Virtua Tennis 3 (Xbox 360, 2007)

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Virtua Tennis 3 is just shy of being a great title. It is very approachable and a lot of fun, but there are some misses that really get under you skin and detract from the experience…most aren’t even gameplay related, but they still detract from what could be a AAA title.

Gameplay: 9/10
Pros: The ‘tennis’ games are fast and furious and are simple to play, but deep to master. If you get bored of matches there are a TON of challenging and deep minigames. Stay away from Fusion Frenzy 2 and let Virtua Tennis satisfy your minigame craving.
Cons: In world tour mode, you play the same pros over and over again. Before you reach rank 200, they are awful…Federer can’t even get to a ball and hits it right back to you! He’s #1 in the world and would certainly cream #300 in the world…why not use custom created characters to fill the lower ranks? Playing against pros all the time severely detracts from the realism and allure of playing the recognizable stars of tennis. The game is a little easy until you reach rank 200 or so and then picks up significantly. I won all the games without losing a point up until the Advantage series (rank 204+).

Graphics: 8.5/10
Pros: Very crisp visuals and excellent animation. The court remembers where each shot hits and where you stand and run the most (white lines wear off, grass shows wear etc.) which is really cool. Create-a-character is always a plus.
Cons: Digital Sharapova doesn’t look at all like her real-life counterpart, and while this is the most glaring there are a couple other pros that just look a little off. Textures are almost nonexistent in the game…clothing is completely smooth…and just make some of the graphics bland.

Sound/Music: 8/10
Pros: Decent announcer, nice music, with perfect tennis swat and bounce sound effects. The music and chimes of world tour are soothing. A nice tone down or real world grunts.
Cons: No voice work for the pros and a lack of variety for sound effects in the minigames.

Lasting Appeal: 7.5/10
Pros: The world tour mode is long with a lot of different minigames to master, the tennis action is great and fun. Multiplayer both locally and online works well and offers a lot of replay value and pick-up-and play appeal.
Cons: The missed beats in the world tour mode detract from the feel of the game and really get under my skin…mostly because they are easily remedied. The Virtua Tennis framework has remained relatively unchanged since the original and its time for Sega to take us to the next level and give us something new. They are resting on their laurels.

Average: 82.50%
Tilt: -1.50%
This game is simply not worth $60 in my book. If it was priced at $40 it would be perfect and an absolute must buy, but it’s just not ‘next-gen’ enough to warrant the $60 price tag. Is the core Virtua Tennis gameplay great?..yes…but VT3 doesn’t offer much that’s new or innovative, and while offering competition on Xbox Live is fabulous, I can’t help feel that this title was a couple changes shy of greatness.

Verdict: 81%

It has taken a long time for Sega to come through on this for me. Was it worth it? Hell yeah. As a huge fan of the Virtua Tennis series on the Sega Dreamcast, I was delighted to see them bring back their amazing sports game to the Xbox 360. Virtua Tennis has always been about plain and simple fun, whether with friends or all by your lonely self in your basement. This newest sequel is just that, and a little more thanks to some amazing visuals and some cool online features.

Virtua Tennis 1 and 2 had a very easy pick up and play gameplay and this is certainly the case for the VT3. Controlling your players and accuracy of hitting the ball is very precise but extremely easy to use meaning anybody could pick this up and be an expert at it in no time. Using either the D pad or Analog stick and the A,B,X,Y buttons to control the player and the ball, this game isn't a whole lot different from its previous versions. This isn't really an issue, probably a good thing but it would have been nice to see extra gameplay features to differ this from other versions. But to be fair, VT has always been about quick, fun arcade action and any major change to that may ruin the feel of the game which we would have expected.

As you would expect, VT3 has a pretty long and increasingly hard World Career Mode. VT3 lets you create your own character before pitting him against the worlds best. One problem though. The game only has 20 licensed characters and no fictional characters which means you'll be playing Roger Federer possibly ten times(each time getting harder obviously as time passes) throughout this mode along with the other players too. This can be quite boring after a while but the increase in difficulty will help prolong your play here. VT3 brings back all your favourite mini games and some new ones too. They're all extremely fun but similar to the VT1 and 2. In the 360 version of this game, VT3 features a great online experience. Including ranked matches, ranked tournaments and the ability to watch other Live matches really keeps this game going for a long time.

In terms of how the visuals look, well let me say this : 1080p. VT3 is really a stunning game visually and you wouldn't be mistaken to think that this was real if you stood back from the TV a little. While some of the characters and fans are a little less detailed than others, you still get the feeling that Sega did a great job with no visibly drop in framerate.

To be honest, I was expecting Sega more to refine the gameplay mechanics than totally overhauling it. I was correct but slightly disappointed as it doesn't have Next Generation screaming at you other than the pretty graphics. If you were expecting something similar to VT1 and 2 then you will absolutely love this game. If you were expecting something of a life changing experience, go elsewhere. One thing still has to be said about this series, it is still the most fun sports title around on any format.

With Virtua Tennis 3, the series returns with enhanced photo-realistic graphics and advanced player animations that perfectly match the behavior and mannerisms of individual professional athletes. Next-generation systems allow gamers to see the most detailed expressions on the faces of their selected players as they battle to win heated tournaments around the world. Improvements to the game's AI have also upped the challenge to becoming the top seed of the tennis world.

I was standing in walmart waiting for someone to come over to me and get a game out of the case. While i was waiting i started playing a demo for Virtua Tennis 3. Well by the time someone came over to me, i decided to buy Virtua Tennis instead and boy am i glad i did. Awesome game play, just like a real tennis match. Plenty of players to choose from, both male and female. Go get yourself a copy, you will be glad you did!

I love the game. It is very realistic. You can play world tour and create a character. The player will get tired and wont play as well as usual. It gets frusterating just like if you were really playing. Great game to play with 1-4 players. Thumbs up to this game