Virtua Tennis
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| Virtua Tennis | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Developer(s) | Hitmaker |
| Publisher(s) | Sega |
| Release date(s) | 1999 (AC) February 14, 2000 (DC) |
| Genre(s) | Sports game |
| Mode(s) | Single player, multiplayer |
| Platform(s) | Arcade, Microsoft Windows, Sega Dreamcast |
| Input | 8-way joystick, 3 buttons |
| Arcade cabinet | Upright |
| Arcade system(s) | Sega NAOMI |
| Arcade display | Raster, medium resolution |
Virtua Tennis (Power Smash in Japan) is a 1999 tennis arcade game created by Sega's Hitmaker division. The player competes through tennis tournaments and various arcade modes. For the home console market the game was expanded upon with the introduction of the campaign mode. It was later ported to Sega Dreamcast in 2000, and for Microsoft Windows in 2002. A Game Boy Advance version was also released in 2002.
A sequel, Virtua Tennis 2, appeared on Sega NAOMI, Dreamcast and PlayStation 2. In 2005 another sequel, Virtua Tennis: World Tour was released for the PlayStation Portable. Virtua Tennis 3 is in development for the arcades (using the Sega Lindbergh hardware), as well as the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 consoles.
Contents |
[edit] Game modes
[edit] Arcade
The player must win 5 matches to win a tournament. Each match is played on a different surface:
| Match | Name | Surface |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Australian Challenge | Hard |
| 2 | French Court | Clay |
| 3 | US Super Tennis | Hard |
| 4 | The Old England Championship | Grass |
| 5 | Sega Grand Match | Carpet |
[edit] 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).
[edit] 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 traning exercises.
[edit] Training
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. The exercises available are:
| Exercise | Description | Requirements for reward | Outfit unlocked |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cannon Ball | Ball pitching machines release red and green balls. The green balls must be hit into a machine for it to deactivate. All machines must be deactivated to win. Touching a red ball reactivates a machine. | Complete Level 3 with 15 seconds remaining. | Exotic shirt with sunflower racket |
| Return Ace | Powerful shots must be returned to hit nine targets. | Complete Level 3 with just two shots. | |
| Giant Ball | A number of giant balls slowly rown from the baseline to the net. The player must hit all of the balls beyond the basline to win. | ||
| Drum Shooter | Serves must be returned with lobs, and land in drums. To win, a lob must have landed in every drum. | ||
| Big Wall | A large wall at the net, is split into smaller boards, which must all be hit to complete the training. | Complete Level 3 with 5 seconds remaining. | |
| Bulls Eye | The player must return shots onto a large target, getting more points if the return lands closer to the center. To complete the training, a certain number of points must be scored. | ||
| Smash Box | The player must use smash shots to knock all of the boxes off the court. | Complete Level 3 with 10 seconds remaining. | |
| Pin Crasher | The player serves into skittles and must reach a particular score to complete the training. |
[edit] Players
Characters include several real world tennis players, with their respective strengths:
| Player | Strength |
|---|---|
| Jim Courier | Various Shots |
| Tommy Haas | Forehand |
| Tim Henman | Volley |
| Thomas Johansson | Quickness |
| Yevgeny Kafelnikov | Backhand |
| Carlos Moya | Groundstrokes |
| Mark Philippoussis* | Serve |
| Cedric Pioline | All-around |
*Mark Philippoussis was removed from the PC version for undisclosed reasons.
[edit] Reception
The game 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 [1]. Players were pleased with the quick learning curve and the wide variety of training exercises available.
