Game, Set, and Match!

The first Sega Dreamcast sports game that I played was Baseball 2K1. Let's just say that it wasn't a good game at all. The tails completely turned with this outstanding Sega Arcade game, Virtua Tennis. I have had the game for a while now and it is still fun to play. The following is my personal critique on this excellent game.


Graphics

The graphics on this game are second to none. They have everything down to the last detail in the game. From the guys that run an get the balls, to the way the head of the judge follows the ball back and forth, to the clouds passing over you during outside matches that create shadows. They really did a fine job. The players that are in this game really look a lot alike the real players that play on TV. There are no sharp corners on the polygons of the players' faces, or their bodies. Everything is smooth and well programmed. The colors are all bright and crisp which makes it easy to follow where the ball is going. They also added some nice instant replay segments between points that have great graphics.

I will have to give the graphics of this game a 9.5 out of 10.


Sound

The sound of this game is very good as well. You travel all over the world so there are many languages you encounter. Sega captured all the voices and how they should sound wonderfully. If you are in Germany you get German, if you are in Russia you get Russian. The voices are just great. The sound of the ball hitting the racket sounds real as well. When you hit the ball solid, you get a solid hit sound. If you just tap the ball, you get a tap sound. If you dive and hit the ball on the end of the racket, you get that sound. Everything is covered. They even have the grunting sounds of each player for when they hit the ball hard, and the sound they make when they serve. The music that plays when you are actually playing a match isn't anything special, but you are supposed to be playing the game, not listening to the music. The crowd sounds just like a real crowd when they cheer, or boo. Nice work was done on the sound.

The sound gets a 9 out of 10


Gameplay

This is probably the best part of the game. There are three gameplay modes.

Exhibition: The is the made that you either play the computer just for practice, or play your friends, up to 4 players to make for some exiting doubles matches!

Arcade: In this mode you play the computer and try to beat all 5 world tournaments.

World Tour: In this made you play singles and doubles matches all over the world. There are shops that you can buy extra players for you to use in the exhibition mode, new outfits to buy, partners to contract for the doubles matches, new countries to play in for the exhibition mode, and new strings and power drinks to help your player play better in his matches. There are also many training levels for you to master. They have one training level where you learn to serve better by aiming at bowling pins and playing a round of tennis bowling. Another one is where you have to hit back tennis balls at tennis ball machines so you can shut them all off. The hard part of this one is there are red balls that you have to dodge while trying to turn off all the tennis ball machines. Each training level has 3 levels of difficulty that you have to earn by beating players and winning money in the World Tour matches.

Timing is important in this game. If you can set yourself and be ready for the ball, then you can hit the A button ahead of time and wind up for a powerful hit. If you are running for the ball you will end up hitting a weak hit, or diving and hitting it up in the air for your opponent to spike back at you. The players run kinda slow if you ask me. I see Agassi running a lot faster than the players in this game. That is one drawback to this game, no Agassi or Sampras, but all the other top men players. There are many different ways they programmed the players to be able to hit the ball. They have behind the back, under the leg, turnaround shot, over the head spike, diving hit, and the normal backhand and forehand.

You can switch between two camera angles while in the one player mode. One is a wide view of the whole court. The other is a view right behind your player, as if you were really right on the court. It is kinda hard to play in this mode because your vision of the whole court is taken away. It is a nice added feature for you to try out though.

One drawback to the game is that sometimes the camera angle doesn't go out wide enough for you to see the ball when it is hit high in the air. This isn't a problem though after you play the game a lot.

I give the gameplay a 9.5 out of 10

Virtua Tennis is a great game for people of all ages to play. It is easy to learn, and won't get boring any time soon. If you like tennis, or just like sports games in general, then you have to at least rent this game and try it out. You won't be disappointed.

Virtua Tennis as a whole, gets a 9.5 out of 10