Human Sports Festival

~ HUMAN SPORTS FESTIVAL ~

Human

Super CD-ROM

1992

This disc contains three separate sports games, so I may as well break 'em down individually:

Final Match Tennis Ladies is the girlie counterpart to what is probably the most well-beloved PC Engine tennis game. Perspective-wise, the action is reminiscent of World Court Tennis'; but the gameplay is so much tighter and more enjoyable than WCT's. Still, it's a little "dinky," and I prefer the more realistic feel and presentation of Davis Cup. But FMTL is certainly a fun, fast-paced tennis game, and it should be a treat for anyone who thinks WCT is even remotely playable. It easily could have stood on its own as a worthwhile HuCard.

Formation Soccer Human Cup '92 got on my bad side immediately with poor, horribly repetitive music and a cumbersome control scheme that has you press the Run button to switch from one player to another and select teammates to pass to. Once you've got the controls down, the game isn't exactly terrible, but it can be quite boring, as you have to spend a lot of play time simply fighting for the ball. Halftime is the highlight, as you can change the channel on a monitor that the contest is being "watched" on and check out other stuff like wrestling matches and the Human weather channel. It's pretty amusing (once).

Fine Shot Golf was a pleasant surprise. It's such an easy game to pick up and learn. The gameplay is tight, and everything is made convenient for the player. The holes get pretty tricky, but never stupidly so. I'm sure that some golf-game aficionados will find it too simple and easy, but it fits the bill fine for me as an enjoyable pick-up-and-play title. The graphics are definitely on the simplistic side (you never actually see a guy swing and hit the ball; it just sort of takes off on its own), but the music is surprisingly good, jazzy and actually reminiscent of Langrisser's soundtrack at times (...or maybe it's just me). This manhandles Power Golf.

So the disc gives you two good games, and since it's extraordinarily cheap (often five bucks or less), it's easily recommendable to players who have even the slightest interest in tennis or golf titles.