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Tennis that'll test your timing and patience
posted by JMichaud (BETHESDA, MD) Jun 18, 2009
Member since Jan 2008
When Top Spin 3 came out for the Wii, hard core gamers had a tennis simulator that they can play (unlike Mario Power Tennis or the tennis in WiiSports which are for the casual gamer)
The biggest complaints against Top Spin 3 was that it didn't have online play or character creation.
Now comes Virtual Tennis 2009 on the Wii, which corrects these shortcomings. But not all is good in this game.
You get the standard modes of play: a quick match against the AI or player, a career mode where you rise from amateur to professional tennis player, and online matches against your friends (and only your friends).
The problems start with the controls - this is not a pick up and play game.
Virtual Tennis 2009 is all about timing. When you get in place to make a shot, a bar appears just above your avatar and a line zips through that bar either from left to right or right to left (don't know how that's determined).
At the time you make contact with the ball, if the line is on the left section of the bar, the shot will go left. If it's on the right side, the ball will go right. And if it's in the middle, the ball will go straight up the middle.
Problem is, the line moves very fast, and it is easy to miss a shot. Also it's, hard to place shots with such a short window of oppertunity.
Adding to the headaches are the slice and drop shots. To make those, you hit the ball at the right time and swing softly.
Many times, I either hit the ball to hard, or the game didn't register the swing, and I lost the point. The AI, of course, doen't have to deal with these problems.
This game will take a lot of time and practice to nail down the timing and the swing techniques.
But if you do get it down pat, this game become a lot of fun, and there's a lot to do here - tournaments, mini games, online play and multiplayer modes.
Virtua Tennis 2009 is one game you should try before you buy - just to see how well you deal with the timing and controls. RENT IT
The biggest complaints against Top Spin 3 was that it didn't have online play or character creation.
Now comes Virtual Tennis 2009 on the Wii, which corrects these shortcomings. But not all is good in this game.
You get the standard modes of play: a quick match against the AI or player, a career mode where you rise from amateur to professional tennis player, and online matches against your friends (and only your friends).
The problems start with the controls - this is not a pick up and play game.
Virtual Tennis 2009 is all about timing. When you get in place to make a shot, a bar appears just above your avatar and a line zips through that bar either from left to right or right to left (don't know how that's determined).
At the time you make contact with the ball, if the line is on the left section of the bar, the shot will go left. If it's on the right side, the ball will go right. And if it's in the middle, the ball will go straight up the middle.
Problem is, the line moves very fast, and it is easy to miss a shot. Also it's, hard to place shots with such a short window of oppertunity.
Adding to the headaches are the slice and drop shots. To make those, you hit the ball at the right time and swing softly.
Many times, I either hit the ball to hard, or the game didn't register the swing, and I lost the point. The AI, of course, doen't have to deal with these problems.
This game will take a lot of time and practice to nail down the timing and the swing techniques.
But if you do get it down pat, this game become a lot of fun, and there's a lot to do here - tournaments, mini games, online play and multiplayer modes.
Virtua Tennis 2009 is one game you should try before you buy - just to see how well you deal with the timing and controls. RENT IT
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