Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip (PSP) Retro Review (2026)

This week I'm planning to back-load, as it were, my roster of reviews for October. We'll see how that goes, but to kick things off, we have a retro review. I previously touched on this tennis title in 2010 with an older review back when the game originally released. Now, I return to it with a brand-new review. Do I still enjoy the Hot Shots crew taking to the court for a second time with this PSP outing? Let's find out with my second review of Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip.

For the Love of the Game

When the Hot Shots crew isn't playing golf for everybody, they're serving up some intense rallies in tennis. Of course, the Hot Shots Tennis sub-series isn't as prolific or well-known as Hot Shots Golf, as it's only had two titles to date with none going to happen for the foreseeable future. Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip on the PlayStation Portable from 2010 is the most recent entry, and looking at my current calendar, it seems "recent" is a bit of misnomer. Either way, what a wonderful installment to [hopefully temporarily] conclude the franchise on, as Get a Grip took to the court with both loads of style and lots of substance, making it one of my favorite tennis titles to this day.

Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip features what I believe to be one of the most comprehensive and enjoyable single-player campaigns for a tennis title. It sees you joining the Love Tennis Club as two characters: Emily and Hugo, as you jet-set around the world to various locations to revive other characters' joy of tennis. Some folks are going through the motions with tennis, while others simply don't care for the sport anymore. It's your duty to help them get back their tennis spirit.

Emily is about to show Troy here some tough love by beating his butt at tennis.

Each of the ten chapters in Get a Grip's story mode takes place at a unique global destination with a specific client in mind, whether that be small beginnings at a tennis club where a student struggles to enjoy the game, or a college campus humorously known as Jocksford University, where a popular cheerleader seeks something more out of her tennis. Each locale has its own court and series of opponents to take on while venturing through and exploring the rather linear locations.

Be sure to examine all corners of these areas, not just for opponents to battle but treasures to discover, too!

There are over 75 different opponents in total in Get a Grip's story mode, spread across the ten chapters. Battling the required opponents in a given chapter leads the way to facing that chapter's character in hopes of reviving their love of tennis, as well as having them join your team as a playable character.

The story mode's numerous battles reward you with not only money to purchase new cosmetics (that also serve as stat boosters when equipped) in the in-game shop, but also a piece of equipment that the faced character wears. Different matches feature different rules: such as being two, four, or six games, forgoing the traditional deuce rules (players need not win a game by two points in this case), offering a one-serve rule, and even making it so players can only hit the ball with the X button. 

You can see what shot type via button press you and your opponent(s) performed, like Hugo's X serve here.

Each match against an opponent rates you up to 100 points. If you completely dominate a match--as in never relinquishing a point whatsoever in any game of the match--you get a complete, epic victory. Losing a game means you lose your opportunity for an epic victory, and thus bonus experience points earned for your character. Fortunately, you can replay opponents as much as you'd like. However, getting 100 points against each and every opponent in Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip is possible, but it's certainly a daunting task. 

This is not only because certain singles matches against specific opponents are just tricky in general, but also because sometimes you'll also deal with doubles matches as opposed to typical singles ones. Here, you'll be partnered with a CPU player of your choosing. Now, don't get me wrong, your CPU doubles partner is hardly incompetent, but they, like a human player, will occasionally make mistakes, and seemingly at random. Occasionally you'll find yourself losing a point or two due to one of these CPU player mistakes, through no fault of your own.

Don't let Hugo down, Emily! We're going for a win this game! 
(Writer's note: The CPU-controlled Emily totally let Hugo down.)

Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip's gameplay blurs the line between arcade-y and simulation. It's somewhere in between. It's not necessarily as accessible as say, Mario Tennis, particularly the more recent entries, but it's also nothing like a Tennis Elbow or Virtua Tennis, either. 

A significant amount of Get a Grip's gameplay is about timing, whether that's with your serve or returning the ball. Early on I found myself routinely hitting the ball into the net, or even more obvious to my fault, hitting the ball out of bounds. That's because Get a Grip requires you to not just time hitting your shots, but also focusing on your character and the ball's position as well. Hitting a ball when it's low or when you're on the move will lower your accuracy, meaning that it's more likely to hit the net or be hit astray. If you're attempting to hit the ball with your character's non-dominant hand via backswing, the maximum power of the hit will decrease. 

Thus, it's important to always move to where the ball is going, plant your feet firmly in place to hit the ball while not moving, ideally, use your dominant hand when possible when hitting, and use the correct shot type. 

