############################# # SMASH COURT # # PRO TOURNAMENT 2 # # FAQ and Unlockables Guide # ############################# Version 0.91 Date August 19th 2004 The FAQ and Guide of Smash Court Pro Tournament written by yannzoo COPYRIGHTS YANNZOO 2004 Personnal Tennis Game Website (only in French at the moment): www.tennisgames.fr.st LEGAL INFORMATION ----------------- Smash Court Pro Tournament is a trademark of Namco. All rights reserved. This document is not sponsored or endorsed by Namco. This document is for private, non-commercial use only and CANNOT be sold for profit. All information contained within this document is the author's original work except where noted. This document cannot be altered or edited under any circumstances other than by the author. No portion of this document can appear in any form within any other document or web site without the author's permission. GAME INFORMATION ---------------- System : Playstation 2 Region : All (Japanese, US and Europe) Release date : June 2004 in Europe and in the US, July 2004 in Japan. Editor : Namco Official Website : http://www.namco-ch.net/smashcourtpro2/index.php (Japanese) TABLE OF CONTENTS ----------------- 1) Game History 2) Introduction 3) FAQ 4) Playing strategy basics 5) Playing strategy advanced 6) Unlockables Guide 7) Secrets 8) What should be added and improved in the next Smash Court PT 9) Version History and thanks. 1) GAME HISTORY ------------ The Smash Court Tennis series (Family Tennis in Japan) began in Japan on Arcade and on Nec Systems(Pc Engine) in 1987, known as World Court Tennis. Then an Episode came on Super Nes called Smash Court Tennis in 1994. Between 1996 and 2000, 3 episodes were released on Playstation, the third in Japan only. Finally, a Gameboy Advance Version was released in Japan in June 2002, 4 months after the Playstation 2 version. The series is known because of its gameplay full of fun, the Super Deformed style of its characters (big heads) and for the diversity of its courts (on top of a mountainfor instance). Then Smash Court Pro Tournament was released in 2002 and appeared different compared to the others because contrary to the typical cartoon style of the series, it featured a more realistic style with real courts and players. Moreover, the gameplay was also more realistic because as in real tennis, the notions of timing and training were the basic elements of this game. But since this game was first released on arcade systems (summer 2001),it kept the easy gameplay full of fun of the series. Finally came Smash Court Pro Tournament 2. Not only had it much better graphics and a very complete Pro Tour Mode, but it got much further into realism (through many aspects), providing one of the best tennis game and gameplay EVER. 2) INTRODUCTION ------------ This guide aims at helping both new players and experienced players. If you know or if you discovered something that is not in this guide, e-mail me at yannzoo2@yahoo.fr. Note that I won't open mails with attached files or heavy messages (>3KB). 3) FAQ --- -Q: I have won new camera angles, but how do I use them? -A: Once unlocked, they can be used in the Exhibition Mode, Pro Tournament Mode and Arcade Mode, either chosen from the selection menu or in the "pause" menu. -Q: How many players are there in this game? Are there some that can be unlocked? A: Basically, 8 women (Henin, Clijsters, Davenport, Mauresmo, Hantuchova, Capriati, Serena Williams and Kournikova) and 8 men (Hewitt, Roddick, Ferrero, Henman, Safin, Haas, Gasquet and Blake). Of course more players can be created through the Pro Tour Mode. For More information, look into the secrets section. -Q: Can we choose the number of sets and/or games? Can we choose who will serve AND can we also choose the server at random? A: Sure, there can be 1, 3 or 5 sets, and the number of games can also be chosen, as well as the possibility of a Tie Break. -Q: Can we play both with the same character? Can we play women against men in singles? Can we play up to 4 players in doubles? A: Just one answer "YES", this game features a lot of options. -Q: What are the Super Shots and how do you get them? A: Look into the secrets section. 4) PLAYING STRATEGIES BASICS ------------------------- Tennis is based on a simple goal: "Placing the ball inside the limits of the court once more than the opponent". So two strategies can be used: either attacking in order to prevent the opponent from placing (or touching) the ball inside once more (Strategy 1) -or- waiting for him to make a mistake (fault). To perform these strategies, tennis is based on the variety of: -Speed of the shots -Effects (Slice, lift, flat) -Direction and angle of the shots -Length of the shots (Mental and physical aspects are also a great part of tennis, but since this guide is about a game, mental elements (like concentration) and physical elements (like your fingers' endurance) are supposed to be managed by yourself...) Thanks to Namco, SCPT2 doesn't suffer from the worst and most dangerous problem of