Customer Reviews:
 Tennis is now next generation, JUST! March 21, 2007
360 rox (Jersey, UK)
22 out of 23 found this review helpful
Wow is this game addictive! Okay, those who remember or have played any of the previous generations of this series won't be blown away by any of the changes for this outing, but everything truly has been improved however slightly.
The graphics are better (although all the previous versions were always excellent and ahead of their time anyway!). The motion capture is fantastic and each animation does seem to be individual to the character under your control! Service actions are truly amazing in their accuracy.The music i must say is still awful and players will either want to use music from their hard drive or mute it completely i would guess!
The improvements also include small additions which manage to push the game that much closer to perfection. There are now more mini games which are fun and addictive (brilliant multi player madness) and for the first time, multi-set tennis! now okay everyone will say, its about time, but its still been added so credit where its due this is what we've all been clamouring for and now we have it!
This game has also been ever so slightly tweaked on the difficulty on court. Where in previous versions, within a couple of hours of beginning your play you could become a master simply by holding down the button for as long as possible, this version does not let you do this. You will find bitter disappointment trying to play this way, as your player will simply end up diving all over the court. This time out you are required to move around the court much more before setting your player and hitting a winner!
I think with the incredible multi player fun and the easy to pick up but hard to master nature of this game will make it an instant hit! BUY THIS NOW if you are a tennis fan or fan of games that grab your attention and keep you coming back for more.
Another reason why the 360 is better than the PS3 for games April 2, 2007
DC (North Wales)
15 out of 16 found this review helpful
The first thing Tennis fans will ask is "is it better than Top Spin 2?" Possibly, depends on what you are looking for. Top Spin is more of a challenging simulation and the 1 player mode has real lasting value. I also found it quite difficult. VT3 is more of a "gamers" game, fun all the way with less focus on accurately representing the sport. I can definately say that the on-line play and features for VT3 are better than Top Spin and the main reason you should get this game. No hint of lag, options to enter tournaments, team up with friends for doubles and the usual single player ranked leagues make this one of the best xbox live games ever. This brings me neatly onto the title of the review - the PS3 version has no on-line play! This is an absolute travesty and yet again shows that the Xbox 360 should be the console of choice for all games fans. Identical graphics, identical single player modes but with the added benefit of live play and the always tempting achievement points.
 Smashing success April 13, 2007
Ak Skovborg-hansen (Kent)
11 out of 12 found this review helpful
What a game! - its fun, quick, addictive and even the missus wants to play.
The graphics are great (especially with an HDTV) and the gameplay is fluid. The characters look like their real counterparts and the courts and surrounding extras (crowd, linesmen, ball boys, etc) all act correctly and sound great.
The season mode is very addictive with the mini games being the high point of the game. - Very simple yet very hard to master fully.
Its a game taht you cant put down and will leave you saying, "just one more tournament and then i break into the top 50!".
Take note - put it down, breathe and go down the pub to remonstrate to your firends how you just beat Federer.
The best game on Xbox 360? March 26, 2007
Ms. K. Ballinger
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
Could be.
Totally awesome, fun and addictive. The best sports game on the console by a long way. Nothing comes close. Got this game on Saturday and was online beating people that very night. If you have played any of the previous versions then this is identical but looks far better. If you have not, why not? You are missing out. A real must buy title. Get it today.
An excellent tennis game from Sega. April 26, 2007
Mr. A. T. Whitaker
8 out of 9 found this review helpful
VIRTUA TENNIS 3 is the latest instalment in Sega's famed series. Not having been familiar with the previous games (well, not for playing anyway) I thought I'd rent this game out, and I'm really glad I did.
Singles and doubles games are all possible, with up to four players on the same XBox 360, and you can set the number of sets within a game if you think the standard number is too long. There are four difficulty levels for CPU players, and the latter two in particular will call for some good play. In exhibition matches you can select from a selection of world-renowned players of both genders including Tim Henman, Venus Williams, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova - and not only do they look a bit like their real-life counterparts, they reportedly tend to play like them, too. If you have a custom player created in the career mode (see later) then you can use him/her instead. Some genuine courts like Wimbledon are also present, with different ones having different surfaces, causing the ball to behave differently when it bounces.
In the career mode you actually get to design a tennis player (including hair colour, gender, what they wear, eye colour, face shape etc) and go through a 20-year career in which you try and have a successful career by entering tournaments and using the intervening time to balance rest with training to improve various attributes of your player. Rest is important so that your player doesn't lose so much stamina that s/he gets exhausted -- or, worse still, injured. If you do well enough your rank increases, which in turn gives you more choice in which tournaments you can enter, and you can also get upgrades to your wardrobe and racquets if you're lucky.
The training sections are kind of stupid from the outset, but they are genuinely fun to play. I won't spoil the surprise, but they actually work better than you might think for a game that otherwise faithfully represents tennis.
This game is an absolute joy to play. It's straightforward enough to pick up and get good rallies and shots, but (if you have a suitable difficulty setting) challenging enough to give you a bit of a run for your money. You get three different kinds of basic shots, but the power is determined by how long before your player actually whacks the ball you press the button relevant to the shot you wanted to play - and you use the movement stick to determine where to hit the ball. Dives, backhanders etc are all done for you only if the situation calls for them, so make sure that you aren't so far away from the ball too often that you keep diving to return the ball or you may not get up in time for its return!
The game's graphics, animation, sound, gameplay and overall atmosphere are all incredible. It's beautifully presented, and plays so amazingly well that you just know that you are playing a classic of its kind.
Quibbles are minor. If I had any, (a) there seems to be a bit of a jump from difficulty level Easy to Hard (the two intermediate ones); (b) the music got on my nerves before too long, so I had to go into the Sound settings and lower its volume to almost nothing - I kind of wished that the music wouldn't play during actual matches because I feel that it ruins the atmosphere and reminds you that you're playing a videogame, thus detracting from the feeling that you're really playing at Wimbledon or whatever; and (c) quite frequently the action replays (you usually get one after the point that won a player a set) are not shown from a particularly good angle - it seems to be the greatest of fortune if you get one where you get a good slow-motion view of the action without it simply being a close-up of where the ball landed and just seeing the ball whizz past the camera without being able to fully admire your handiwork and the opponent's vain attempt at recovery.
This is easily among the best tennis games I've ever played in my life. Take a look.
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