| Product: |
Virtua Tennis (DC) |
| Date: |
20/02/04 (128 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: list in op
Disadvantages: list in op
SEGA are one of the worlds leading games companies - no doubt about it. Their leading game character, Sonic the Hedgehog, has been a major influence all around the world and sold over 100 million units last century. So what other commerce can SEGA break into? They tried with tennis, and I wasn’t disappointed.
The first thing that strikes you about Virtua Tennis is the ease of play - controls are super slick, smooth and highly responsive. It’s just as easy to hit a thumper to the back of the court as it is to lob a player. You’re able to run around the court with ease, and the power of shots is a combination of button pushing and player position - if the ball comes too close to the body, power is reduced and the ball gets lifted up to the air. With this game, it’s all a matter of timing, skill and patience. But let’s start from the beginning:
***OPTIONS***
Arcade - The Freestyle option. With this you can play a simple tournament consisting of five matches in order to win the cup. The rules of each match follow the standard rules of tennis, and each match gets progressively harder. The original difficulty can be set from the options menu. The quicker you dispose of you’re opponent, and the more skilful (i.e. more smashes, volleys and aces) you are, the more prize money you receive. The total prize money of the 5 matches is put into a big leaderboard where you can compare your skills.
Exhibition - Once match, you’re rules. Select your player, singles or doubles, and let rip in one fantabulous match. No particular prize from winning, bar a bit of smugness and well deserved practice.
World Circuit - See Later
Options - Set various Arcade and Exhibition rules here. Choose to play
best of 3 games or first to a set. Choose whether deuce affects play. Choose whether you want a tie break or not. Choose a difficulty setting, Easy to Very Hard (which to me is still easy). See the rankings, set the music level, and change the language. The usual stuff, really.
***WORLD CIRCUIT***
Choose your player! Be the best in the world! Ultimately this is the crux of the game - beat this and you’ve beaten the game hands down. Well basically you choose one of the normal characters - wither your Henman or Courier, maybe a Johansson or the like (7 to choose from) and be unleashed upon the world, starting with a world ranking of 400. It’s your job to become the world number one. There are three main areas:
- Matches: Singles or Doubles. Best of 3 games to one set. The idea is to win these matches, and then more become available. Win the match and you’ll also rise in the world rankings. Some matches get harder the more times you do them. In each match, you also win money. Each stage has a predetermined *special shot*, which earns you heaps more money the more time you win points with that shot (i.e. lob, smash). The more money you win, the more things you can buy in the shop.
- Training: Various challenges designed to test accuracy, speed and stamina. The reason to do these is to learn special match winning skills, more money to spend in the shop and more matches become available. The training stages have three stages of difficulty, and you have to do the easy one before you can attempt the hard one. Get a really high score on the hard ones and more things to wear become available (it’s a special thing in the game).
- Shops: Here you can hire you doubles partner, invest in new things to wear, new characters and stad
ia for the arcade and exhibition modes and generally spend your cash. The higher up in the rankings you go, the more shops become available, and more special stuff like better partners are available to buy.
How easy is this mode? Unless you practice, it’s very very hard. Do not underestimate the power of Virtua Tennis!
***OTHER***
Gameplay: This game will get you hooked for weeks on end if tennis is your thing. Or perseverance. I keep coming back to it to try and get the extra tennis gear, or try and complete it with a character I really hate. *hypnosis mode* You WILL enjoy this game.. You WILL enjoy this game.. You WILL enjoy this game..
Sound: Realistic, uplifting and everything you would expect from a great, if not classic, tennis game. Sometimes it annoys me, but then I just turn it off. Problem solved!
Why get this game: Great addition to anyone’s collection and guaranteed to govern your life at some point. You’ll love the game but get very angry at the hard stages. I’m speaking from experience here.
Hooray for SEGA!
qrf1
Advantages:
Great SEGA game
Its tennis!
Great Graphics, ultra realistic
It’ll hook ya
Challenging enough fro most people
Disadvantages:
Short lifespan for those who are good at it
Not challenging enough for those who are good at it
Summary:
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