Virtua Tennis

"But I don't even like tennis!"

Introduction:
It's been quite a while since I wrote a review for good old GameFAQs, but after playing this game I figured it was about time to get back into the swing of review writing. What a perfect game to write it for I might add. I just picked up Virtua Tennis today for 3 bucks at my local EB and I must say I am impressed, this game is overall very fun to play, even if you aren't a fan of tennis.

Graphics: 8/10
Virtua Tennis is a visually awesome game, with graphics easily on par with the PS2, even this late into it's lifespan. Some of the nicer features include the shadows of clouds you can see on the court as they float by overhead, and the high quality characters. The only thing I don't like about the characters is their eyes, I know you can't have moving eyes in ever game, but the fact that the eyes of the players are nothing more than painted on is sort of a let down. But enough bad, some other visual treats include the dust coming up from the clay ground on that type of court, as well as the light spots the ball leaves in the ground in the clay, it's easy to see where Top Spin got some of it's ideas from.The only other knock I can think of about the graphics is the animations, while not to say they are bad, which is not at all true, I feel there could have been more of them. For example, there is very little in the way of diving animations, 2 to 3 at the most, but since I usually don't worry to much about animation, I won't hold it against the game too much because of everything else being so good.

Sound 8/10
Everything in the game sounds nice, from the sound of the ball hitting the ground to the sound of the ball making contact with the racket. The music is standard fair, nothing too memorable, but by no means bad. Something I thought was neat was in other countries such as France, the announcer speaks the native tongue. At the risk of being too brief, all in all the sound is solid.

Gameplay: 10/10
Pure goodness, if you have ever thought about playing tennis, ever played tennis, or even caught a glimpse of tennis while trying to find something good on TV, I can almost assure you that you will like this game. Since I don't know too much about tennis myself I can only assume everything is there that should be, the scoring is right, as is all the options. You can play several different modes in the game including Arcade, Exhibition, and World Circuit. Each is what you would expect, and all are highly enjoyable.

Overall: 8/10
Overall I think that Virtua Tennis is a great buy, I bought it for 3 bucks and I assume most anyone could do the same. Even if it were more, I would still suggest it, even if you don't like tennis. I am not a big fan myself, but this game is still mighty cool.

OOOWWWW Have Mercy!!!

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/30/05