves you frustrated and not having any fun.

It’s the kind of frustration that is born out of a lack of hope. Games like Gran Turismo that are based highly on physics can be equally challenging, but in these games the course is unchanging and there are things you are doing wrong or can improve. Sometimes they are even pointed out to you in a way that you can use to improve your game, like replays or demonstrations of what to do right and what to do wrong. In Outlaw Tennis, I get the feeling that my skill level is the same from match to match, but different characters or different random seeds give radically different responses from the AI. In some cases there are a fair number of returns that are easy to return and you can maintain a degree of control on the court. In other matches, you are constantly running for the ball while the computer opponent never leaves the centerline.

This ultimately makes Outlaw Tennis a more fun game when played with real people. No doubt many people will find this game frustratingly difficult in single player, but I still think it is a good implementation of a tennis game. It has tons of options, character customization and some halfway decent puns and sarcasm. Besides having a steep learning curve and jokes that get old quickly, I can’t find any real fault with this particular game. Like I said before, this game has convinced me of how fun a tennis game can be, so it can’t be that terrible now can it.