Virtua Tennis 3 - Review

Added March 30th, 2007 by Serenity Now

Last year, 2K Sports released a follow-up to their award-winning tennis title, Top Spin. It proved to be a huge disappointment to most Xbox 360 owners for various reasons; one being its monotonous online capabilities. Here we are a year later, and Sega has blessed us with the latest chapter in their Virtua Tennis 3 series. Not only does it sport a plethora of remarkable mini-games, but its Xbox Live portion is virtually flawless.

Those who are accustomed to the unique style of Virtua Tennis will feel right at home with this newest rendition. Though the foundation of the gameplay hasn’t changed, nearly every characteristic has been improved upon, from flow to the execution. Virtua Tennis 3’s career mode, aptly dubbed World Tour, is where you’ll be spending the majority of your time. Here you will have to compete in tournaments to lower your world ranking until you eventually become the number-one ranked player in all of tennis.

Soaring through the rankings is just one of the tasks you can undertake. There are a dozen accessible mini-games, including target practice (Bull’s Eye), bowling (Pin Crusher), and curling (Court Curling). Most of these games are rather generic and uninspiring, but they’re still exceedingly enjoyable. One downside, though, is that none are playable online.

Speaking of Xbox Live functionality, Sega kept things a tad on the rudimentary side. Thankfully, this isn’t necessarily a setback. There are ranked and unranked matches, and, unlike Top Spin 2, you can play as any professional player you desire in ranked matches (in lieu of being limited to your created character). You can also participate in tournaments and view VT:TV, a mode that’s very akin to the one found in Rockstar Games Presents Tennis. It’s worth a quick look for the 10 achievement points, but that’s honestly it.

Concerning presentation, Virtua Tennis 3 does a fantastic job representing its 20 pro players. You’ll be able to take on the role of current-greats such as Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Rafael Nadal, Tim Henman, and Lindsay Davenport. While the character models may be superb, the environments are mediocre at best. There are also very few courts to play on. Additionally, the exclusion of fantasy courts is a real disappointment.

My only major complaint with VT3 is its audio. I’ll be the first to say that it possesses one of the most horrific soundtracks I’ve ever had the displeasure of hearing. Sadly, the sound-effects are quite atrocious as well. The crowd sounds similar to a bad laugh track set on repeat.

Summary:

This is the sequel Virtua Tennis fans have been waiting for. It delivers excellent multiplayer, compelling mini-games, and a career mode that’s second to none. Flaws include a less-than-astonishing create-a-player mode, poor audio and lackluster environments. However, the good far outweighs the bad.