Development team Clap Hanz have really hit the nail on the head with Everybody's Tennis. Much like 2003's Everybody's Golf, this really is a sports game that anyone can play and - more importantly - enjoy. It's the kind of game you buy for your six-year-old because of the cutesy graphics and colourful animation. It's also the kind of game that they will never get to play except for that brief period between coming home from school and you finishing work and booting them off the PS2 so you can beat that damn native American Indian who shouts absurd things like "come on pilgrim!" every time he scores a point against you!

To say that this game is addictive is as much of an understatement as saying that GTA: San Andreas is a fairly big game! If you enjoy 'off the wall' sports simulations such as Everybody's Golf then I give you my personal guarantee that you will lose days and days of you life sitting in front of you TV as you furiously attempt to destroy all challengers who stand in your path to glory! With that said, if you're into your more traditional sports sims then this is probably not going to be for you.

If you haven't played Everybody's Golf or you have no idea what this game is all about, then you should expect a cartoon style sports/party game with lots of bizarre characters and over the top special moves. This is not your classic sports simulation and you cannot recreate the 2006 Wimbledon finals between Federer and Nadal with photo-realistic, officially licensed players. That's not what Everybody's Tennis is all about. It is, in essence, a good-humoured arcade game.

Graphically, Everybody's Tennis is what you would expect; big, bold, colourful characters and scenery to match. The character animation is flawless and movement around the court flows beautifully. The arenas and scenery are very eye-catching and a genuine pleasure to look at, although they certainly aren't anything spectacular and definitely don't break any new ground. Visually, Everybody's Tennis is great at providing a fun, cartoon style but don't expect to be blown away like you were by the likes of Okami and Final Fantasy XII.

Now, I'll be honest with you - when this game landed on my doorstep I had mixed expectations. I'm not a particularly big tennis fan and I haven't really played or enjoyed a tennis game and since Mario Tennis on the Game Boy, and I generally avoid games that look as though they were designed by a Japanese schoolgirl on acid! However, within minutes of placing the disc in my PS2 I knew how unfounded my fears had been, as I found myself instantly immersed in the arcade experience that is Everybody's Tennis.

What makes this game so instantly playable is the learning curve, which is absolutely perfect. You might lose your first game (I did - so you'd better!) whilst getting used to the different shot types and movements across the court, but after that you're away, acing your opponents with super serves and diving across the court to return that incoming smash shot. As you work your way through the single player mode, the characters you face become increasingly challenging but at the same time you're improving your game and your stats and tennis rating are going up, which means that progression through the game is always steady. You also unlock new content such as more arenas, characters and costumes with each victory, which keeps you interested and motivates you to complete the game.

Now for the other side of the coin. Everybody's Tennis is a flawed game. The good points certainly outweigh the negatives, but there's no doubting that they exist. The range of moves at your disposal is limited at best. I can see what the developers were trying to achieve by keeping the controls simple, but a little extra control over things like the level and direction of spin applied to shots would have greatly increased the lifespan of the game. Another missing feature, conspicuous by its absence, is a 'Create a Character' mode. I just cannot comprehend why this wasn't included! It would have added that extra depth to the game, which is so obviously missing.

There are only two game modes - single player challenge, which although great fun isn't hugely varied, and a standard multiplayer game, where you can battle it out against friends in singles or doubles competition. The multiplayer mode is where Everybody's Tennis comes into its own and it's undoubtedly what will keep you coming back for more in the weeks following completion.

However, for what in my mind is practically a party game, Everybody's Tennis doesn't have enough features to keep you playing in the long term. Where are the sub-games and quirky challenges? There is a training mode, which is used to improve your accuracy and such, but this is fairly straightforward and hardly stands up as a game mode.

Now, bearing in mind what I said about how this game will steal hours and hours of your life, heed this warning! Turn the volume on your TV down! It's not that the music is particularly bad in itself, it is however 'tear your hair out and sit in the corner rocking back and forth' repetitive! If you're into retro you'll love it, but even then after a couple of hours you'll be forced hit the mute button before you end up being taken away by the nice men in white coats! The only disadvantage to having the sound down is that the FX gives you an indication of how powerful your opponent's shot is; luckily this is remedied by the little symbols that appear over their heads every time they hit the ball.

Everybody's Tennis is an entertaining game and extremely good at what it does. It's not going to blow you away and it certainly isn't pushing the boundaries of what the PlayStation 2 is capable of, but it's not trying to. If you're a hard-core tennis fan then I doubt this is the game for you; save your money and get the latest instalment of Virtua Tennis, with its official endorsements and in-depth control system. Everybody's Tennis is almost an amazing game; with a little more variety and a few extra game modes, this would have been a real classic. However, for those of you looking for a very entertaining arcade game that's great fun alone or with a friend, this comes highly recommended.

Reviewed by Jon Davies for AceGamez (All Rights Reserved).