Virtua Tennis: A lot more than Pong with fancy graphics

My first encounter with Virtua Tennis was on a friend's Dreamcast before I got a Dreamcast of my own. He called me up and was incredibly excited that he had just gotten Virtua Tennis. I said, "You mean Virtua Pong, right?" My initial reaction (and the initial reaction of most people who I've mentioned Virtua Tennis to) is that tennis is basically a notch above golf and bowling on the excitement meter, and that a tennis video game would be equally as exciting.

So I went to my friend's house and played Virtua Tennis. Before our first set was over, I'd fallen in love.

It's kind of hard to describe what the appeal of Virtua Tennis is. It seems extremely simple on the surface. You use the analog or digital controllers to move around the court, A to hit the ball, and X or B to lob it. That's it. But what seems to be an incredibly simple game actually has a lot of depth to it. There's a lot more strategy than Pong (in which the strategy consists of hitting the ball) in that you use the controller and the amount of time you hold down the A button to control exactly where and how hard to hit the ball. Simply put, Virtua Tennis is a game that take about 30 seconds to pick up, but takes a considerably longer amount of time to master.

Virtua Tennis ships with three modes: Arcade, Exhibition, and World Circuit. In Arcade, one player (or two as a doubles team) plays through a series of opponents to try to be the champion of a single elimination tournament, much like arcade mode in a fighting game. Exhibition is a single game where you can customize the rules as you'd like them (eg Deuce or No Deuce, the number of games, etc.). World Circuit is sort of like a mission mode. There are a number of locations, and you get "money" for winning in these locations, which can be used to unlock player outfits, hidden players, and hidden courts. These locations are sometimes straight matches, and sometimes mini-games, such as one where you serve tennis balls at oversized bowling pins in order to achieve a certain score. This is by far the most unique part of the game, and some of the mini-games are fun as a diversion even after you've beaten them.

The real fun of Virtua Tennis is multiplayer, however. Simply put, the competition in this game can get extremely intense. I was playing a singles set against a friend of mine in my dorm room, and a cheering section slowly trickled in until there were 5 or 6 people watching and cheering as the set went on. 4-player doubles is twice as intense, especially if you get four people who are really into the game. It's amazing how caught up in the game four people can get.

Graphically, the game is good, but it has some flaws. The on-court action is excellently done, and the characters are just big enough to be able to see what is going on, but just small enough to fit all of the court on the screen at once. The only real flaw is in the close-ups of the players in between points. I don't know if the same people who did House of the Dead did Virtua Tennis or what, but the players all look like they have fangs when they open their mouths. Yes, it's a minor complaint but it's unnerving.

Sound is also good and bad. All the sound effects are very realistic and effective, as it's easy to tell between a hard hit and a lob from the effects. I also really like that they kept the commentary to just the announcer broadcasting the score in the background. (A really nice touch is that the announcer in France announces the score in French.) If they'd had a Madden-like play-by-play announcer, it would get realy repetitive and annoying. However, there isn't enough background music. The music that's there gets very boring, and there isn't much difference in the different stages.

All in all, Virtua Tennis is a fun single player game and a must-have party game. Between the simple controls and the fierce competition that Virtua Tennis inspires, this is non-stop fun for multiple players. Simply put, Virtua Tennis is a must-have in any Dreamcast owner's collection.