I used to wonder why people would spend hundreds of pounds every couple of years to get the latest machine and then spend thousands on games which would be obsolete in a few years. My brother is as guilty of this as anyone I have ever met and it was no surprise when he turned up with a Dreamcast a few weeks after its launch.
It is only recently that I have started having a go at the dreamcast and the one game that has got me hooked is Virtua Tennis. It is quite simply the most complete sport simulation I have ever played.
Playing One Player the only option is to take up the world circuit option. This is where you start a career and try and build yourself up to the Number One player in the world. This is a clever way to keep the One Player option interesting.
There are both singles and doubles matches. With the doubles you have to buy a partner from the money you have accumulated. Winning these matches and progressing through the tournaments increases your world ranking and opens up other tournaments for you to compete in. There is also a shot theme to each tournament. For example at Wimbledon the Trial Shot is Serve. The more times you use this shot at the Tournament the higher your financial reward will be.
Another nice touch is the playing surfaces are genuinely different. All to often in previous games the only difference in surface has been the colour of the court. In this game clay is slower, grass is quicker etc all true to life.
My favourite part of the game is the training. Here you can improve your player by taking part in the following training sessions
You have to lob balls into the bins at the end of the court. You need to land a ball in each bin to complete the session.
Cannon Ball
The practice machines fire red and yellow balls at you. You have to return the yellow balls to hit the machines to switch them off. If you touch a red ball the machine switches back on. You have to switch all machines off to complete the session.
Big Wall
The wall has ten panels which you must hit to complete the session.
Return Ace
The coach serves 10 balls and you must return them to hit the boxes on the far side of the court.
Bulls Eye
You must return the coach's shots to hit the bulls-eye at the far side. To complete the session you must score more than the set target.
Smash Box
You must knock all the boxes off the far side of the court by smashing the coach’s shots. You complete the session by clearing the court.
Giant Ball
There are Giant Balls rolling towards you (Indiana Jones style) and you must use powerful shots to get the balls rolling off the back of the court to complete the session.
Pin Crasher
The pins are set up in the service box just over the net. The scoring is the same as ten-pin bowling and you must exceed the target to complete the session.
There are shops which appear as you progress and this allows you to buy new arenas for the one player game or a new doubles partner etc. This keeps the game fresh.
Multiplayer is when the game really shows you what it is capable off. A cheap and enjoyable night in can have up to 4 people competing with each other. This provides great entertainment and the same is worth buying for this alone.
The only downside is now that Sega have stopped producing Dreamcast machines a lot of people will not buy the machine and therefore cannot play this game.
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Every year Wimbledon comes and goes, and for two weeks the country is crazed at the ... more
prospect of Tim Henman or Greg Rusedski getting past the first round. Then when Wimbledon blows over, us British folk seem to go back to watching football and playing r...
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Advantages: Gameplay, graphics, so much to see and do Disadvantages: Crap music, the fact that this game is so good it's got me saying "I'll give you a tennisin' lesson"
paulgusta 06.08.2001 (26.09.2002)
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Review of Virtua Tennis (Dreamcast)
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