Ever since it made its surprise debut on the Sega Dreamcast years ago, Virtua Tennis has been converting millions of fans worldwide, folks who normally wouldn’t play a tennis game to save their lives and addicting them for hours on end with relatively easy gameplay. That trend continues with Virtua Tennis 4 for the Xbox 360, a game that lives mostly by the credo: “If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it.” Granted, there is enough new stuff here to keep the masses happy, so don’t think you’re being cheated. Unlike the more mechanical (but nevertheless enjoyable) Top Spin 4, Virtua Tennis 4 relies on arcade tactics. You’re put into singles and doubles matches, hitting the ball back and forth and strategically setting up shots so they’ll either whiz right by your opponent (smash style) or lob right over their heads.
That means you don’t have to worry so much on the timing of the hit as much as the direction they’re going and your position on the court. If you’ve played Virtua Tennis games before, this one will feel like second nature. But even if you haven’t, it takes mere moments to get used to what it has to offer. Virtua Tennis 4 revolves around a number of modes. World Tour Mode has you hopping around a board game style set-up, making stops to keep your health at bay while also keeping the number of days involved with a tournament from dwindling into single digits. You’ll run into a number of activities, including mini-games that train your athlete to be better, tournaments to earn extra cash, shops where you can buy gear and extra move tickets, and charity stops, to build your reputation amongst fans. All of these are important, so you’ll want to make sure to stock up on specific move tickets so you don’t miss something. The ones you get at random can be hardly rely on – and you could really miss something special. In addition to World Tour, the game also features customization options to create your dream player, outfitting them as you please and making cosmetic changes. Nothing brilliant or amazingly new in a sports game, but it’s nice to have. Plus, more creative costumes open up as you progress into your career.
Arcade Mode once again returns, so you can get into matches with your friends, either doubles or singles. The game is also very playable online, and we didn’t experience any sort of lag, save for a bad session or two. It’s nowhere near as it could’ve been, though. There’s also a fun Party mode where you play random mini-games, ranging from stopping mummies that are out to steal your Egyptian treasures (apparently tennis players can afford those) to guiding born hatchlings to their waiting chicken mothers. Other classic games make a return, including a bowling-style game where you use a tennis ball to knock down pins and a cool target-shooting game. You can practice these at any time (once unlocked) and practice all the way to level six, where a challenge truly awaits. New to Virtua Tennis this year is Kinect support. But it’s not as huge as you might think. Only two modes – Arcade and Party – are supported, and you don’t control your character’s on-court movement. Rather, all you control is the physicality of their swing with the racket, and even that’s a little iffy thanks to the first-person perspective. Still, it’s fun to a degree, once you figure out swings. Just don’t expect to get super-duper scores in the Party game. Aim is not something the Kinect handles well, at least not in this case.
This feature review concludes on the next page, please click Page 2 below to see final thoughts on SEGA's Virtua Tennis 4.