the new tennis games: the LACK OF ANGLE SHOTS. Its gameplay is based on timing and on top of that SCPT2 features realistic faults and therefore corrects one of the biggest flaws of its predecessor. Thus in real tennis, you can place the ball anywhere from anywhere without needing preparation. Indeed, preparation is needed for precision and so for power, but not for gaining angle. For instance, being at the left extremity of the court (A), you can play a cross angle shot just behind the net on the opposite extremity of the court (b) or a long cross shot (c) as well as down the line (e): (e) ---O-------------- | || O |(c) | || /| | | | / | | | | | | | | | | | |------------O |(b) | | | /| | | | | / | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ================== | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------ 0 (A) /|\ - / \ The problem is that following the great Virtua Tennis (which I really like though), many new tennis games lack angles because they are based on the FALSE theory that angles shots need preparation and are more difficult to play than down the line shots. Even worse, some doesn't allow the player to place the ball wider than a semi-court. THIS IS VERY DANGEROUS FOR THE INTEREST AND THE SOUL OF TENNIS GAMES !!!!!! Remember Pong, what would have been the interest without angle/cross shots? Thus, removing basics elements like faults and angle will transform tennis games into a ping-pong like sport where you can only play down the line, in front of you, which has nothing to do with tennis !!!! (note that I like Ping Pong, it is only used to express the idea of speed through the image). After this call to rebellion, let's get back to basic strategies. # First, the placement and footwork of the player: In tennis, there are only two standart positions, the baseline and the volley. So the middle of the court (plan 1) and the far back of the court (plan 2) are only positions of transition where you musnt't stay. Indeed, position (A) is both too far from the net which lets a lot of room for your opponent's passing shot and also too close to the net because you have not enough time to react and choose which shot you will play. Plan 1 ------------------ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ================== | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |-----(A)----| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ------------------ Position (B) lets you a lot of time to react and prepare your shots, but dropshots will become deadly (d) and angle shots will go further from you (f). Plan 2 ------------------ | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |------------| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | =====|============ | | O | | | | | (d) | | | | | | \ | | | | | \| | | | | O |(f) | |------------|\| | | | \ | | | |\ | | | | \ | | | | \ If (B) was at the baseline (u), the angle shot will | | | | \ come closer. indeed the distance between (u) and (f) is --------(u)------- \ inferior to the distance between (B) and (f). \ \ (B) Basically, there are 2 main ways of attacking: -the one used by strong groundstroke players like Hewitt: they try to win by staying at the baseline. -the other one is the serve and/or volley like Henman: they try to play great shots (serves or grounstrokes) in order to rush to the net, taking the ball the earliest possible. They tend to be very close to the net (but not too much because of the lobs). These both strategies are great and your way of playing depends on your tastes. Nevertheless the volley strategy is riskier than the baseline one, and requires better reflexes and some more practice, but is also more spectacular. # Second, the shots and effects: The main shot is the lift (circle button), the ball turns forwards, its rebound is high, and it accelerates as it rebounds. The other shot is the slice (cross button), the ball turns backwards, its rebound is low and slows the ball. The flat shot (square button) is the riskiest shot and needs a really good timing. It is very fast and as its name says, it is free of effect so its rebounds is fast and somehow low. The drop shot is a very short shot that falls just behind the net with a very low rebound. You can make it by pressing the triangle button and the D-pad backwards. This is a poker like shot, very efficient but use it wisely! The Lob Shot is usually used when the opponent is at the net and very close from it. It is very high and somehow long in order to pass over the opponent, you do it by pressing the triangle button and the D-Pad forwards (remember that if it is too short or not surprising enough, your opponent may crush you with an overhead, so use it also wisely.) Both the dropshot and the lob can become "super" ones by playing them with the perfect timing, so they become VERY efficient. There are tricks shots that are very rare, like in real tennis. These are panic shots that can be played in certain extreme situations. they are very spectacular and these are some examples: After a lob passed