Tennis anyone?

Tennis. A somewhat unknown sport to most people, for others it’s their life. And while you don’t see many tennis games out there, I mean even golf games get released more in the US then do tennis games. While I can understand that capturing the authentic feel and realism of the game, there is one game company who has taken the challenge, and with that they succeed very well. Sega has done the impossible and not only created a great tennis game, but a great game period. For Virtua Tennis not only captures the realism of what a tennis game should be, but also makes it extremely fun for everyone, young, old, pro’s, rookie’s, etc. The beautiful thing about this game in which sets all other tennis games aside is how anyone can pick it up and go, making Virtua Tennis the sort of game that will make you go buy a Dreamcast, if you don’t already own one, or had sold one.

Presentation:(n/a)
-Arcade port
-Realistic visuals
-First head-to-head tennis game on the Sega Dreamcast
-8 internationally ranked tennis players
-Variety of tennis courts to play on

Plot:(n/a)
Virtua Tennis is basically an arcade port of where you pick one out of eight tennis players to compete in a single’s or double’s match where your quick reactions and sharp skills will help you reach to the top and perfect your game against challenging opponents, while trying to triumph in the world tournament as you push yourself to become the number one ranking tennis player in the world.

Graphics:(9.5)
Tennis fans will be out of luck trying to find an error in this game, nearly everything, and yes I do mean everything is done to perfection. The visuals in this game are simply jaw dropping as to what the Dreamcast is capable of doing, making those same tennis fan’s wanting to find a mistake in this game, will instead be living a dream of some sort on how tennis should be shown as.

Lets take the tennis players to begin with. These world wide known tennis players (Coveier, Pioline, Henman, Haas, Philippoussis, Moya, Johansson, and Kafelnikov) all look real enough to make you or your friends wonder if what your playing is actually a game and not making the mistake of actually watching a real life match taking place on your television. For the appearance alone is worth talking about. From head to toe do the details break from your television screen to pulls your eyes out of your head. The outfits in which you select look colorful and very realistic with the way the wrinkles form as your opponent moves and scuffles across the court, for even the minor details on them stand out tremendously such as the sponsor sewn on the breast pocket, or the way their tennis shows appear with those low cut socks on, to the wrist bands and head bands that protect the sweat they form as they play their game. Sega obviously decided not to spare any details when making this game and it shows the hard work that pays off in the end when you first notice your player as two full rows of teeth with ten individual fingers with fingernails on each one, but details like these are only noticed when given the replay feature after making a one hell of a shot, but the blur effect is used way to much, but still looking good enough in where you don’t want to skip.

The animations are just as beautiful as the visuals of the tennis players. You’ll once again be tricked by the realism as how the players react when they put all their strength and whip their backhand while running to the opposite side of the court where they will then find the a hurling tennis ball as they make the quick response of whipping it back across your opponents side, sending it across the court for your opponent to fetch. Or how you’ll flinch to where your own player risks their health as they toss their body on to the court for a mad dash to reach their arm out as they attempt to hit back the tennis ball for that precious winning shot. The animations as well carry emotions depending on the situation. If you were to say barely keep the ball in bounds as your opponent fails to reach it, causing your opponent the win, then your player will raise it’s fist in the air as they open their mouth to show a sign of victory that had taken every part of their body to do, or if they felt it was not the greatest shot they had made they might just pull their arm in while closing their fist, and my favorite of them all is when your player feels bad for the opponents mistake and keeps a stern face while walking backwards, then turning around and showing a sign of sweet victory. As with victory there is also defeat, and this is also clearly shown as if you were to lose a match point by your character lowering their head, checking the strings on their racket, or placing both hands on their waist as they keep their eyes locked on to their opponent as they are thinking inside their head on getting sweet revenge on the next serve. So as you can tell, the animations are extremely detailed, swift, accurate, and of all things beautifully done making this the slickest tennis game ever.

The arena’s themselves to where you’ll be playing your rounds of tennis are also worth mentioning. Tennis courts vary by the material that they are made out of (clay, grass, cement, etc.) making it not only looks different to where you play but also affecting your game play. The courts also show the wear and tear by the scuff marks made by the impact of the tennis ball and your tennis shoes as you dash across the court up and down, side to side just for that extra point. The courts also include the ball boys who are just as detailed as the players themselves as they stand up with arms behind their backs, waiting to move till the round is over, they even have their own animations to when the tennis ball may be coming right at them, making them jump, move their legs, or duck so that they can keep their limb from being taken completely off by a 110mph tennis ball. Other players on the courts such as the ref’s will be there watching the game back and forth as they move their heads to where the actions is at while sitting in their upper decked seats with the colored umbrella blocking the sunlight that will flood the courts as well, sometimes dimming down due to the clouds moving along, giving an awesome effect while playing the game. Plus there are some minor decorations added to the court such as foldable chairs with water bottles and advertisements.

Now there is only one real minor fault I had noticed when playing this game, and that is of the crowd. They appear to be cardboard cutouts with little to no animations that involve applauding to when the match or round is over. While I am not disappointed with this, it does however stand out being that they are the only part of the game that consists of fuzzy pixels. Other then that the game is flawless when it comes to visuals.

