Pros: Simplistic arcade style, fun mini games, deep World Tour mode, improved graphics.
Cons: No online multiplayer option, no single play mini game outside of World Tour mode.
The bottom line: If you've played any previous titles in the Virtua Tennis Franchise, this 3rd version won't feel very different.
Originally released on the Sega platform, the Virtua Tennis franchise has been around for a long time. With the release of Virtua Tennis 3 for the Playstation 3, the developers changed some minor details, keeping the game almost exactly the same as previous titles. The much anticipated online feature is still left out from the game, making Virtua Tennis 3 feel quite incomplete.

As its name suggests, Virtua Tennis 3 is a tennis simulation game.

Storyline

You are a young tennis player hoping to become great one day. Climb your way up the world ranks and become the greatest tennis player in the world! Defeat strong adversaries and rivals along the way during your career. Game on!

Gameplay

Virtua Tennis 3 offers the World Tour mode, which replaces the career mode in previous titles. The World Tour mode is quite expansive. It allows players to compete in world tournaments around the world. The World Tour mode feels deep, with plenty of features available. There is a stamina meter, several mini games, practice exercises, and a “Tennis Academy” that provides options for adjusting attributes and skills. These features combined give players the ability to create a pretty well off in game player.

As for multiplayer options, it offers a match mode and a mini game mode. However, the mini game option only appears as a single player mode in the World Tour mode. Players will not be able to start a single player mini game on the main menu because it remains multiplayer only outside of the World Tour mode. I found this setup very puzzling; most other arcade style sports games actually promote its mini games on its main menu. The mini games are usually quite fun and addictive. Since they offer players the power to adjust character abilities, the mini games use up a lot of time.

The overall gameplay interface was astonishingly beautiful. Players that have smashed their way through previous Virtua Tennis titles will not be surprised with the overall feel of the game. Virtua Tennis 3 remains very simplistic and easy with an arcade-like feel. Starting quick matches are simple: the Start button has it all.

In game shots are well done. Depending on player position and amount of time a button is pressed, players will be able to execute slices, top spins, lobs, smashes, drops, and running shots. The large variety of shots that players can make was very impressive. It actually feels very much like a real tennis match.

Each match feels quite challenging during the later parts the of the World Tour mode. Players can easily set up challenging games from the main menu against the AI.
However, Virtua Tennis 3 only offers twenty players generated by the AI. The in game AI does not generate any generic tennis players, so there aren’t too many opponents to choose from. This became quite a problem and I noticed that I began to play the mini games more often than compete in tournaments against the same opponents.

Graphics

Virtua Tennis 3 offers plenty of eye candy for diehard Playstation 3 fans. The animations are detailed and movements of characters appear fluid. The cut scenes within the game aren’t so well directed though; players have generic lines, so the conversations become redundant after several matches.

Sound

I felt like I was watching a real tennis game during the matches. The background music isn’t very loud; the tennis effects are much more “in-your-face”. The audio was quite realistic and didn’t feel like a nuisance.

Online Multiplayer

No online multiplayer options at the moment…and probably not for a while. The Virtua franchise has a tradition going on of keeping players from playing each other online.

Final Thoughts

Virtua Tennis 3 for the Playstation 3 is not much of a deviance from previous titles in the same franchise. However, the new World Tour mode feels deep, even though it lacks a large variety of opponents to choose from and positions the mini games awkwardly. If you enjoy tennis and you’ve never played this series before, then Virtua Tennis 3 is a great choice. However, if you’ve played previous titles, you shouldn’t bother with this – it would feel like the same game, only prettier.