over your head, youn can run after the ball, trying to play the ball between the legs (so the net is behind you) . When a very fast ball comes directly to you at the net (so when you are facing the net), your player may play the ball from behind between the legs... Or- from behind in place of your backhand. # Third, the angles and length of the ball: By using diagonals, you can vary the length and the angle of your shots. Even when serving, after throwing the ball in the air, keep the D-pad in any diagonal/direction, so you can aim at the place you want, but timing and practice are obviously needed. I repeat, the longer you press the d-pad, the more your ball will go to that direction. For the shots, a long shot (D-pad forwards) will go higher and faster than a short shot (D-pad backwards), but a short shot will have more angle. So vary them in order to make your opponent run a lot, combined with the counterfoot shot. For this, look into the following advanced strategy of playing. #Fourth, playing in doubles: Basically, at least one player should stay at the net. Moreover, when one player has to play a ball on his partner's side, immediately switch to the other side (where he left an empty room). Finally, since it is more difficult to play winning shots, focus on strategy, variety, counter shots and patience. And don't forget to aim at the middle of the court or between the 2 opponents! 5) PLAYING STRATEGY ADVANCED ------------------------- This section is a list of advice and hints. -Once trained enough to get a perfect timing for all shots (that changes everything!), one of the most important technique to master is the running shot (R + Circle Button) that adds even more depth to the gameplay. Note that you can place it wherever you want (cross court shots are very effective), you just have to press the D-Pad towards the desired direction at the very moment of your shot. - There are different levels of "nice" shots that you can see when playing by looking at the color of the circle that pops up at the impact of the ball. It goes from white for a bad timing to red for a perfect timing (orange being good timing). Hitting always "red nice" shots is therefore your goal! Remember, in SCPT2, timing is everyhting!!! -Look at what your opponent is doing, so that you can play counterfoot shots by playing a shot to the place opposite to where he runs. -When you see that your opponent will have difficulties to return your shot, do not hesitate to rush to the net to finish the point. -By taking the ball earlier and earlier, your shots will go further and further from your opponent until he cannot touch them anymore. Plus, the rythm you give to the rallies will probably exhaust him. -The drop and lob strategy : If you perform super drop shots and super lobs easily, this strategy becomes ultra annoying for your opponent. Indeed as the name says, it consists in playing a drop shot, immediately followed by a lob, then a drop and so on. Therefore your opponent will run a lot and go crazy. But use this strategy wisely... -Most of the time, it is better to play "nice" shots, but do not underestimate defence shots. Indeed, when you are in trouble and when you think that your opponent's next shot will finish the point, you can still try a ultimate winning point (if you are sure of it), but it is often wiser to play a slow slice or normal shot to gain time in order to get back into the point. -By going far into the angle shots, you will notice that the angles tend to become wider and wider as you take the ball earlier. This is a curving effect that gives even more efficiency to the angle shots, and with some practice this is a ultimate technique. 6) Courts and characters --------------------- -They are 11 courts in this game : 5 on hard (including Australian Open, Us Open, Smash Pro Championship, World Tournament, Japan Cup) 3 on grass (Wimbledon, Monte Carlo, Bronze Knight) 3 on clay (Roland Garros, Hamburg, Barcelona) Realisticaly, the surface of the courts has a lot of incidence on the way of playing. It is obvious, but the game will be slower on clay and losing ones serve will be less dangerous on clay than on grass. So you have to adapt your way of playing to the surface. -There are 16 main players in this game (featuring real skills) : 8 women: Justine Henin : Powerful Backhand Lindsay Davenport : Fast Strokes Kim Clijsters : Baseliner Anna Kournikova : All-Court Player Serena Williams : Powerful Player Amelie Mauresmo : Hard Hitter Jennifer Capriati : Baseliner Daniela Hantuchova : All-Around 8 men: Andy Roddick : Power Serves Juan Carlos Ferrero : Strong Forehand Tim Henman : Serve and Volley Lleyton Hewitt : Baseliner James Blake : Hard Hitter Marat Safin : Hard Hitter Richard Gasquet : All-Around Tommy Haas : All-Around And... (look in the secrets section) 7) UNLOCKABLES GUIDE ----------------- Obviously, this section is full of SPOILERS... - Playing Manuals : To unlock a player's Playing Manual, just win one match in the Arcade Mode. Then you will get this player's