GAME REVIEWS

Monday, July 6, 2009

The Davis Cup Tennis CD

~ THE DAVIS CUP TENNIS ~
Loriciel / Micro World
Super CD-ROM
1992

I sure do love to waste money. In this particular case of diseconomy, I threw away a couple of bucks on the CD rendition of Davis Cup Tennis. It's pretty much the same game as its chip counterpart, which isn't necessarily a bad thing, as DCT is by far the most realistic and enjoyable Turbo tennis title.

As far as differences go... well, let's start with the music, which is red book this time around. DCT's title-screen tune as arranged for the HuCard is actually quite distinct and memorable, and it's delivered in much the same manner here; but while the chip jumps right into it, the CD starts off quietly and "builds up" to the wonderful lines DCT fans are already familiar with. I prefer the Hu approach. In fact, comparing the Davis Cup soundtracks only served to make me appreciate the card's impressive drum sounds. Of course, tunes aren't much of a factor in this game anyway: aside from the aforementioned main theme, the only music comes at stat and menu screens and during national anthem performances.



But while the red book tracks didn't make much of an impression on me, they do at least represent an effort on Loriciel's part to make use of the CD medium. One might expect that some sort of cinematics would be included; after all, the PCE CD rendition of Kick Boxing by this very same company featured opening and ending cinemas not found in the US Panza TurboChip. But no such luck here. Play all the way through the Championship mode and you'll be treated to nothing but the trophy-hoisting scenes employed by the HuCard.



As for the CD version's gameplay, it's pretty much identical to the chip's. TG-16 Davis Cup veterans will feel right at home here.



The "differences" that are present aren't significant enough to make one rendition particularly better than the other, and both versions are dirt cheap, so get whichever one and have fun.