A high star count is a necessity in World Tour mode, as it dictates which tournaments one may enter and if you're required to first slog through qualifying matches before each of the season-finale major tourneys. Players will sometimes tackle training exercises to improve various aspects of their skills, or may enter matches or promotional events to earn more stars. For every turn, players are given tickets with various movement points allotted, and where you ultimately land determines what sort of activity you'll undertake next. Rather than simply entering players in tournament after tournament and maybe peppering it with a few training sessions, the World Tour mode is presented very much like a board game. Though Virtua Tennis 4 recycles a great deal of gameplay from previous entries, it tries something new and novel with its career mode, and the result is mostly a success. If you just want to focus on hitting the ball and let the game take care of the rest, though, this is likely your best bet. While this approach makes the title simple for most folks to pick up and play, those who are really into tennis and demand intricacy and substance will likely be largely disappointed. Though there is a bit of strategy required from time to time to combat certain play styles, most matches can be won by either rushing the net and playing with fierce aggression or hanging around the baseline and placing shots until you force your opponent into a mistake. Even so, it's not an automatic point, as a well-positioned opponent can still return this special shot and put you right back on the defensive.ДЄdding to the more casual tone of the game is the fact that most returns find the ball landing in bounds. Triggering a super shot leads to a slow-motion view of your avatar hitting the ball, and the result is a low-flying, fast-spinning shot that is extremely tough to return. There's also a super shot that can be obtained by filling a meter utilizing your chosen playing style's favored shots.

The face buttons on the controller dictate slices, topspins or lob shots, and all players need do is run to the spot where the ball will arrive and hold down the corresponding button until it's time to make a shot. Virtua Tennis' calling card has always been its casual-friendly style. This is mostly the same game you've already played, and the minimal new features and upgrades fail to impress. With Virtua Tennis, there's a strange feeling of dГ©jГ vu, but not in a good way.

The somewhat unrepresented sport doesn't get a lot of attention in the U.S., but new entries in both the Top Spin and Virtua Tennis franchises have recently emerged. When you consider that new football, basketball and even golf video games are released every year, it's easy to forget that it's been a while since we've seen a new tennis game.

Virtua tennis 4 pc gameplay review