In 2002, a PlayStation 2 version of Virtua Tennis was released, and whilst it was a worthy entry to the franchise, it looked surprisingly worse than the Dreamcast version. So, when we heard about the PSP version making an appearance we were obviously delighted, but cautious, since the game hasn't offered much evolution since the first title.
Virtua Tennis World Tour picks up where it's generally excellent predecessors left off. It's not the long-awaited Virtua Tennis 3, but essentially Virtua Tennis 2 in portable form. And to their credit, Sega have made a few tweaks to ensure the title feels new, even to those who are veterans of the series.
The lineup is completely different, as you'd expect. The female lineup will consist of new Wimbledon champion Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Lindsay Davenport, Daniela Hantuchova, Amelie Mauresmo, and Nicole Vaidisova. Meanwhile, the male lineup will feature the likes of Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Tim Henman, Lleyton Hewitt, Juan Carlos Ferrero, Tommy Haas, Sebastien Grosjean and David Nalbandian. For those unhappy with the tennis pros there is also going to be a custom player option, so you can replicate yourself in the game. Or just make the ugliest, vilest looking creature your imagination can muster.
Multiplayer is an extremely welcome addition.
Sega has also revealed to us that there will be four new mini-games to build up your character stats. These are Blockbuster, Fruit Dash, Blocker and Balloon Smash respectively. The mini-games, though often a superb addition to previous titles in the series, did become a little stale after a while, so the inclusion of four new mini-games should make the game seem fresher.
Perhaps one of the biggest reasons to own Virtua Tennis World Tour on the PSP will be the wireless mode. The game will include all the multiplayer options from its predecessors, and will include Wi-Fi support for up to sixteen players. However, finding sixteen players to play against could be a hell of a task, but the option is there.
The one concern we have about the game is how well the analog stick will perform. The controls in previous Virtua Tennis game have been so perfectly balanced and attuned to the needs of videogame tennis that if the analog stick is too shaky or sensitive, then the entire game could end up being marred. Our fingers are crossed.
The action is so clear, beautifully depicted by the PSP's superb screen
From the images we've seen the game actually looks better than its PlayStation 2 cousin. It isn't quite up to the level of the Dreamcast visuals, but the detail in the players is amazing, and this looks like an authentic game of tennis.
Virtua Tennis World Tour will be available on the first day of the PlayStation Portable's launch. We'll definitely be picking up a copy of this anticipated title, so except a review near the PSP launch.
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