Sega game lives on

Author's Rating:

Pros: Great fun, easy controls, great animations and World Tour Mode

Cons: Graphics, no made-up characters for World Tour Mode.

The Bottom Line: 
Get this game. even if your not a tennis fan, you'll love it. Definitely a better buy than SCTPT2 for an even better price.

Author's Review
VIRTUA TENNIS 2
DEVELOPER: SEGA/Hitmaker
PLAYERS: 1-4(multitap)

*UPDATES*
I have added a womens player guide, a World Tour Character creation guide and changed some of my views on the females and the World Tour Mode(I have finally built up the patience to actually try it and its awesome!)


I purchased Virtua tennis for $20 and was just expecting a game that I could play for a few hours, nothing special. But i was surprised to see how good Virtua Tennis 2 actually was. The cover and presentation of the game were, I admit, rather tacky looking but the actual game itself outdone those other imperfections nicely.

PRESENTATION:

The game's presentation is no where close to the standard of the Smash Court Tennis series, but I didn't find it a major problem. The game basically starts off as some flashing logos of the companies names,etc and a 50hz/60hz screen options page. The start screen is just a collage of some of the in-game characters and the name: VIRTUA TENNIS 2, in bold writing, accompanying it was a deep American voice saying the games name and a whooshing sound. Press start written clearly beneath.
The menu, was very basic but the green and blue seemed to touch it up nicely.
Tournament, Exhibition, World Tour and Options are displayed on this page.

GRAPHICS:

Visually, VT2 does good but for a ps2 game, it wasn't up to standard. Most likely because this is a Sega Dreamcast game that has been changed into a Playstation title. The players are a little squarey and the shadows the same. The courts are grainy and the grass looks horrible(yep, its stripey). The crowd is made up leggo men but they look better than SCTPT2's crowd.

The characters movements are fluid and show great realism to an actual tennis match. The powerful groundstrokes are emulated well and the serves look great. There is a wide variety of shot animations so you won't be seeing the exact same smash or volley every time.

The character models are quite life-like and the faces show great likeness to the pro's, though some players look weird or the faces are showing a strange expression. As in SCTPT2, the males are better visually than the females, but not as bad. The reason being that the females are very thin and their animations look less detailed. The forehands tend to look like reversed two handed backhands and you can never tell when an opponent's stroke is going to be strong or weak as they all look fairly the same. The males look superb especially Pat Rafter who looks extremely close to the real thing.

SOUND:

The in-game sound is ok, but I expected clearer crisper sound. The sound of the ball hitting the racquet resembles a ping pong ball hitting the ground, which is disturbing at first, but then you get used to it. The line calls are clear and the crowd clapping is a nice little feature.
The music is hard pumping energy songs that suit the game well. The music is played throughout the game as you play. There is no option for no music so you can't play a quite little game.

PLAYERS

The players in the game are based on the top 50 of the later 90's

MEN:

Patrick Rafter - Serve and Volley
Tim Henman - Serve and Volley
Cedric Pioline - All-Rounder
Yevegny Kafelnikov - All-Rounder
Tommy Haas - Strong Forehand
Thomas Enqvist - Strong Backhand(huh?)
Magnus Norman - Fast Runner
Carlos Moya - Powerful Strokes (clay specialist)

WOMEN:

Venus Williams - All-Rounder
Serena Williams - Powerful Strokes
Linday Davenport - All-Rounder
Monica Seles - Hard Hitter
Mary Pierce - Strong Forehand
Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario - Various shots(.....)
Ai Sugiyama - Fast Runner
Alexandra Stevenson - Strong Backhand

I like the team of players but I don't really like the fast runner gimmick, or the various shots as they don't really do much. The fast runner basically is faster than everyone else, but thats the only asset they really have. Various shots is also pointless, its just says that the player has various shots and will mix it up more(eg. do lobs)... It sounds special but its not. I have written a guide for the players at the end of this review*

CONTROLS:

The controls in VT2 are extremely simple and fun to use. I found myself catching onto it as soon as I turned it on. The game plays by the law that holding the button longer when you hit it will make it faster or have more spin/slice(depending on what shot). Timing is not a factor in this game and angled shots are simpler.
BASIC CONTROLS:

X- Top spin(normal shot)
O - Slice
[]- Lob shot
triangle - Change View

The top spin shot is the most useful shot as its power is great and it can create great angles. the lob is pretty useless unless you are playing against real human players with no experience.

GAMEPLAY

Virtua Tennis 2's gameplay is one it's best assets. The game is extremely fun and addictive and so very simple to catch on to. There is 4 stages of difficulty - easy,normal,hard and very hard so you can play at your level and progress slowly to more advanced levels. The A.I in the game is smart and can easily work out your weaknesses and use them to beat you. Though the players are good, they are not impossible to beat and play very fairly.

In Exhibition Mode, you can play as your favourite players and create dream matches or dream teams. There is singles/doubles/mixed doubles features so you can play with all your friends. one bit i didn't like was the game count, only 6 games and one set so you couldn't play a real 3/5 set match.

World Tour Mode is the core of this game. The object is to create a player(male and female) and bring them through year by year tournaments to take them to the top. 4 realsitic faces are available for each gender and about 18 or so hairstyles(they even snuck in a little Matina Navratilova hairstyle for the women). You can choose height and weight and shirts,shorts and racquets.
There are many different training missions that help build up stat in certain fields of play. eg. stomp man works on footwork, Pin crasher on service. I found this frustrating at first, but soon it payed off and was great fun. The training mini games go up in level so you won't be seeing yourself training on the same level every time. You gain money and shops from winning rounds and tournaments and you use that money to buy racquets, doubles partner contracts etc. There is different levels of play(one to five) and the AI rasies in difficulty as the level does.
This is great fun but I would prefer to play against original players rather than big name professionals every time.

