Sports games have lately gone all serious on us all and somehow seem to have lost the idea of a game in that it’s supposed to be fun. I am not a big sporting fan in real life, but often love to play games that are sports related. Why? Because in real life I’m crap at sport, whereas in a computer game, I can be the best football player, or the meanest boxer. Sports games have always fascinated me in that there are two distinct types. Those for fun and those for simulation. Some like to balance between the two, but Virtua Tennis for the PC sticks mainly in the fun arena. You can’t really take the game as a simulation because it’s just too easy to hit the ball where you want it to go. I explain this early on because I know many people will criticize the game for its lack of simulation, but personally I think it’s just a bit of straight forward after pub fun.

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Game Play

Virtua Tennis right from the very start impresses. Virtual Tennis offers Simple controls which mean it’s very easy to pick up and play. You don’t need to be an expert at tennis to have a bash. In total there are seven internationally ranked tennis players to choose from, not that choosing one other the other really makes that much difference in the style of play. Although some players when played by the computer chose to hit the ball quick, other seem to be better at defense but bad at scoring themselves.

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Weather playing on your own against the computer or with your friends, Virtua Tennis offers something for everyone. The advantage of a sports title in Multiplayer is that you only really need a number of controllers, or two half’s of the keyboard and you can have a cracking good game with your mates.

In Virtua Tennis the stadiums are beautifully detailed and allow you to play different surfaces such as on concrete, clay, grass, and carpet - each surface responds differently. The surface is supposed to make a difference, and the bounce is affected, but not a huge amount.

The only downfall in terms of game play in Virtua tennis is its simplicity which is its main advantage. If you remove the 3D graphics, poor computer AI, and look at the game, you only really see the old style bat and ball type game. This game is fantastic to pick up and have a quick game with a few mates, but the longevity of this game leaves a lot to be desired. The tournaments are pretty easy, so it only really leaves multiplayer to have any long term fun with.

Graphics

Virtua Tennis boasts Realistic 3D environments and fluid animations which is true, but sometimes you can’t help but feel the game is a little outdated. The graphics are pretty good, especially the stadiums, but not having played any other Tennis Games, I have nothing to base my judgment upon. The faces of the international players of which Tim Henman is one of them, look the part, you instantly recognize the players on pitch.

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Sound

The worst aspect of the game is the sound. The music is awful and reminiscent of early arcade games, and after a while it really begins to get on your nerves. The sound effects aren’t really much better and don’t do the games graphics any justice. The sound all sound far too puny and unrealistic, not that you can hear much with that crap music playing.

Overall

All your favorite tennis players, all your favorite drop shots, backhands and smashes AND add in Network Play! Virtua Tennis puts you right amongst the excitement and action of real tournament tennis! The flaws and downfalls of this game like poor sound really let down what is a good game to play both in multiplayer with your mates and in single player. The single player modes are short lived, which means the games only savior is the fun aspect of the sport and playing with your mates without needing a network connection or squinting at a split screen. Purchase only if your mates want to play too, other wise the short lived fun of the single player mode may leave you wondering what you spent you money on.