own Playing Manual. Repeat the process to get all Manuals... - 5th Outfits : To unlock a player's Fifth Outfit, just finish the Arcade Mode with a Player. Then you will get this player's own Fifth Outfit. Repeat the process to get all Outfits... - Tournament Card #1 : To unlock the Tournament Cards #1, just complete the Tutorial and the teacher will give you the complete set of 4 Tournament Card #1. - Tournament Card #2 : To unlock the Tournament Card #2, just qualify for one of the Grand Slam Tournament and you will be given the Tournament Card #2 of this tournament at the end of the year. Repeat this for each Grand Slam Tournament. - Tournament Card #3 : To unlock the Tournament Card #3, just win one of the Grand Slam Tournament and you will be given the Tournament Card #3 of this tournament at the end of the year. Repeat this for each Grand Slam Tournament. - Player Cards #1 : To unlock a player's Card #1, just finish the Arcade Mode with a Player. Then you will get this player's Card #1. Repeat the process to get all Player's Cards #1. - Player Cards #2 : To unlock a player's Card #2, choose a player and get a high score in Challenge Mode with a Hard Difficulty setting. Then you will get this player's Card #2. Repeat the process to get all Player's Cards #2. Note that you may not try to get too high scores at the beginning because it would become harder to beat those previous scores... - Player Cards #3 : To unlock a player's Card #3, just beat this player in the Pro Tournament Mode and you will get this player's own card #3 at the end of the year. - Player Card #4 : To unlock a player's Card #4, beat him or her in the Spectator Mode using a player you created in the Pro Tournament Mode. Note that I strongly advise to set the length of the match as short as possible unless you have too much spare time... - Extra BGM : To unlock the complete list of BGMs, just finish a year with a #1 ranking in the Pro Tournament Mode. - Alternate views : To unlock the complete list of views, just finish a year with a #1 ranking in the Pro Tournament Mode. - Trophies : To Unlock a Grand Slam Trophy, just win the corresponding Grand Slam Tournament in the Pro Tournament Mode. Repeat this for each Trophy which will become viewable in the Trophies section of the Trophy Room. - Normal and Hard levels in Challenge Mode : To unlock Normal and Hard Levels in Challenge Mode, first complete all Training Challenges in Pro Tournament Mode (note that you have to get a pretty high level to gain access to all of them). Then you will be able to change the difficulty of all challenges in challenge mode. 8) SECRETS ------- As the title says, SPOILERS! - Not a real secret, but for those who didn't notice, you can change your character's clothes, just press the square button on the character selection menu (before selecting it),they are listed from #1 to #5. I find great the possibility of choosing the "all white" clothes used at Wimbledon! - Unlocking the Secret characters: Heihachi Mishima (Power Player) : Finish the Arcade mode with a male player in Challenger difficulty setting. Ling Xiaoyu (Baseliner) : Finish the Arcade mode with a female player in Challenger difficulty setting. Raphael Sorel (Fast Strokes) : Finish the Arcade mode with a male player in Pro difficulty setting. Cassandra Alexandra (Serve and Volley) : Finish the Arcade mode with a female player in Pro difficulty setting. Not only is it nice to see such famous Namco characters into this game, but they have "buggy" stats that create strange effects like an amazing curving shot for Ling Xiaoyu. An interesting and very amusing additon to the game, definitely. - The Super Shots: There are three Super Shots, the Super Drop Shot, the Super Lob and the Diving Volley. They can be unlocked by reaching a S level with some of a created player's stats. Therefore, the diving volley is gained by reaching a S volley level. Both the Super Drop Shot and the Super Lob are gained by getting a S Lob and Drop level. Even though not as deadly as in SCPT, those shots are very efficient... -There are a lot of rare little events through the Pro Tournament Mode. For instance, you will receive a special letter after achieving the "Grand Slam", but you will also receive some surprising ones after many years of career... 