Sega have returned with Virtua Tennis 4 - aiming to please fans of the series with a brand new World Tour mode, new players, offline and online multiplayer modes, improved gameplay and Playstation Move support. With the original developers 'Virtua Tennis Team Sega AM3' back at the helm does VT4 manage to serve an ace or should tennis fans look elsewhere for their fix?
Upon booting up the game it doesn't take long to realise Sega have stuck to their old arcade ways with VT4; following a cheesy intro as the announcer shouts out the game's name on the title screen. The presentation however is absolutely fantastic, the menus are slick and the transitions between them are smooth. The game features an optional 3.1gb install to your PS3's hard drive to improve load times. World Tour mode sees you creating your own tennis star and taking them up through the ranks to become a true legend. The character creator allows you to fully tweak your players body and multiple areas of the face. However after tinkering with the sliders it almost felt like some of the alterations were so minor that they're almost entirely unnoticeable. As character creators go Sega havn't done a bad job, but it certainly doesn't break any boundaries. A wider variety of hair styles would have been welcome, but the huge array of customisable clothing options makes up for it.
The World Tour mode is played out on a map screen in the style of a board game almost. Here you have so many days to reach the area's largest tournament. Each day you're given 3 movement tickets, these range from 1-4 allowing your character to move along the board by a specific amount of moves respectively. The nodes on the board represent certain events, such as a practice match, small tournament, training, publicity work, rest and management activities. The key is to landing on the nodes you want by having the specific tickets to do so. For example if you're 2 spaces away from a well needed rest but only have movement tickets for 3 and 4 moves then you'll have to miss said node - as a result of this planning ahead is vital. That said management activities allow you to fill up another 3 extra ticket slots by purchasing specific move tickets using in-game currency, along with rest tickets (allowing you to rest anywhere) and various other boosts. Each event you partake in will lower your characters conditioning bar, if it gets too low your performance during matches will be horrifically affected; in fact I found it to be almost too extreme with your player being unrealistically sluggish and almost impossible to use effectively. However the result of this is that you're extremely careful when taking into consideration which events you undertake in relation to your conditioning bar.
Training events are done through an array of entertaining timed minigames. These vary from hitting targets, to firing tennis balls into football goals blocked by a goalie, to hatching eggs and bringing the baby chicks to their mothers whilst avoiding tennis balls, and even passing a bomb between you and your opponent which is timed to explode at any second. Almost all of them are great fun, and provide a well needed break from what would otherwise be a repetitive series of standard tennis matches. Each training challenge has a specific points goal to reach, and each can be increased in difficulty level with repeated successes. After completing a training challenge your character's skills are improved, based on your performance - these vary from stroke skills, defensive skills, tactical skills, net play skills and condition exp. As your condition exp increases your character's conditioning bar will grow, meaning you won't have to rest up as often between events.
Players must be careful though, some nodes on the map can be negative. Clearly represented by a red down arrow icon, these nodes will severely damage your conditioning bar if you land on them. Other nodes such as promotional ones see you losing a small amount of cash to in turn increase your star level. Players can unlock and choose from a variety of play-styles which dictate your character's strengths and weaknesses. These vary from net players, to heavy hitters and strong serves. Each play-style gives you the option to use a power-shot mid-game if you repeatedly complete that specific style of shot; for example if you're character is a heavy hitter then repeated strong shots will increase your play-style bar for you to then unleash a powerful shot. You'll also be able to gain new doubles partners through your world tour career and choose between which one you prefer.
Both success and failure in events rewards you with in-game currency and stars. You'll need stars to rise through the tennis ranks from a local hero to a world star, but also certain tournaments will have a minimum star entry enforced, meaning once again you'll have to plan ahead to ensure you can compete with the best. Using the in-game currency you can purchase various clothing options. Sega have done a fantastic job with providing a plethora of clothes to choose from - tops, bottoms, rackets, shoes, socks, accessories and outfits are all here for the taking. You're guaranteed to find the perfect kit for your character. Sega have even thrown in comedy items such as silly rackets and clothing options. The game constantly unlocks new kit to purchase with an in-game achievement system linked to completing various tasks, such as winning 10 exhibition matches or reaching a certain level of a training difficulty. The outcome of all this is a genuinely addictive career mode which both constantly rewards you and keeps things varied throughout.
The actual gameplay in Virtua Tennis stays core to the series arcade style. You won't find hyper realism here, but instead a perfect blend of accessible satisfying arcade tennis action. The controls are kept simple, with X firing a regular shot, Square a defensive shot, Triangle a lob and Circle for a high-powered shot. The aim is to try and anticipate the balls arrival and start your swing early to build a more accurate and powerful shot. The gameplay concepts are all fairly simple, without forcing players to use fiddly controls and instead opting for a simple face-button control scheme Sega have created an experience which is extremely accessible for newcomers but rewards those which are genuinely skilled at the game.
Visually the game looks pretty good. Sweat drips down your characters as the matches go on, and the players are all modeled fairly well in comparison to their real life counterparts. Animations are generally smooth and look believable. Although not spectacular Virtua Tennis 4 still looks great. Cheesy music plays during the game which compliments the arcade style fairly well, however if it's not to your taste the developers have of course included the easy option to disable it. Although a custom soundtrack option would have been nice, it's not a huge loss.
Local multiplayer allows up to 4 players to compete in both doubles and singles matches. Players also have the option to play the game's various training minigames but with up to 3 other buddies locally in Party Play mode. Arcade mode lets you experience four of the biggest tennis championships either solo or with a friend locally. When you jump online you'll be met with a quick match option which puts you up against a random opponent for a ranked singles game - depending on your performance during the match you'll gain experience and coins along with a change in your worldwide ranking. This rank can be checked from the menu to see how you match up against others around the world and your buddies. Player matches allow you to create a 'clubhouse' - this works like a lobby system allowing up to 8 people to join and partake in unranked matches across a variety of courts set by the clubhouse creator; from here you can invite your friends, or play against random opponents in singles, doubles and mini-game matches.
Overall Virtua Tennis 4 is a fantastic tennis game. Although it doesn't particularly break any new ground, the games new World Tour mode is actually genuinely addictive thanks to a constant flow of rewards. The game is kept interesting and varied due to the large amount of minigames, and the wide array of multiplayer options is a welcome treat. Sega have designed the core gameplay to be satisfyingly simple for newcomers but also tough to truly master. If you're a tennis fan or just enjoy experiencing the sport from your living room - Virtua Tennis 4 is for you.
Virtua Tennis 4 Gets An Official Game-Pad: 8.3/10