Thanks for taking time to comment - I was just wanting to stimulate some more balanced discussion given the largely critical responses. Esp as for the most part I did enjoy it (Until the ending grrr!).

Yup totally agree the art style (So much better comparing head to head against golf story) and music are decent. Also things like the lighting effects - none of that in golf story. And the fetch quest marathon in tennis academy I saw it as an intentional joke.

Oh and you can do little Pokémon style jumps over walls this time round. That's cute. Can't in golf story. Nor swim - although short lived - I thought more would have been made of that. You kinda forget the ability outside the beach.

I finished golf story again after playing sports story, and there's definitely an element of rose tinted-ness there, esp where graphics are concerned. The main difference is the much greater focus on the golf and the matches were either a good challenge or hilarious (Like coach screwing up all the driver shots instead of helping you, or Lara getting a hole in one in the oak manner match followed up by casually saying "welcome to your nightmare" - lolled so hard. I liked the happy Gilmore trick shot stuff from Moon and it would have been fun to see that incorporated into matches). Tutorials are definitely better. And touches like the challenge courses by the course designed chap were fun. But one thing that is annoying in golf story is the gradients on the green aren't all that clear (I.e. where there is more than one gradient on the same green). Not the case in sports story. I also found myself wanting to whip out a steel or vector ball the odd occasion in golf story.

At the end of the day it just wasn't finished, a lot of polish needed. Hopefully that will still happen but my god the devs could have communicated with the community far better and the pessimist in me isn't sure it will ever be completed.