Virtua Tennis
| Virtua Tennis | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Developer(s) | Sega AM-3 |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Composer(s) | Chiho Kobayashi |
| Series | Virtua Tennis |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance, N-Gage |
| Release date(s) |
Arcade 1999 Dreamcast 2000 Microsoft Windows 2002 Game Boy Advance NA 2002 EU 2003 N-Gage 2003 |
| Genre(s) | Sports game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system | Sega NAOMI |
| Display | Raster, medium resolution |
Virtua Tennis (Power Smash in Japan) is a 1999 tennis arcade game created by Sega-AM3. The player competes through tennis tournaments in an arcade mode. For the home console market the game was expanded with the introduction of the campaign mode. It was later ported to Dreamcast in 2000, and for Microsoft Windows in 2002. A Game Boy Advance version was also released in 2002.
A sequel, Virtua Tennis 2, was released in 2002 and was later updated and ported for the PlayStation Portable, under the name Virtua Tennis: World Tour. 2006 saw the release of Virtua Tennis 3 in the arcades (using the Sega Lindbergh hardware). Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and PC versions were released in 2007. Virtua Tennis 2009, was released on June 9, 2009 on PC, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii platforms.[1][2] The latest addition to the franchise, Virtua Tennis 4, was released on May 10, 2011.
Players
|
ATP Players
|
Unlockable Fictitious Players1
|
Unlockable Bosses
|
1Included in the Dreamcast and PC ports only.
2Mark Philippoussis was removed from the PC version as he was already featured in a licensed tennis title for that platform.
Courts
Grand Slams
Australian Challenge (Australian Open) – Melbourne – Hard
French Cup (French Open) – Paris – Clay
US Super Tennis (US Open) – New York City – Hard
The Old England Championships (The Championships, Wimbledon) – London – Grass
Special Tournaments
- Sega Grand Match (Los Angeles Open) – Los Angeles – Carpet
SPT Masters (ATP World Tour Finals) – Tokyo – Grass
Other Tournaments
Sweden Grand Prix (If Stockholm Open) – Stockholm – Hard
Germany Men's Indoor (BMW Open) – Berlin – Hard
Russian Tennis Classic (Kremlin Cup) – Moscow – Carpet
Spain International (Barcelona Open BancSabadell) – Barcelona – Clay
Game modes
Arcade
The player must win 5 matches played on different surfaces and venues to win a tournament. If the player performs well enough, he is challenged by Master, one of the game's bosses.
Exhibition
This is a single match in which the options are customizable.
The match can be played as singles or doubles with up to 4 human players (2 for singles). The duration can be varied between one game and one set. Other options include the court that the match is played on and the skill of the opponent(s).
World Circuit
This is the main mode of the game. Users have to win matches and complete training exercises in order to progress and unlock new ones. The user enters with a rank of 300th, which improves as matches are won. These matches are unlocked by completing easier matches or training exercises. The focus of the training exercises are to be fun, rather than realistic. Each exercise has three levels, with the difficulty increasing progressively. By completing the hardest difficulty with a certain amount of time left or points scored, an outfit is unlocked, which players can wear in all modes.
Network
This mode is available for the PC version and it allows multiplayer gaming via LAN.
Reception
Virtua Tennis received very positive reviews from with the UK version of the Official Dreamcast Magazine rating it at 9/10, as well as overwhelmingly positive reviews from users . Players were pleased with the quick learning curve and the wide variety of training exercises available. The game became one of the few Sega All Stars.
It has been ranked in the top 100 games of all time by IGN both in 2005 (#91) [3] and 2003 (#89).[4]
In Japan, Famitsu magazine scored the Dreamcast version of the game a 33 out of 40.[5]
References
- ↑ "SEGA announces Virtua Tennis 2009". Eurogamer.net. 5 February 2009.
- ↑ "Amazon.com: Virtua Tennis 2009: Video Games". amazon.com.
- ↑ "IGN's Top 100 Games". ign.com.
- ↑ "IGN's Top 100 Games of All Time". ign.com.
- ↑ ドリームキャスト - Power Smash (パワースマッシュ). Weekly Famitsu. No.915 Pt.2. Pg.44. 30 June 2006.