Virtua Tennis 2009 Review
The People’s Tennis Game's Wii Debut Enhanced by the Motion Plus
Jun 17, 2009
Sega’s original 1999 arcade game Virtua Tennis introduced a simple yet fun approximation of modern tennis. Its ports and sequels on the Dreamcast, Playstation 2, and eventually PS3 and Xbox 360 cemented Sega’s place as the go-to company for accessible tennis videogames.
The Nintendo Wii, with one of its most popular games being Wii Sports Tennis, would seem like the perfect place for a Virtua Tennis game. It has taken until the introduction of Nintendo’s Wii motion plus peripheral however, for Sega to finally design a Wii entry of its franchise. The results in Virtua Tennis 2009 are both pleasing and surprising.
A Deeper Tennis Game on the Wii
Wii versions of games have always been seen as simplified or more user-friendly versions for people not experienced with videogames. The proper term to describe how VT2009 feels on the Wii compared to PS3 or Xbox 360 would be “more natural,” but also somewhat more difficult.
Hitting the ball in VT2009 with a standard controller involves little more than hitting a button and pointing the control stick in the desired direction for the shot. Moves like forehands, backhands, and smashes are handled automatically. This is part of what separates Virtua Tennis from more realistic simulations like the Top Spin series.
The Wii version of VT2009 offers a greater degree of control over shots. The aforementioned shot variations are manually done by player movements that are represented naturally, especially with the motion plus. Because players must now actually think to do the right shot at the right time, playing VT2009 requires a greater degree of skill on the Wii than on the other platforms.
The Same Accessible Tennis Game
Outside of the Wii remote factor, VT2009 on every platform is essentially a tweaked version of the 2007 Virtua Tennis 3. The series has chosen to stick with a winning formula with a simple cover that reveals some hidden depth, while also addressing previous criticisms.
Even though Virtua Tennis at face value is a pick-up-and-play experience, playing the career mode and learning techniques eventually reveals it to be a more strategic game. Perhaps the franchise’s best trait is that it’s easy to learn but also fun and worthwhile to master. This is one of the best characteristics a game can have, and it’s one that VT2009 fully retains, even if it ultimately isn’t the deepest tennis game out there.
The career mode itself follows the same basic format as previous games – players ascend hundreds of ranks to eventually become the top tennis player.Players must now however start in an amateur league. There they’ll face not the famous pros, which critics have complained about for falseness, but randomly generated rookies initially like in the Top Spin games.
VT2009 has also added a lot of new mini-games – one of the more unique traits of the Virtua Tennis series. These include knocking out blocks, attacking pirates, avoiding balls to practice footwork, bowling, and even feeding pandas. Some may say thing like this look ridiculous in a modern tennis game, but Virtua Tennis is an arcade game after all, and these mini-games only enhance that feel.
The last major point of significance for VT2009 is the fact that it has online play on every platform. Virtua Tennis 3 only had online play on the Xbox 360 version and not the PS3 or Playstation Portable versions.
Bottom Line
Virtua Tennis 2009 is still the same pick-up-and-play experience it’s always been, but it’s also perhaps the first good showcase for how the Wii’s motion control can actually add depth to a game.
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