9) What should be added and improved in the next Smash Court PT ------------------------------------------------------------ Firstable, since SCPT2 is so fantastic, I want to highlight its "pros" and improvements: ########################################################################## - SCPT2 is very nice visually, even though inferior to Top Spin. It features much more colorful graphics and beautiful light effects. The players faces were also better made, even if there are differences of quality between players... On top of that, there are many more courts that add some variety to the matches. - There are many different animations for each shot depending on your situation when you play it, this is just great, added to the realistic and fluid movement of the ball. - The sound aspect is also very good globally, because the ball sound varies depending of the quality of the shot (you can hear if you hit a "nice" shot, the public reactions vary following the action (though some reactions sound a little ridiculous like some "super" from the French crowd). Moreover, there are amazing little details, like a cell phone ringing... - The gameplay is MARVELOUS. Based on a precise timing and on the position of the player, SCPT2's gameplay simply offers to experience one of the closest way to simulate tennis on a video game. It is rather easy to hit a shot, but trying to get always perfect shots will need A LOT of training, which gives a lot of depth to this game. Moreover, the addition of the notion of Stamina and the possibility of performing running shots adds a lot not only to SCPT2, but also to tennis games as a whole... On top of that, you can do realistic faults, FINALLY! - The AI plays in accordance to the player's style (baseline or serve and volley) and is more varied. - There are a lot of different modes, but more than anything, the Pro Tournament Mode is one of the best ever made. You can create a player using many options, compete in many tournaments including the Grand Slams, train with a machine or with real players, receive mail from fans, buy new clothes, hairs or equipment and PLAY AS MANY Years as you like... Finally, many real features of the Real Tour are in SCPT2, like having to pass through the qualification to enter the main draw of a Grand Slam Event, the "Davis Cup like" World Tournament, a Masters like event at the end of the year that needs to be in the top Eight, the possibility of viewing your main trophies, the possibility to look at all your previous matches a year back, a realistic 250 players ranking system... Second, what should be added to the next SCPT in my opinion: ########################################################### - More varied courts and environnements (like the beach court in Smash Court on the SNES) - Even better faces for the players and "less large" shoulders. - No mini-cuts in the animation of the shots. - Even better shots gestures and movements, I mean, the volley movements should have been better from a technical point of view. - More than anything, an even more improved and hard to beat AI. The AI should be improved a little to include more variety and random reactions, but it must keep this realistic behaviour and way of playing. Even though much better than in SCPT, the AI doesn't give enough angle to its shots and tends to play the ball towards the side that is the furthest from you at the very moment of its shot. Moreover, it also tends to perform too many drop shots... - Considering an improved AI and a perfect gameplay, more levels of difficulty should be added, including a "ultra ultimate difficulty" for those who want to experience how it feels to play at a professional level. Months of practice would be needed to be able to beat pros. - The Stamina system is not flawless. Not only the players tend to lose stamina too fast, but the Stamina system should be more focused on the stamina loss while playing a point. I mean that in reality, even if players lose some stamina progressively during a match, the loss of stamina is above all viewable when playing a point. Indeed the players recover between points, not only when they change sides... - Contrary to SCPT1, SCPT2 angles are not wide enough, it is very rare to touch the line with a cross-court shot, and even rarer to hit a too wide shot, faults are almost always too long or in the net... Definitely one of the 3 flaws of this game (with the AI not varied and hard enough and the not perfect Stamina System). -Finally, some details that could be changed : An option to play real FULL matches in Pro Tour mode, many more faces and hairs in the player creation mode (Agassi and Sampras faces should have been included somehow), a less buggy Davis Cup like World Tournament (you often play the same country in the semis and in the finals), more items, and why not, a totally customizable Pro Tour Mode (where you can add and modify the players, the Tournaments...) BUT ABOVE ALL, ADDING AND IMPROVING THINGS MUST NOT ALTER ANYTHING, BECAUSE SMASH COURT PRO TOURNAMENT 2 IS ALREADY NOT FAR FROM PERFECTION!!! (Note that I don't consider this as a truth, this is just my opinion based on my 20 years experience in tennis games as well as in real tennis.) 10) VERSION HISTORY AND THANKS -------------------------- August 20th 2004: Version 0.91 is ready, almost everything is done. For the upcoming version, I am waiting for ideas and contributions from other fans of SCPT2. Thanks to Namco for creating this GREAT game and supporting tennis games from a realistic point of view. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- End of Smash Court Pro Tournament 2 FAQ and Unlockables Guide ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- |Copyrights Yannzoo 2004| -------------------------