If you want to play a decent match of tennis on the Nintendo DS, you will be disappointed with the lack of variety out there.
One of the games is based on a Japanese tennis anime, while another is a complete failure with horrible frame rates.
However, Rafa Nadal Tennis, bearing the name of the world's No. 2 tennis player, looks set to change that.
With a choice of using either the usual buttons or the DS stylus for play, the controls provide for some innovation.
It takes some time to get used to the stylus controls, however.
You serve, stroke and lob by tapping and drawing lines on the device's touch screen, while holding down a button to get the desired shot.
The concept is simple, but trying to figure out where exactly the ball will land with the stylus is hard.
The slightest mistake with the skinny apparatus, and you could be running to an unwanted spot or hitting the ball all the way out of the court.
Once you get used to the controls, the title is pretty much everything a tennis game should be - good mechanics, a basic career mode and multiplayer mode.
The multiplayer mode is one of the highlights of the game, with a single-cart option available.
This means that you can have some tennis fun with up to three other friends who do not have the game.
It is a pity that Nadal is the only licensed player in the game.
It would have been great to have had other big names in international tennis like Roger Federer, Pete Sampras and Andre Agassi join the fray.
However, with its innovative controls and lack of any competition, Rafa Nadal Tennis is one of the few ways you can play some tennis on the DS.
There are few special features in this game, but what it does, it does well - a solid game that provides for some good matches of tennis.
- By Valentine Chua, a gamer trying to understand the appeal of hitting a tennis ball.
