Pro Tennis Tour 2

Pro Tennis Tour 2 (released as Great Courts 2 in the United States,[1] and Jimmy Connors Great Courts 2 in Europe[2][lower-alpha 1]), is a 1991 video game released by Blue Byte Software for the Commodore Amiga, published by Ubisoft.[3] It is the sequel to Pro Tennis Tour[lower-alpha 2], which was released for the ZX Spectrum in 1989.[4] The game was ported to several systems, including the Atari ST, DOS & IBM Compatible PCs.

Pro Tennis Tour 2
Amiga Box Art
Developer(s)Blue Byte Software
Publisher(s)Ubisoft
Platform(s)Commodore Amiga, Atari ST, DOS, PC
Release1991
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player
Multi-player
Co-op

Gameplay

Players have three different game modes to play; "practice", "ball machine", and "tournament". "Practice" is a quick start mode, where the player can play single matches against the computer. "Ball machine" features the player returning balls from a motorized tennis serving machine. "Tournament" lets the player proceed through generated tournaments, and eventually Grand Slams.[5] The player can also sign up to play doubles during each tournament and even compete in the Davis Cup.[5] Players can also see statistics of match wins, tournament wins, and also prize money earned over the career.

Matches and tournaments can be played on many different surfaces. Matches can take place on grass (textured green) for a fast-paced game, clay (textured brown) which has a significantly slower pace, and asphalt (textured grey) with the fastest play speed of all of the courts. The game is controlled with a joypad and keyboard combination on all consoles.[5] The game can be played by one or two players, either controlling a player or a team each, and can also be played co-cooperatively, with players forming a doubles pair.[6] Each of the individual player characters have different strengths, and weaknesses, with variables such as forehand, backhand and fitness[7][2]

Development
Pro Tennis Tour 2 on a clay court.

Pro Tennis Tour 2 was created by a team of five; from Blue Byte Software. This team included coding by Lothar Schmitt, graphics by János Tóth, Thorsten Knop & Uwe Meier, and score by Haiko Ruttmann. Lothar Schmitt was also involved with the project. The game was released entirely in English, however the manual was also released in German, and French.[8]

The Amiga game was published by Ubisoft in 1991 in the United Kingdom, and the United States, and was later released in France, and Germany in 1993. The game was also released in Italy by distribution company "Leader",[8] and Spain by Spanish publisher "Dro Soft". The game was also self-published for DOS in 1991.[9]

The game would later have an unofficial sequel in Game, Net & Match! also released by Blue Byte Software in 1998 for Windows.[10] The game's features expand on those in Pro Tennis Tour 2, and add internet play.[11] However, due to the game's differing name, and move to 3D, the game was never officially released as a sequel to the Pro Tennis Tour series.[11] Its working title, however was Great Courts 3'.[10]

Reception

Reviews for the game were almost universally positive. Amiga Power reviewed the game as 4/5 stars, claiming "possibly the most realistic sports sim to grace the Amiga, with features galore." [3] The One for ST magazine agreed, giving the game 90%, stating the game was "simply the best tennis sim that money could buy."[12]

The One for Amiga Games reviewed the Amiga version of Pro Tennis Tour 2 in 1991, giving it an overall score of 90%, beginning their review by expressing that it improves upon its predecessor, stating that "The original Pro Tennis Tour was a quality simulation of tennis but it had a few significant drawbacks, all of which have been rectified in this sequel. Two players can now compete at tournament level, there is a doubles option (including the unusual doubles verus single player mode), and you now have a choice of male or female players". The One praises Pro Tennis Tour 2's gameplay as "satisfying", calling its controls "much more user friendly", and furthermore states that "The quality and range of computer opponents is superb. It's changes like this that make this sequel totally different from its predecessor." The One praises the ability to edit player statistics as "an excellent additional feature" that "genuinely affects your [abilities]", and praises the graphics as having "subtle" and "mostly smooth" animation and expresses that the sound effects are "just about spot on". Despite this, The One expresses that "it's much more difficult serving down than up the screen, and more pre-match selection screens could be more aesthetically presented." The One acknowledges these criticisms as "minor" and concludes by calling Pro Tennis Tour 2 "a brilliant tennis simulation that is as close to being definitive as you are likely to get."[13]

However, Computer and Video Games magazine stated that "The problem with Pro Tennis Tour 2, is that underneath the flashy exterior, lies a pretty basic game", but still gave the game 80/100.[14] Amiga Format stated the game was difficult saying "it does take a lot of learning if you want to be able to play and beat the computer opposition", and scored the game 82%.[15]

Pro Tennis Tour would be ranked number 42 in Amiga Power's list of 100 all-time best Amiga games in 1991.[16]

See also

Notes
  1. The original Jimmy Connors Pro Tennis Tour was released in 1989
  2. The original game was also released as "Great Courts"

References
  1. "Great Courts 2". Software Preservation Society. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  2. "Great Courts 2 for Amiga". MobyGames. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  3. "Amiga Power - Issue 01 (1991-05)(Future Publishing)(GB)". Amiga Power. May 1, 1991. Archived from the original on June 4, 2016. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  4. "Pro Tennis Tour - World of Spectrum". World of Spectrum. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  5. "Pro Tennis Tour 2 - Manual". Lemon Amiga. Archived from the original on March 20, 2018. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  6. "Pro Tennis Tour 2 - Amiga Game/ Games". Lemon Amiga. Archived from the original on July 14, 2007. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  7. Lunkeit, Kai (August 3, 2008). "Great Courts II AKA Pro Tennis Tour 2". Retro Gamer. Archived from the original on March 20, 2018. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  8. "Pro Tennis Tour 2: Hall of Light". Hall Of Light. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 18, 2017.
  9. "Great Courts 2 (1991) Amiga Release dates". MobyGames. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  10. "Game, Net and Match! for Windows". MobyGames. Archived from the original on December 30, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  11. "Game, Net & Match! for Windows (1998) Ad Blurb". MobyGames. Archived from the original on December 29, 2017. Retrieved December 29, 2017.
  12. "One for ST Games issue 033". June 1, 1991. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  13. Houghton, Gordon (February 1991). "Pro Tennis Tour II Amiga Review". The One. No. 29. emap Images. p. 64-65.
  14. "Computer+Video Game Review". Computer+Video Game. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  15. "Amiga Format Review". Amiga Format. May 1, 1991. Archived from the original on October 18, 2017. Retrieved October 17, 2017.
  16. "Amiga Power Issue #00". Amiga Power (00): 12. 1991. Archived from the original on January 9, 2014.
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