News

• Reviewed on: PlayStation Portable
• Rating: E for Everyone
• 
  
  
  
  
• The Good: Maintains all the fun and simple controls that the series has been known for; nice graphics; the variety of modes available.
• The Bad: Isn't much different from the past console versions; have to create and train two players in World Tour Mode; lack of Internet Wi-Fi play.
  
  
• The Verdict: Still maintains the top seed as the best tennis series to date.
• 
  
  
  
  

REVIEW:

Since its debut release in 2000 on the Dreamcast, Sega's Virtua Tennis series has remained a grand slam winner to many with its easy-to-master gameplay and overall addictiveness. Now it has been ported to the mobile PSP, and it's surprising how close the game play is to the console versions.

Virtua Tennis offers a number of modes, but most players will probably favour the Tournament, World Tour, and Ball Games modes.

As you might of guess, the Tournament Mode involves competing against some of the world's best, like Roger Federer or Maria Sharapova. You can play as the aforementioned players or as any of the 12 other tennis stars for the tournament. In addition, created players can be selected here too.

World Tour Mode allows you to create your own tennis stars and enter tournaments to compete for the No. 1 world ranking. Developing the skills for your players is an important part on becoming the best, so it's a good idea to participate in the Training Games. There are a total of eight training games with each having four levels of difficulty to successfully complete. My personal favourite was Pin Crasher, which involves serving the ball to knockdown bowling pins.

Although the World Tour Mode will take a while to complete, Sega doubles its length by forcing you to create and train not only a male player, but a female player too. Some may not like this increase workload.

If the quest to become No. 1 is getting tiring, then the Ballgames Mode will provide some relief. These four arcade mini-games are a joy to play. Don't be surprised if you find yourself frequently coming back to this mode and trying to beat your score.

Sega hits the ball out of bounds with the game's wireless (WLAN) capabilities, though. Featuring local Wi-Fi play, players can only compete against other PSP users nearby.

The graphics for Virtua Tennis are fantastic. There is very little graphical difference when comparing the PSP version to the past console versions, which shows how far portable gaming has come along. In addition, the game still features a TV-like presentation with replays and cutscenes of players displaying some emotion after scoring a point.

Overall, Virtua Tennis is the ideal portable game — it's fun and there are plenty of modes to play in, making it a great pickup for those new to the series. Yet, series veterans should consider holding off until the price drops, since it's not much different from the games that have come before it.