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 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.

So, the major differences. Erm... 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 essentially the same cool track here; but while the card 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 made me appreciate the chip's impressive drum sounds. Not that tunes are much of a factor in this game, anyway: aside from the aforementioned main theme, the only music comes during between-contest stat and menu screens and pre-Davis-Cup-match national anthem performances.

But while the red book tunes didn't make much of an impression on me, they did 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 also 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. Even if you play all the way through the Championship mode, you'll be treated to nothing but the usual trophy-hoisting scenes.

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

Any "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.