Virtua Tennis 3 Review
All the fun of real tennis, without the racquet smashing temper tantrums.
Posted by Chris Buffa on Monday, March 19, 2007
Once again, Sega brings addictive, arcade tennis to the masses with Virtua Tennis 3, crafting a gorgeous looking and easy to pick up and play sports game that'll enthrall players for hours. It's just a shame that this version, developed by AM3, lacks online play, a staple in the Sumo Digital developed Xbox 360 edition. That omission notwithstanding, this makes a fine addition to every gamer's library, unless they own Microsoft's console.
Virtua Tennis 3 shines for a many reasons, accessibility being its most attractive feature. The easy to learn analog/face button controls appeal to a wide audience, offering tennis n00bs the opportunity to step onto grass, clay or carpet courts and unleash punishing serves. However, despite the game's delightful pick up and play design, it offers a reasonable amount of depth for those willing to master it. With practice, seasoned vets will throttle newcomers, spreading the court and forcing their hapless adversaries to chase the ball until their player(s) crumbles or falls victim to a vicious play at the net. Tiring someone out is one thing. Delivering a well-earned overhand slam into someone's face brings a great deal of satisfaction.
Like Sega's previous tennis games, this one lets gamers choose from a variety of options. AM3 packed 20 pros into the game, such greats as Tim Henman, Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport and Venus Williams. These respected athletes do battle in 23 courts pulled from around the globe, famous locales like London, New York City, Paris and Barcelona. Two people can square off, or four can compete in doubles matches. They may also adjust the number of games played, set count, position of the server and the computer's four difficulty levels. They can even switch off between kilometers versus miles per hour.
Furthermore, the game features enjoyable modes. Gamers may participate in four Grand Slam tournaments as well as create their own tennis prodigy (male or female) and take on the best in World Tour. The customization allows for thousands of possibilities, as gamers use sliders to adjust the shape of the face, eyes, nose and mouth. Skin tone can be played with, facial hair applied and outfits tossed on.
After completing their player, they select a home and travel across the globe, gaining advice from superstars, attempting to unseat them in ranked matches. On the way to stardom, players hone their skills in various mini games (also available for up to four players in the stand alone Court Games mode) that see them knocking down bowling pins, popping balloons and destroying aliens, among other zany activities. Avoiding gigantic fruit and playing with an oversized ball sounds crazy, but these zany things, the series' pedigree, only add to the game's charm.
That's not to say it lacks realism. Humongous pineapples and human sized bowling pins aside, Sega did a remarkable job capturing the essence of the sport, adding ball boys that dash across the court to snag loose balls, a speedometer registering the latest serve and announcers that not only call perfect games but speak in different languages. Although gamers should sample everything, they can definitely stick to exhibition matches if the mini games don't suit them, and they'll find a remarkable game with enough nuance to make Agassi blush.
It also helps that everything looks gorgeous. Some of the players look a bit scary, but Virtua Tennis 3 dazzles the eyeballs with realistic courts, hundreds of cheering spectators, lifelike animation and plenty of little details including chairs, benches and coolers littering the sidelines. The audio complements the eye candy, offering announcers that call every play, the sound of the ball popping off the racket and up-tempo (yet strangely appropriate) music.
With that being said, the game hits a couple of snags that make it inferior to its Xbox 360 cousin. Microsoft fans win the console pissing contest by default, thanks to Xbox Live. The 360 includes online play. The PlayStation 3 version doesn't, a puzzling decision that gives Sony's opponents one more thing to complain about.
It also sports motion sensitive controls via the SIXAXIS controller. In theory, players physically maneuver the controller to steer their character and hit the ball by quickly thrusting the controller in a series of directions. In practice, this fails miserably. The steep learning curve undermines the game's aforementioned accessibility, making it significantly more difficult. Thankfully, this mode can be turned off.
Other problems include players mysteriously (and thankfully, occasionally) running out of bounds for no good reason and the inability to score aces. Although the game registers 120mph (and higher) serves, very few of them get past alert opponents, who more often than not return them with ease.
These issues aside, Sega delivers a beautiful and entertaining tennis experience, one that'll suck away several hours at a time. Multiplatform users should opt for the Xbox 360 Virtua Tennis, but PlayStation 3 owners will enjoy this one. So, invite some friends over and prepare to get served... literally.
Final Score: 8 (out of 10)
Final Score: 8/10
