2010 Ultimate Tennis Hard Court

Taking to the tennis courts professionally is by no means easy - as poor ol' Tim Henman's 13-year-long grand slam-free career will attest. Yet games have the ability to make this rather special sport look like a pushover.

2010 Ultimate Tennis Hard Court is one of the most straightforward tennis sims out there – bloated name aside, of course - taking the subtlety of the game and pinning it down to a few quick button presses.

Indeed, there's a fair chance it'll feel like you've played this game before, each shot's direction directly corresponding to numbers on the keypad.

Making a return tends to requires just two simple elements – firstly, the ability to run into position using those very same keys and; secondly, the skill of selecting the right shot. A tap of the '1' key sends the ball smashing into the top left corner of the court, for instance, while hitting '9' causes it to scoop over the net in quick fashion.

At least, that's the theory. The problem with 2010 Ultimate Tennis Hard Court is that it doesn't feel like there's much variety in the returns.

Because the game focuses on direction, the actual types of shots – slices, chips, etc – take something of a back seat.

They're still possible, of course – '0' hitting a lob, for instance, while tapping the same number twice slices the ball – but they don't seem to affect matches in quite the way they do in real life. Winning a rally seems to come down to the angle of the shot.

Either that or the game's special 'gamebreaker' button. Press the '*' key early enough, and your return will more than likely fly straight past your rival, with direction sacrificed for pure speed.

That means that while it's possible to get some intensive rallies going - the ball flying from one side of the court to the other shot after shot - there's no real way to mix your play up and put your opponent on the back foot beyond simply slamming the ball past him time and again. Games are mechanical, functional affairs.

Add the fact that there are just two modes of play – one off matches joined by a standard tournament setup – and 2010 Ultimate Tennis Hard Court shows it's true colours: it's a license free, solid sim without the love needed to really set it apart from the rest of the pack.