Lunging for the ball like this is possible, but so is setting up your opponent for a smash ace by doing so!

There are three different shots you can hit in Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip, from slices and spin shots, executed with the X and Circle buttons, the latter is a slower hit shot, but it offers more control than the faster X button shot. There's also the Triangle button, which delivers a lob that is great for opponents who storm the front of the net, though it's not always foolproof. 

I won't lie and say that I ever perfected playing Get a Grip. Far too many times I'd be playing well only to fall into the trap of foolishly hitting the ball too low and it frustratingly jettisoned into the net, giving my opponent a point. Now, it's seldom anything but user error when that happens, but combine these moments with difficult CPU opponents as the story mode wears on. Needless to say, later tennis matches can be utterly aggravating when you're dealing with opponents that can mercilessly outplay you while you're making idiotic plays of your own.

Deuces are currently wild in this doubles match, so let's hope for an ace when we serve next!

That said, I never wanted to give up while playing. In fact, every loss only strengthened my resolve to do and play better next time. Did that always work out that way, where I did play better? Absolutely not, but at least my resolve was there. If I felt the game proved too taxing, I could also always lose three story mode matches when a row, thus unlocking easy mode. Which to be fair, can still be a bit of a challenge in later matches. 

As I stated earlier, each of the ten locales in Get a Grip's story mode features its own court, and with the three courts already available from the start of the game, to the three "unlockable through other means" courts in the game, there are 16 total courts. These aren't just different locales to play tennis matches on, either. While there aren't any gimmicky courts like you'd fine in Mario Tennis titles, there are distinctive properties to some of the courts that keep them fresh and unique, other than the environments around them. Some courts feature pebbles on the courts that can influence how a ball bounces upon hitting them, while others feature aerial hazards like Dubno Tower's helicopter blade that hovers over the court. Hitting this is the same as hitting the ball out of play, so mind those lobs!

Hot Shots Golf: Get a Grip is filmed before a live studio audience... at least on this court.

What truly amazed me about each and every court in Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip is something that other tennis games of this type don't even think about: the interactivity with the environment. All of the courts in Get a Grip feature interactive elements from hitting the ball and seeing it bounce into the background. This can be as simple as scaring off a dog who was just trying to take a nap in its doghouse, toppling over a piece of the environment like a standing surfboard at the Laguna Beach court, or worse yet, knocking off a tightrope walker (seemingly murdering him in cold blood with an ill-timed tennis ball strike) from the top of the aforementioned Dubno Tower court. I'm sure the ground broke his multiple-story fall...

There are over a dozen characters to join your tennis club and roster of playable tennis stars. In true Hot Shots fashion, a PlayStation all-star joins the roster in this installment of the series as well. In this case, it's one of Killzone's Helghast soldiers. Each character can be equipped with one of hundreds of cosmetics for their head, body, and up to two accessory slots. You can mix and match to your heart's desire, and many of these piece of cosmetic equipment boost stats, such as control, impact, and stamina (oh, the dreaded stamina!). Like other Hot Shots games, using characters routinely, whether you win or lose a match, awards them with experience points that raises their loyalty level. This can be raised up to nine levels, with each level rewarding the character with different upgrades, like new locker slots to try out other costume combos, unlocking the ability to use flat serves, utilizing air shots, and much more. 

The fear of every Helghast: a peppy cheerleader.

Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip is a great looking tennis title that plays at a smooth frame-rate, and feels and looks marvelous in motion. It's superb in how colorful it is to look at. Plus, the previously described interactive nature of the courts and also how well the characters emote and animate only heightens how full of personality Get a Grip is. The sound, too, delivers, offering delightful voice acting and music that I couldn't help bopping my head to while playing. Heck, I enjoy listening to it outside of the tennis fun, but I'm a bit of a game music nerd, to be fair!

In the end, Hot Shots Tennis: Get a Grip certainly serves up a heavy and hefty amount of fun. It certainly balances the line between arcade experience and simulation really well, but that's not without lowering the level of accessibility for every type of player out there. Those accustomed to tennis in Wii Sports or even Mario Tennis might find a bit of a learning curve if they're transitioning to this particular tennis title. Either way, the rallies are heated, the amount of content is immense, and the level of enjoyable tennis gameplay is off the charts, all making for a tennis game that is one of my favorites to date. So, if you have the chance, you're more than welcome to join the Love Tennis Club, too. I saved a spot for you!

[SPC Says: A-]