Okay, what game made Virtua Tennis the second best console tennis game? Top Spin. What Virtua Tennis was to Activision's 2600 Tennis Top Spin is to Virtua Tennis. Yes, it's that much of a leap.
Virtua Tennis was absolutely breathtaking 3 years ago. Who could top it. Microsoft? Who woulda thunk it. TS has more, more controls; drop shots, risk shots, back spins, top spins, lobs and safe shots. Not just "hit A". After the controls you have more unlockable clothing, shoes, accesories, variable haicuts/color, racquets, a few dozen court locations to unlock, numerous real world sponsorships, real corporate advertising in venues, selectable skills, player types and last but not least... You yourself get to decide what strengths your character develops. You can allocate 14 stars (5 is the maximum for any given skill.) to serve, forehand, backhand and volley.
If you play 10 games, check how it is you're gaining points. Are you winning with your forehand/backhand? Stack those and your stregth becomes dominating. Can you time the serve meter and ace players on a regular basis? Max your serve and your competition can't even return your shot, male characters can be clocked up to 144 miles per hour on a serve.
There is just so much that makes this game good. It's biggest drawback? Rubber band AI. If you remember how some racing games wouldn't let you get too far ahead or behind you know what it is. If you're beating the snot out of a 30 something ranked player and you're in the top 10, he/she will stage a comeback that makes them look like Bjorn Bjorg, Jimmy Connors or John McEnroe when they were winning majors. A little consistency in AI would be better, maybe next time.
However when they come close to you if you manage to not be overcome they wilt just as quickly as they sprung to life.
If you don't like tennis games, you may not like this. If you thought Virtua Tennis was a Dreamcast crown jewel you're going to be amazed that someone left that title as far in the dust as this one has. It really is that much better.
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