Tournament mode is just a tournament that you put your chosen player into. Basically Arcade mode. The tournament plays every different round in a different country and court. The final being in Tokyo. Pretty pointless unless you like playing the arcade style tennis. Ranking scores are given out at the end so you can beat your score every time.

OVERALL:

PRESENTATION: 5.5/10
GRAPHICS:7.5/10
SOUND:7/10
PLAYERS:8/10
GAMEPLAY:10/10

OVR: 38/50

Virtua tennis is a great game and I recommend you buy it. Its not the best visually but graphics arent everything in a game. An excellent play.

I hoped you like my review.
Feel free to comment.


*MENS PLAYER GUIDE:

Pat Rafter: Serve and Volley
Main Weapon: First Serve and volley
Tactic: Try to hit a max serve far out to the side and move in closer bit by bit until you reach the net. The big wide serve will usally leave your other opponents court empty so take advantage of the easy balls. Aces are quite easy with Pat

Tim Henman: Serve and Volley
Main Weapon: First Serve and Backhand Volley
Tactic: The same as Pat rafter but be harder on the serves as Tim's isn't as fast as Pat's. Use your slice often.

Cedric Pioline: All-Rounder
Main Weapon: Groundstrokes
Tactic: Hit a big first serve and take advantage with a hard return. Your strokes need to be powerful or you don't have much of a chance. Hit the net when you want to end a point quicker.

Yevgeny Kafelnikov: All-Rounder
Main Weapon: Groundstrokes(more on backhand)
Tactic: Power is the key word. Yevgeny has a great stroke so use it well and you will find yourself winning more points. His backhand is great, especially on the return.

Tommy Haas: Strong Forehand
Main Weapon: Forehand
Tactic: A hard serve is crucial to win with Haas so try to max it out regularly. Attempt to make every shot a forehand to put pressure on your opponent. Avoid backand unless you are in a good position.

Thomas Enqvist: Strong Backhand
Main Weapon: Backhand
Tactic: See Tommy Haas, but with the backhand. Forehand is alright so don't avoid using it.

Magnus Norman: Fast Runner
Main Weapon: Footwork
Tactic: I don't really see a good one but I say just run up to all your opponents shots early and then fire a powerful stroke and end the points with volleys. your speed will make it easier to catch up to high lobs.

Carlos Moya: Powerful Strokes
Main Weapon: Strokes
Tactic: Only use Carlos on clay as he has poor footwork. Use his groundstrokes to overpower opponents. Try to end games quickly because he suffers under long rallies which contain alot of running back and forth.

*WOMENS PLAYER GUIDE:

Venus Williams: All-Rounder
Main Weapon: Strokes and Serve
Tactic: Hit a big first serve and return with a blistering stroke. Take it to the net once in a while to end a point quicker.

Serena Williams: Powerful Strokes
Main Weapon: Strokes
Tactic: Power is the key to Serena's A game so try to run down your opponents shots and hit a winner every time. Great especially at the baseline.

Lindsay Davenport: All-Rounder
Main Weapon: Serve and Strokes
Tactic: Lindsay's height(6'2"1/2, WOW) makes her a great server and volleyer. Her strokes are powerful and she can reach high balls with ease. One of the best female players.

Monica Seles: Hard Hitter
Main Weapon: Strokes and Volley
Tactic: Being a left hander, Monica can pull off great angles and is very unpredictable. Use her hard strokes to make winners. She also excels at the net.

Mary Pierce: Strong Forehand
Main Weapon: Forehand
Tactic: See Tommy Haas*

Aranxta Sanchez-Vicario: Various Shots
Main Weapon: N/A
Tactic: Not much I can really say here but to just mix it up and play her like a baseliner.

Ai Sugiyama: Fast Runner
Main Weapon: Footwork
Tactic: Run down your opponents shots and set up for a powerful groundstroke. Hit the net and don't be afraid of high lobs. You can easily run them down.

Alexandra Stevenson: Strong Backhand
Main Weapon: Backhand
Tactic: See Thomas Enqvist*

WORLD TOUR CHARACTER CREATION GUIDE:

Here is a little guide to help you create the best players.

MEN:

Name - they only have 10 spaces(:() so I advise something like, J Micahel or Dan Hume.

Face - your choice really, but I like the headband with the long hair going out the back.

Playing hand: Choose the one that you are most used to.

Backhand: No difference, but 1 handed has more style.

Height - A tall player is a wise choice but smaller players aren't bad. Around 6'4" is good.

Weight - It really depends on the height of the player but don't match them up to average weights as they will end up looking bigger.

Clothes - Your choice, but a white polo and black shorts is a classic tennis style.

Racquet - Your choice

Wristband - Your choice but both looks good.

WOMEN:

Name - Your choice (see men but apply female names)

Face - The first and last face are good, but its entirely up to you. The cap looks nice.

Playing hand: Choose the one that you are most used to.

Backhand: No difference, but 1 handed has more style.

Height - Again taller players work better, but if you liek a speedy game, around 5'7" is good.

Weight - See men's weight*

Clothes - Up to you but White top and black skirt is a nice clean look.

Racquets - Your choice

Wristbands - Your choice, but left hand is cool looking

PLAYING STYLES:

I think that All-Rounder is great or Serve and Volley as it is dead effective. Try to avoid fast runner and various shots, you know how those players turned out (",) lol.