Sound:(8/10)
The key to success for the sound in Virtua Tennis is not of the soundtrack or any other music of some sort, but the sound effects. For the sound effects is what truly brings the game to life and I dare anyone to say that the sounds given off in this game are not authentic to what you would hear when watching a life tennis match. Take for instance this scene for example. The players are on the court, the crowd tones down the applause to a mere silence as the announcer officially begins the match, then as the server gets a good grip of the ball after bouncing it on the pavement, the tennis ball glides into the air as you spin your racket and here a loud “POP” while seeing the tennis ball rip into the air on to the opponents area where he will dash over to the direction where the ball is heading as his sneakers give off a soft squeak while holding his breath as he swings his racket to touch the ball as you’ll hear him exhale with a grunt with another “POP” coming from the tennis racket, this goes on for around a minute with the crowd at their feet with sounding of low toned gasps and excitement, the ball then hits the solid ground and rolls off, where then the announcer calls the point as the crowd can no longer keep their silence and explode with cheers and applaud. That would just be a mere moment of what to expect when playing Virtua Tennis, the sound effects are crisp and clear, giving off a very authentic and realistic tone to what’s happening on the screen, plus the crowd seems to be anything but fake to where in other games the crowd’s cheers seem dull and bland or just like a tape being played over and over every 5 seconds, but in Virtua Tennis the crowd responses extremely well to how the game is being played. So real that it seems the better and flashier the match is, the more applause you get in return, a great touch.

The only major flaw in Virtua Tennis when it comes to the sound of the game is the music. While I don’t mind the guitar riff’s and such, it’s just that when I am in the middle of a game, it can somewhat be a distraction of some sort, but not a major one in which you have to turn the volume off, and now that I have gotten over my only flaw of the game, other then that, it’s pure perfection.

Control:(9/10)
When people play Virtua Tennis, they will either have one of the two views. 1.) The control is easy for anyone to pick up and play with, making the game perfect for anyone no matter if they played video games all their life, or are newcomers to playing these games. 2.) The control is a joke being that you wont know who is really talented and who isn’t cause they only use two of the controllers face buttons. I prefer to go with view number one, simply being because Virtua Tennis was first played at the arcades, making it an arcade sports sim, where the developers try using as little buttons and commands so that anyone can enjoy the game rather then walking away frustrated. However, with that being said, don’t think you aren’t given a limited amount of freedom and commands to pick from when playing, because Virtua Tennis makes it so that you have complete freedom and are able to pull off numerous moves with the use of just two buttons, one being for standard swings, and the other for lobs where the force and speed will vary by the sensitivity you use when pushing down on the buttons. Movement is swift and accurate when giving eight directions to pick from, giving you absolute control to what you do. Each player is a totally different from the others where it comes to performance and skill by each one giving a certain weakness and strength such as speed, technique, power, reaction, etc. So with each person having different attributes, you’ll have to be quick on your timing and reflexes and most of all set up a solid strategy, making the matches never the same one you had just played.

However my only problem with the control is that of your of the partner IA who means well, but sometimes can cause you the match by either making pointless mistakes or doing something totally different, wishing you could slam down your racket over it’s head and take the opposing team by yourself. And another flaw, being a minor one is that the Dreamcast controller is only being used by two buttons, again this is because it’s an arcade sim, but I would hoped that there would be some additional commands or choice of shots for me to pick from.

Replay Value:(9/10)
The single player modes alone will alone, keep you playing this game. The exhibition mode is where you select the rules and settings to your liking as you go against the computer in solo or doubles. The arcade mode is where you start from the bottom of the ranking system and move yourself up with each win till your number one by defeating five randomly selected opponents. In this mode you’re able to play in either the solo or doubles mode. But the real meat of the solo mode is by completing the world circuit mode, and this is no easy mode to complete, especially not in a single day’s worth of playing. In circuit mode you enter yourself in the Tour the World, where you’ll be taking part in trial matches, earning money, and buying items (teammate, clothes, strings, arenas, etc.) Your also given the choice to sharpen your techniques, which you’ll need to after seeing the skills the CPU has for you, you’ll be able to train in eight stages (cannon ball, smash box, drum shooters, pin crasher, bull’s eye, return ace, big wall, and giant ball) the skills of these training levels will increase in difficulty as well, making them a good challenge in just completing these alone, rather then your opponents.

But for those just wanting to get into the multiplayer action, that is there as well. You’ll be able to go against three other friends in singles or doubles matches. What makes this great though is that you can’t hear the excuse from your friends saying they will only slow you down or hold you back, because as I said before, the control is made to where anyone can pick the controller up and in mere minutes be able to jump in the game. Making Virtua Tennis one of the best multiplayer games out there on the Sega Dreamcast.

Bottom Line:(8.875)
This is the same game that made those who never touched a skateboard fall in love with the Tony Hawk games, being it was so easy to fall into even if you did, or did not know the concept of the sport. What makes Virtua Tennis such a great game, besides the visuals and such is how anyone can pick it up and have just as much fun as the person next to them who have been playing it for over a year, thus allowing everyone in on the fun.