I love tennis, yet I have never owned a tennis video game before, so I took a look at the two "known" games on the market: Virtua Tennis 2009 and Top Spin 3. I won't go into a review of Top Spin 3, but I will say the differences are HUGE! First off, VIRTUA's graphics are PS2, at best. This really surprised me for being an PC game. The characters are very repetitive in their appearances, sticking with the same base model and changing only slightly. As for the "pros", forget it. They look nothing like the real pros (Top Spin does). The gameplay is unrealistic. Unforced errors are pretty much non-existent, so hit away. You can only get points off of aces and outright winners.
The Career Mode is really poor in the fact that it takes a really, really, really long time to get through the various stages. For instance, you start out in the Amateur ranks at #100 and you must play many matches to advance. Typically, you will only advance one or two spots per tournament, depending upon whether you also play doubles or not. At no time can you move-up and challenge a high-ranking player. You have to stick with the players in your ranking bracket and move up from there. This process takes a very long time and the opponents offer you absolutely no competition once you get the hang of things. Once you reach the Top 10 of the Amateurs, you can then enter the Pro Tour. So, what's in the Pro Tour? More of the same, except you start at #150 and have to climb from there. Again, the competition is sad and boring.
Thus, playing through Career Mode is completely boring. What's worse (or good) is that you do not play 5 set matches. In fact, you don't even play 3 set matches. Instead, you play 3 "game" matches. Although this does speed you up through the ranks faster than if you had to play alllllll of thooooooose matches while trying to win best-of-three set matches. All in all, just a really dull game. Now, if you're just trying to have some good old fashioned fun, then have at it. There are a variety of "side games" to play as well as simply entering the Tournament Mode and using one of the unlocked Pros. If you want realism in your tennis, then choose Top Spin 3 (However, be prepared for absolute realism. The game is technically difficult as all 2k games are.)
40/100
Production GmbH Publisher Viva Media Release Date 2009 Controls Keyboard /Mouse
