Tennis 2K2

"Great sequel to an already great game"

First of all, I'm not biased at all even though I'm a big tennis player/fan. I really appreciated the first virtua tennis and I was eagerly waiting for its sequel.
Ok , now for the review...

Visualization: 10

Wow! They did a pretty good job in making beautiful model/skins for the characters. The game is pretty smooth as well and sometimes if you forget some little glitches here and there, it feels as if you were watching a real match on TV, with you playing versus Serena Williams.

Music: 7

I believe that music is important in videogames nowadays, it really helps to fit the mood... And the music in VA2k2 really fits it, but it's just not good. What I really appreciated is the fact that it's not getting on your nerves after 10 minutes of playing.

Sounds: 10

Ok, you don't need a lot of sounds to make a tennis game look real, some shoes squicks, some rackets hits, some claps and let's not forget the UNF the players make(really important). Overall it does its job correctly.

Gameplay: 10

I talked enough about the artistic aspect of the game. Now, let's eat a big chunk of the meat: the gameplay.
How does it play? Well, basically you have 3 modes: Tournament(self-explanatory), exhibition mode and, the world tour. In the tour, you get to create a man AND a woman so they can compete various players around the world. You're ranked on 300(and you get to beat the same 8 players over and over, but it doesn't matter). You can train and gain levels in designed skills (volley, serve, moving, strokes). When you win in tourneys, you get some money so you can buy new rackets, new shirts, skirts, shoes, etc... You an only participates in some events at certain dates so don't forget to planify your training schedule, and most of all, don't forget that you have 2 players to take care of.
The only drawback is the A.I: Sometimes, your computer teammates will do awesome stuff, but it can also do stupid stuff that will must likely frustrate you.

Overall: 10

Virtua tennis 2k2 is a solid game, probably the last hurrah of the dream cast, has everything to make jealous ps2 owners, unless sega decides to publish on ps2, which wouldn't surprise me.

pro:

- Great graphics
- Smooth animations
- Good movements
- Realistic settings
- World tour!
- Female characters

Con:

- Your teammates can be dumb
- Not enough characters, a couple more wouldn't have been a bad idea.

Reviewer's Score: 10/10, Originally Posted: 10/26/01, Updated 10/26/01