It also lasts longer than most action games nowadays, which only helps to underline how relatively shallow the gameplay is.
Because Virtua Tennis 4 doesn’t have all the official licenses your road to glory is divided up by country, as you move around like a board game and grind experience as you go.It’s perfectly enjoyable but it’s not a patch on Top Spin 4. The first person viewpoint initially seems like just a gimmick to sell the 3D option (which is admittedly impressive) but it works a lot better than you’d think with just a silhouette of the racquet to give you a point of reference.On the face of it then everything seems to be perfectly in order but the career mode is nowhere near as compelling as Top Spin 4’s, which remains one of the best for any sport game. Move works very well and proves to be a perfect fit for Virtua Tennis’s loose style of play.
This begins to push the game into Mario Tennis territory, but since it’s only reminiscent of the superior Nintendo 64 version we were perfectly happy with that.The other major selling point over the last game is support for PlayStation Move (and Kinect and Wii MotionPlus – although we didn’t play those versions). The other major addition is a super shot, which is exactly what it sounds like and is charged up by playing shots in your particular style. This gives everyone a speciality, such as a big serve or faster returns.It’s a very arcade style idea but it’s well balanced and adds an extra technical element as you adjust your play to deny your opponent a favourable shot. If you do want to delve deeper though Virtua Tennis 4 gives each of its players – whether real or custom-created – a range of different play styles. But although the graphics are noticeably improved, the gameplay is relatively unchanged.One of the series’ main selling points is that anyone can jump in and start playing as long as they can mash a face button and know what the left analogue stick does. This sequel is by Sega Japan’s AM3, who frankly we weren’t even sure existed anymore.
No other sport works anywhere near as well as a video game and by focusing on action rather than subtlety Virtua Tennis illustrates that fact perfectly.The last game in the series was Virtua Tennis 2009 from professional Sega fans Sumo Digital. Anyway, we’ve spoken often of the huge influence tennis has had on gaming and here you can see exactly why.