Virtua Tennis

"Has the potential to be an unbelievable game, but there are flaws"

Within a few months of the launch of the Dreamcast, it was clear. The Dreamcast is the system for sports games fans. With some killer titles like NFL 2K and NBA 2K, the Dreamcast proved that it was a force to be reckoned with. Virtua Tennis shows that the Dreamcast can crank out great sports games, regardless of the sport.
Tennis has been a sport that hasn't been represented well in video games. Only ATP Tennis for the Genesis and Mario Tennis for the N64 can be called decent tennis games. So, I was skeptical when Sega released Virtua Tennis for the Dreamcast. But, when I first saw this game at a local video game store, I was really impressed. In fact, I was so impressed, that I decided to buy it right there.
At first glance, Virtua Tennis is as impressive as the other two great sports games on the Dreamcast. The graphics were awesome and the gameplay was excellent too. When you played the game, it felt like you were watching a real tennis game on TV. There are a few interesting modes in this game. The arcade mode requires to beat a number of players in a row and try to make the leaderboard. The exhibition mode allowed you to play against a human or computer opponent in singles or doubles matches. Then there is the career mode where you pick a player and go through a world circuit where you play in various tournaments around the world. You also get to train in a number of wacky mini games in this mode. Each training session or tournament lets you win a certain amount of money which can be used to unlock other players and stadiums. This mode is probably the one where you will spend the most time on.
Unfortunately, once you play a bit, you see a few flaws in the gameplay of this game. The biggest flaw is the lob button. It is too easy to hit a perfect lob in this game to the point where it becomes very annoying. You can have your opponent running from side to side and hit a perfect shot, only to have him dive and hit a perfect lob to the opposite corner of the court. If you come to the net to volley, chances are that you will get lobbed successfully. Another flaw is that net coverage is just too good in this game. It is impossible to consistently hit passing shots when your opponent is at net. Thus you have to keep relying on the dreaded lob button. Also, sometimes players dive unnecesarily in this game. Even when a ball is right near you, they sometimes dive to hit it and take too long to get up. Also, you cannot play longer than one set in any of the modes. you can only control the length of the sets. This takes away some of the realism.
Overall, Virtua Tennis could have been really great, but there are a few glaring flaws that bring it down.

Graphics: 9.
Like every Dreamcast sports game, the graphics are unbelievable. The players are very realistic and you can even see various emotions on their faces after points.

Sound: 8.
The music can get annoying and the sound of the ball hitting the racket is more of a ''ping'' than a ''whack''. The remaining sound effects are great. The stadium announcer even uses different languages and accents when playing in different countries.

Gameplay: 6.
The game is pretty fun, but I found myself turning it off often when another opponent or the computer kept using the lob button. It may not sound much, but the lob button really takes the gameplay down.

Replay Value: 8.
There are a few interesting modes, and being a sports game, it gets a high score.

Overall: 7.
Never before has one button affected a game so much. if only the lob button was pressure sensitive or something.

Reviewer's Score: 7/10, Originally Posted: 03/19/01, Updated 03/19/01