Review: Not quite ready for Wimbledon.
The partnership between THQ and Sega is an interesting one. We've seen remakes of classic Genesis titles and toned down versions of current franchises. As you might expect, some of the titles have turned out better than others. Sonic Advance 1 & 2 have been great extensions of the classic two-dimensional adventures of the blue hedgehog. Altered Beast played almost the same on the GBA as it did in the arcade and on the Genesis. Even Jet Grind Radio made a successful leap onto the portable platform. It makes perfect sense that the dynamic development duo would bring Virtua Tennis, one of the best console tennis games to date, to the GBA.
What set the original Virtua Tennis at the top of the ladder was an effective (and easily accessible) control scheme. Of course, the well-modeled characters helped the effort, as did an incredible sense of realism. In the transition from the Dreamcast to the GBA, something happened. The portable version of Virtua Tennis bears little resemblance to it's older sibling and just doesn't pull together the same kind of gaming magic.
When all of the chips are on the table, Virtua Tennis just isn't a heavy hitter. The graphics are bland, the music is more annoying than anything else, and the animations remind me of a cross between the 8-bit and 16-bit tennis titles from Nintendo. Fortunately, the actual gameplay is still intact, although it is a little bit worse for the wear. On the GBA, Virtua Tennis never seems to capture any type of intensity, nor does it seem to require much skill. If you have any video tennis experience at all, you will be able to excel in each of the gameplay modes.
Probably the biggest thing going for Virtua Tennis is the slew of mini-games that are included. Set up as part of the World Tour portion of the game, wherein you must bring your player up from the bottom of the ranks, the mini-games are a series of drill that you use to hone your player's skills so that they can compete with the best. Each of the mini-games are unique and add a little something special to the overall experience. If you want my honest opinion, the mini-games are the only thing worth the price of admission.
