Virtua Tennis 3 Critic Reviews

Although past versions of Virtua Tennis have always exhibited a finely tuned but "arcadey" feel, VT3 is a full bodied simulation. This new outing from Sega AM3's ever appealing sports series is a deeper, more demanding and serious beast than ever before and yet easily manages to maintain the 'fun' factor that is synonymous with the series.

It might not be online, but if you have three friends, who really cares?

When a game is this well presented, fluid to play and with such a well-balanced learning curve enabling anyone to pick up and play in just a few seconds, even those not that keen on tennis can't help but appreciate such finesse.

VT3 is pure, unadulterated genius. It was everyone's favourite Dreamcast game for a good reason.

It has a great atmosphere and is extremely easy to pick up.

A fun tennis game, but it is too bad that it does not have internet play. Otherwise it is right up there with the more serious "Top Spin 2."

It’s basically the same game we’ve been playing for the past five or six years, but it’s received a nice visual upgrade and it’s hard to knock a game too much for repeating such a consistently enjoyable performance.

No giant leap for the series, but enough improvements to be a must-buy for VT fans...Our only major complaint is the absence of online play.

An outstandingly well-made game. Its technically impressive visuals, easy to learn but hard to master gameplay, and great selection of mini-games makes Virtua Tennis 3 an ace.

Just as good as we all remember it, basically because nothing much has changed.

Sure, it doesn't do anything really new, but it doesn't have to: it's just a lot of fun, and that's more than enough reason to recommend it.

While Virtua Tennis 3 is undoubtedly a relatively mild updating of what has gone before, which is particularly surprising when the length of time that’s passed since the last full instalment is considered, it still manages to convincingly retain its crown as the king of the tennis roost.

The Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 versions are nearly identical, particularly in appearance – the graphics appear to be pretty much the same. But there is one very important difference: The PS3 version does not support online play of any kind.

Virtua Tennis 3 is a great game that holds true to that winning formula. There are some new minigames, and the career mode has been fleshed out, but it's clear that the developers were focused on refining the gameplay rather than reinventing it.

The multiplayer stuff is so good that without it, the game simply wouldn't be as enjoyable. World Tour is immensely entertaining, but played solo it eventually becomes a slightly lonely, hollow experience.

This new outing for Sega’s ever-appealing sports series is a deeper, more serious and demanding beast than before, yet happily manages to retain the series’ lighthearted atmosphere and is, on occasion, utterly bonkers.

Microsoft fans win the console pissing contest by default, thanks to Xbox Live. The 360 includes online play. The PlayStation 3 version doesn't, a puzzling decision that gives Sony's opponents one more thing to complain about.

Virtua Tennis 3 has a few minor issues that can easily be overlooked given the accessible gameplay and fun factor.

The game is as close to Pong as the London Philharmonic Orchestra is to a caveman banging a rudimentary drum and, continuing that analogy, Virtua Tennis 3 is just as primal and instinctive as its most ancient of relatives.

What it boils down to is that if your TV has 1080p support and you don't mind the absence of online support, the PlayStation 3 version is the way to go. However, if you tend to run things in 720p, and you want to check out some decent online play, the Xbox 360 version wins out.