A review of the ACTUAl Playstation game, and not the PC version.
One title worthy of a re-hash though, is Actua Tennis. It was a very arcade-y tennis game, and that was its biggest strength. A modern title like Top Spin 2 has a lot to learn from a game like Actua Tennis. In Actua Tennis, the gameplay and shots you could pull off were balanced very well; it had commentary and some nice graphics. Top Spin 2 only has the latter of the three - and while playing it, I found myself shouting out "Actua Tennis; where art thou?!" in vain.
The game had a fairly a nice system going, that unfortunately lacked the power of licensing. Sure, it had a fair share of big tennis names like Pete Sampras, Tim Henman, Jim Courier and so on; but it lacked in authentic stadium choice. As a result, playing the career mode wasn't very satisfying and often felt repetitive.
The graphics were un-spectacular, but complemented the Playstation's hardware well. The models based on the real-life tennis players were recognizable because of their differing skin/hair colours and hair styles; but no substance or detail as expected. There was a very helpful guide or a shadow that appeared after the ball hit the ground, to put to rest any in/out rants between you and a friend during the multiplayer.
That note brings me to multiplayer. Playing with another person was very fulfilling and was one of the best parts of the game. You could also play doubles with your friend which made for fun; due to Actua Tennis' easy-going shot system.
The controls were very easy to pick up and required no knowledge of the game of tennis' play; but rather just knowing how and where to hit the ball over the net. You were also assigned so many super shots that you could use during match, which changed the balance of play in a long rally.
The sound was great and it also included commentary from big names in the tennis world like Barry Davies, Sue Barker and Pat Cash.
Overall, I cannot recommend Actua Tennis to add to your collection. The main reasons being because you will be hard pressed to find it and it will be very dated. But if you are a Playstation aficionado, then this is worth checking out.