Virtua Tennis

"Addictive game with major flaws"

Virtua Tennis is a big game,but fails in some important things for me.Let's go see what's good and what not.

THE GOOD;
The graphics in this game are great.You have probably heard this many times,but you have to see this game to believe it.All the people you see in the stadiums are different and have different animations(you can appreciate this specially on the ending sequences).If you are tired of playing you can enjoy watching what makes the referee or the boys who catch the balls,it's fun!.The players have a lot of animations and they move like real players,there's no place for artificial movement.All the surfaces are very realisti,too and the on game cameras are very good to play.This graphics will make you doubt if you're watching a real tv tennis game,it's all i can say.10/10
Another good part of this game are the controls.You have to believe it:only two buttonsand the analogue stick!.You make all your shots,like passings,smashes,drives... with only one button,and the other button is only for lobs.The more time you're pressing the buton more powerful is your shot.And there's two buttons,yes,but there's a lot of different shots depending on where you are placed on the court in the moment you hit the ball.A lot of shots.Only two buttons.Easy.Simply.Addictive...Dangerous...9/10
This game has a great replay value because it has a very powerful addiction factor.No matters the times you've played,you will always want to play again.And you have a tremendous multiplayer mode.Why?You and three friends(or not) can play together.Wow!,it's the dream of all the real gamers.And there's one large single player mode that can be very interesting,and the arcade mode(singles and doubles),and the secret players,and the secret t-shirts.GOOD!.8/10

THE BAD;
The gameplay is bad.You may have heard al lot of good things of this game,but i've played it and i can say you that the gameplay is a great flaw in this game.Remember what i said of the controls.Well,they're the reason.The first hour you play,you can learn all te shots and all what you can make in this game.Someone who have played for 1 year te game knows the same tht another who have just bought the game this day...Really dissapointing,It's easy to learn,but forget game depth;there isn't.
Another major flaw of this game is that this isn't a realistic tennis experience.Maybe te graphics are like tv image,but,for those who are tennis fans,it's dissapointing(and boring) to see almost every CPU player playing ALL THE TIME near the net.It's not real.even Henman doesn't plays always on the net.You can prove this:watch a tv game,and then play versus an AI? player...Very dissapointing too!

OVERALL;
What can i say?,I usually played this game when i bought it,but playing versus the machine is tired and bored for me now.Somehow,i recommend to buy,be cause is a good game,and perhaps this flaws doesn't matter you if you're not a tennis fan and have some friends to play with

Reviewer's Score: 6/10, Originally Posted: 01/14/01, Updated 01/14/01