Let me start this review by saying I’m a football fan, I have never really followed tennis, I don’t watch it and I don’t play it, so I ask myself, why do I love Virtua Tennis 3 so much, I just can’t understand it, well in fact I can understand it and here is why.
To make a excellent multiplayer game you need excitement, fast paced action and most of all a game where it is easy to just push the button and get straight into the action, thankfully Virtua Tennis 3 has all these things and more, it has built on the strong foundation of the past games in the series adding photo realistic graphics and player animation which is amongst the best you will see on any console.
When the game loads you will be treated to a menu with four modes of play, these are, World Tour mode, Tournament, Exhibition mode and Court games.
In the beginning World Tour mode starts with creating your character, first of all you change his features, clothing etc and then move on to developing his skills, this is done through a mixture of mini games, the tennis academy and of course by playing games, you also have a home where you can rest using various options when your stamina gets a bit on the low side.
The tennis academy lets you improve your skills by providing challenges which help improve your serve, footwork and general all round play, the more challenges you complete the stronger you will become. The mini games are similar in that they help to improve your character’s ability, there are various games you can play from bowling, bingo and bull’s eye to avalanche where you need to catch fruit that is tumbling down the hill whilst avoiding the large Indiana Jones style tennis balls which are hurtling towards you, this really is an addictive part of the game and you will find yourself playing World Tour with only these games in mind.
All of the training and mini games in World Tour mode have a purpose of course, which is to improve your character and get you up the ranks as quickly as possible, the better you become the more your level will improve, meaning that in turn you can take part in tennis tournaments (doubles and singles) and improve you ranking in the world of tennis.
The tournament mode is also good if you just want to get straight into the tennis, this gives you the option of either playing in a singles or doubles tournament, although doubles only really gives you the option of playing co-operatively rather than against each other with a computer team mate.
Exhibition mode explains itself and as normal allows you to choose which settings you would like and play, with up to four players being allowed to take part.
The only other mode to talk of is Court games (mini games), which is one of the most addictive things about Virtua Tennis, therefore it seems strange that this mode is only for more than one player, which means unless you have a friend around you will be unable to play pin crusher or any of other fun games, although to be fair it is fairly simple just to visit World Tour mode and do it that way.
Virtua Tennis 3’s biggest disappointment for me is the lack of a online mode on the Playstation 3 game, this gives the Xbox 360 version a big advantage as if you own both consoles then for the same price you can expand the playability 10 fold, whether this will be implemented in a future update is so far unknown, but for the sake of PS3 fans everywhere I hope it is.
Sega’s Virtua Tennis 3 is one of those games that makes you go back for just one more go, the fast paced action and the fun mini games combine well to make it very addictive. The games Graphics are also hard to flaw, the green’s, blue’s and brown’s of the courts look vibrant and the animation of the players on screen help create a game that you could easily mistake for watching the real thing when added to the atmosphere in the crowd which has been created by the attention to detail in the sound, perhaps the only flaw in the games presentation is the music in the menu’s which also carries over the court action itself unless you turn it off.
There really are few launch titles this good so if you are considering getting a game for your PS3 and don’t have this one then I would definitely recommend it as a must have.
