ATP Tour Championship Tennis

With ATP Tour Championship Tennis, Sega Sports' running battle with EA Sports takes to the courts. ATP scores a decisive win over EA's recent IMG International Tennis Tour.

Love Match

Options galore and good gameplay make ATP the winner in the battle of video-tennis alphabets.

In addition to all the expected options (like different surfaces and match length), you get novelties like Upset Factor, which increases a weaker player's chances.

ProTip: Study the ratings to see whether your star is a baseliner or a serve-and-volley player. Rocket Rod Laver is given the best all-around ratings.

Up to four players compete with 32 contemporary stars, such as Pete Sampras, and eight legends, such as Rod Laver. You can also create your own player and match him up against the greats.

Once you practice the different strokes, this game is fairly easy to play. Various speeds of serves, volleys, lobs, and slices are all at your command. The only problem with the controls is the occasional difficulty in gauging the ball's position: When airborne, the ball gets bigger, and then shrinks down to hit the court, which sometimes distracts you more than it helps you.

Try to keep your players spread out in doubles matches.

Deuce

The game breaks even with the graphics and sounds. The distinctive players look good and are personalized with clear head shots. The sounds, however, are marred by the kind of garbled speech you'd hear underwater.

One big plus is ATP's adjustable difficulty. Set Speed to "Extremely Slow" and the Ball Bounce Pointer to "On," and you have a tennis game for beginners who are eager to play their way up to the championships. Good tennis at all levels makes ATP A-Okay.