Virtua Tennis 2009 (Wii)

GameSpot editors' review

• CNET editors' rating: 3.0 stars Good
  Detailed editors' rating
  Overall score: 6.0 (3.0 stars)

• Reviewed by:
  Tom Shea
• Reviewed on: 06/23/2009
• Released on: 06/09/2009
• Originally published on GameSpot: Virtua Tennis 2009 (Wii) Review

To climb to the top of the tennis ranks in real life, you need to be a world-class athlete, put in countless hours perfecting your craft, and have an innate talent to hit a felt-covered ball extremely hard. In Virtua Tennis 2009, you just need stubborn determination. The only skill that will be put to the test in Sega's latest entry in its long-running tennis franchise is persistence. It will take more than 10 hours in World Tour mode before you face a competent opponent, which means it's harder to stay awake during matches than to win them. The core mechanics are well done, letting you easily hit the ball anywhere on the court, but the game is so devoid of life and is so insultingly easy that it can never capture the thrill of victory.

6212453>Online play is broken.None

There is a definite learning curve in figuring out how to play the Wii version of Virtua Tennis. This is the second tennis game to use the Wii MotionPlus (Grand Slam Tennis is the other), and the early moments with the ultraprecise peripheral can be grueling. The speed and angle of your shot are replicated with punishing realism, so you'll find yourself slamming the ball wildly all over the court or just missing the ball entirely. After you spend some time adjusting to the controls, it's possible to hit with accuracy, but it's certainly something you'll have to work on. Using the standard motion controls isn't quite as difficult, but it will still take a while to come to grips with the timing needed to execute point-winning shots. There are four shot types--drop, lob, slice, and top spin--and other than the lob, which requires you to hold A when you swing, they're based entirely on how you swing, so it will take some practice before you can consistently pull off the correct shot.

However, even after you master your stroke, there are some noticeable problems. The biggest issue is slowdown, which plagues your every move. Even during single-player offline matches, the game stutters and crawls, making it difficult to nail the perfect shot or anticipate where your opponent's return will land. The animations are also inconsistent. Although serving the ball or swinging your backhand looks fine, whenever you do something slightly abnormal, the game doesn't feel right. For example, when you run backward, your character never looks toward the ball, which makes return shots awkward, and you have a tendency to hit a stumbling shot even when the ball is in easy reach. None of these quirks by themselves kill the fun, but when combined, they make the action feel unrealistic.

The main draw in Virtua Tennis is the World Tour mode, but like the on-court action, what initially feels like a robust experience quickly devolves into monotony. You start as the 100th-ranked amateur in the world and must win tournaments around the globe to earn some credentials. Winning a tournament has you rise one to five spots in the rankings, so it will take quite a few matches before you get to the top. However, while it should be a thrill to finally prove your worth, it turns out to be a seemingly never-ending drag. Once you get a handle on the controls, Virtua Tennis is just too darn easy. You can blow past your embarrassingly awful opponents, rarely losing a point, let alone an entire game. But you have to play through dozens of these tournaments to finally achieve pro status, which takes more than 10 hours of beating on helpless opponents. With no difficulty switch to toggle, you're stuck playing against these incompetent buffoons for hours on end, which makes for a tedious experience.

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Where to buy

Virtua Tennis 2009 (Wii): $21.77 - $33.99

store	price	in stock?	rating
	$33.99	No
AllAmericanDirect.com	$28.99	No
	$21.77	Yes
RadioShack.com	$29.99	Yes

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