| Virtua Tennis review |
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Once a year around the time that Wimbledon finally kicks in, tennis courts around the country are filled to the brim with those who think they can be the next great British tennis hope. Of course, as soon as the current British interest has been forced out of the tournament by some low-ranking youngster, the courts soon empty since no-one wants to replicate a loser. It’s a fact of life that when a niche sport such as tennis is out of the public eye, most aren’t too keen to be seen waving a racket around on a Saturday afternoon when the football’s on. But it’s in games where our true tennis sporting prowess lies. Give us a Dreamcast pad and a copy of Virtua Tennis and we’ll be powering shots to the baseline, and calmly dropping shots over the net and claiming total victory. But now, SEGA have brought one of the two titles (along with Topspin) that has a rightful claim to be undisputed king of the genre, Virtua Tennis, to Sony’s PSP.
Virtua Tennis has always had a number of things to boast about especially the fact that any newcomer to the series can be handed a pad and they’ll pick up the basics in a matter of minutes - which has always been a plus with multiplayer fans especially. This holds true with the PSP version too, just like previous iterations. But despite this ease of being initially drawn in, there’s little chance of boredom creeping in for quite a time. While to begin with you're happy to stick to a single stab at one button to play your shots, over time you can truly perfect your timing and learn whether a slice or top-spin shot is required in order to win the point. It’s one game that’s seemed to be able to give the perfect blend of instant action and sublime extended play to truly become a tennis master.
The World Tour subtitle mentions the game’s big single-player hope. Basically a blatant copy of the second Dreamcast Virtua Tennis title’s career mode, you create both a male and female tennis player and attempt to take them all the way to the number one ranks. The custom creation itself isn’t as wide-reaching as some wrestling games, with merely the basic physical appearance, height and weight, and hand preference on offer, but that’s neither here nor there considering the distance you’ll be from your characters in-game.
As soon as you’ve created your two unique custom players, and positioned your home on the world map (where you’ll save your game, change gear, and recover stamina with rest weeks) you’ll find a whole wealth of options available to you. Looking at the Tour Calendar first of all, you’ll see that new tournaments are available most weeks, though each requires a certain ranking for entrance. Playing a competition usually requires a number of rounds and a final, with further progression meaning more prize money, and a better ranking progression.
After a few tournament victories you’ll be ready to hit the shops, and purchase yourself better equipment for each of your characters. New shoes, rackets and clothes can be purchased and you can choose which you wish to use back at your home in order to give you the better chance of victory. Certain rackets for example suit different court surfaces. You can also hire fellow professional players for a period of one month to join you to take part in doubles tournaments. A little strategy is required here, since despite the overwhelming urge to merely take on the number one in the real world, you really need to choose a fellow player that will suit your game. If your created character is suited to a baseline game, then you’ll need an AI-controlled comrade who’s much more adept at net play, and vice-versa
Shaping your characters' stats comes in the form of various training sessions. These eight different set-ups heighten your abilities in all aspects of the game, and each need to be utilised fairly often if you want to attain that top ranking. Again these come in the same form that appeared in Virtua Tennis 2, with the likes of Pin Crasher – basically bowling, but using your serve – improving your serve, and Danger Flags – requiring you to collect five different flags wile avoiding certain balls – which improves your footwork and speed.
While all seems ship-shape in regards to the Tour Mode, the initial few tournaments and training sessions seem quite difficult indeed when compared to previous iterations of the series. Quite a hefty amount of time in each separate training session is required before your created character has the ability to beat even the lowliest of opponents. Frustration begins to creep in more than once when what you’d expect to be a perfect shot right into the corner loops harmlessly up in the air, purely because your character lacks the required stats, rather than a fault of your own.
Actually controlling your onscreen avatar can be made with either the D-pad or the analogue nub. The analogue nub has been shockingly underused in the beginnings of the PSP’s life, so it’s great that Virtua Tennis begs for you to use the nub rather that the D-pad. Shot placement and court movement feels so much more sublime when the nub’s being used, and all praise needs to be given to Sumo Digital who took on the conversion in this respect especially.
Other single-player modes are available as well of course, ranging from normal exhibition matches to the novel Ball Games feature. Here you have four different mini-games to play through, each using a different kind of tennis skill. The basic idea is to simply earn as many points as you can possibly achieve in order to set a number of high scores. In fact it’s this area (multiplayer apart) that’s bound to keep your interest for the longest period, at least initially as you attempt to break your previous records. A nice hark back to the simpler days.
Multiplayer action is offered of course via wireless compatibility for up to four players. Not only can you take part in a quick exhibition match, but two players can head off into a tournament to see who can achieve ultimate victory. The biggest advantage the PSP version holds over the home consoles is the fact that you’ve no need to worry about taking your place at the dreaded top of the screen where almost all of us seem to struggle.
As a conversion itself, while not being totally perfect (slight graphical glitches can be found, and why on earth those little point-winning cutscenes are still there we simply don’t know) Sumo Digital have to be congratulated. The stunning – while still slightly zombified – visuals remain close to fully intact, with no qualms as to the loading times, nor any kind of loss of use of the Tour Mode. It’s one of those games that shows off just what the PSP can achieve both graphically and the proof that the control system can work with a fast-paced game.
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System: Sony PlayStation Portable
Genre: Sport
Developer: Sumo Digital
Publisher: SEGA
Players: 1-4
Version: European
Reviewed: Oct 2005
Writer: Chris Pickering
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Pros:
- Fantastic use of the analogue nub
- Longlasting single-player career mode
- Multiplayer as wonderful as ever
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Cons:
- It’s tennis
- Difficult start to career mode
- Could it be too addictive
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Virtua Tennis Video: 4.5MB
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