Virtua Tennis 2009 Review
Written By Gaetano Prestia
The Virtua Tennis franchise has barely changed since its first appearance on the Dreamcast way back at the start of the decade. It’s a real disappointment that the 360 and PS3 versions of Virtua Tennis 2009 are essentially the same game that we loved on SEGA’s last console. Merely updating the player roster and adding a few mini-games just isn’t enough nowadays. Thankfully, with great implementation of Wii MotionPlus and motion controls, Virtua Tennis 2009 on Wii takes the series in an all-new direction.
The heart of Virtua Tennis 2009 is the same as previous VT titles – you create a player and lead them through the tennis rankings to eventually reach the No. 1 rank. You train the player by participating in mini-games to improve particular areas of skill and stamina and then hit the court at some of the major tennis tournaments held around the world. The mini-games are actually great fun, with some having you knocking down shopping items and feeding animals using your tennis skills. There’s a great variety and enough enjoyment to make them feel less like an obligation to build up your character’s overall skill. That’s really important, because you can’t go into a match against a highly ranked foe without having trained beforehand. Tennis games like Top Spin have really tedious training games that make you feel like you’re going through the motions, whereas Virtua Tennis actually offers some enjoyable and challenging mini-games to help you built up the stats and ready to take on Roger at Rod Laver.
Virtua Tennis 2009 definitely shines with MotionPlus, as it’s a far more realistic experience with it and is highly recommended to get the best out of the title. If you don’t have it, you’ll have to time your swing in accordance with the bar that appears on top of your player. A marker swings from left to right in the bar, so if you want to swing left, you’ll have to wait for the marker to be in the left area of the bar before you swing. It won’t matter how you swing the remote because it all depends on where the marker in the bar is. It’s not very realistic but still works well and is surprisingly accessible.
With MotionPlus, the bar is removed and you have to swing the remote whatever way you want to hit the ball as if you were playing with a real tennis racquet. The learning curve is quite steep and you’ll definitely have to do some of the tutorials before you play this way, but the benefits of playing with MotionPlus are clear once you master it. It’s a far more realistic way to play the title. There are some slight inaccuracies with slicing and volleying, but they are very rare and overall, the experience MotionPlus offers is excellent.
Movement of your player can be controlled by the nunchuck or you can choose the CPU to do it for you like in Wii Sports. Having the CPU do it is fine, but there are a few issues that dampen the experience. Issues like overrunning the ball, bad positioning and animation glitches can all be really frustrating. These issues were present in Wii Sports but were overlooked because of the simple gameplay and lack of game modes. In Virtua Tennis 2009, you kind of expect a little bit more and so some of you might find more enjoyment in controller the player yourself. Using the nunchuck is fine and doesn’t require much getting used to, which is good.
The online mode isn’t very deep, but you shouldn’t have trouble finding someone to play a match against. We found a player within a few seconds and while there was a bit of lag every now and then, the match was OK for the most part.
Presentation wise, Virtua Tennis 2009 is a major letdown. Granted, we never really expected this to be a standout title because Virtua Tennis games have never been known for outstanding visuals. The framerate is inconsistent and drops frequently and the textures and character animations are all really sub par. Animations on a whole are a major letdown, with balls not even making contact with the racquets and players skating along the ground. Couple this with pretty horrendous crowd animations and you have an overall terrible graphical presentation. The sound doesn’t fair much better, with the typically annoying Virtua Tennis arcade music playing constantly and weak sound effects from the matches and crowds.
The Final Verdict
Virtua Tennis 2009 on Wii is the superior of all versions of the game. The gameplay is a lot of fun and the MotionPlus, even with a steep learning curve, really makes the game worth playing. The World Tour mode isn’t anything new but still offers enough challenge and depth to be enjoyable. There are plenty of mini-games and an OK online multiplayer component. The presentation is the only major letdown and ultimately holds the title back from being an absolute must-have. Still, the gameplay is good enough to make this one of the best sports titles on the Wii. It’s not quite as good as Grand Slam Tennis, but it’s pretty close.
Gameplay
8.0/10
MotionPlus adds a new level of enjoyment to the game. Even without it, there’s plenty there to enjoy the gameplay and get a lot out of it.
Graphics
4.5/10
Early-generation PS2-like graphics with horrid animations.
Sound
5.5/10
Cheesy background music and average sound effects.
Value
8.5/10
A lengthy career mode and plenty of official tennis superstars make this a worthwhile experience.
Overall
7.6/10