Virtua Tennis 2009/Grand Slam Tennis

First off, the major addition here is that Sega finally had enough sense to get some decent online modes going in a game that thrives on its multiplayer:

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sega

We took on board the feedback of fans after Virtua Tennis 3 and have really pushed the online element this time around. Virtua Tennis 2009 features friendly online play where the player can play the game using any of the Professional players or their own custom character and with their preferred settings. We also have ranked online play where players can compete to become the world number one on a level playing field using their custom character. For the first time players can also enjoy many of the mini-games online. We’ve also introduced an all new weekly mode called Online Tour where players can participate in a set number of events over the course of a week which earns them points. At the end of each week the players with the most points is declared the Online Tour Champion.

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'Bout time. I guess it took Top Spin 3 to finally get them off their ass and put some decent online modes in there.

It's also cool that the Wii version will have all of the online stuff that the "real versions" of the game have.

And the Wii version will be taking advantage of the motion-plus controls, so presumably, the controls will be tight.

Eurogamer seems to like the way the Wii version turned out.

Should be interesting to see how this one ends up when it drops on May 19.

I hope the emphasis is on playability rather than technicality. The dreamcast version is my all time favorite to date because it was accurate and fun to play.

Top Spin 3 destroys this.

I have a feeling the gameplay will be inferior to Top Spin 3, but since Top Spin 3 is pretty much unplayable online thanks to exploits in the create-a-player system and serving mechanic, I am willing to give the new VT a shot.

From what they said in the Eurogamer article, it sounds like they are trying to make the online tour well balanced in terms of what you can do with your CAP and his stats/playing style.

And of course, the motion plus controls should help it destroy Top Spin as far as the Wii versions go.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Sinista

I hope the emphasis is on playability rather than technicality. The dreamcast version is my all time favorite to date because it was accurate and fun to play.

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This is definitely the direction they are heading in.

Gameplay sounds like it will be largely unchanged from the other games in the series aside from some minor tweaks like improving the lob shots and volleys.

Good. Lob shots seemed a little too easy to chase down and smash in VT3.

I would only want this on wii.

I went back and played VT 3 today.

Man does it play like shit compared to Top Spin 3.

I'll be getting the Wii versions of VT 2009 and EA's Grand Slam Tennis for review, so we'll see how those turn out with the new motion plus controls.

Right now I'm not feeling too good about the new VT, even though it's got the leg-up on Grand Slam Tennis when it comes to modes and content.

We'll see what happens when both games hit in the next two weeks.

I was about to ask for whom you write, but then I saw your sig link. Cool stuff.

The embargo on Grand Slam Tennis expired yesterday, so let me just say that if you were thinking of getting it, don't.

The movement controls and swing detection both suck, even with the MotionPlus and nunchuck combo going.

Sega didn't send us a review copy of Virtua Tennis, so I had to go out and get it today.

We'll see if it fares any better than the dismal GST.

I just spent some time with VT and man is the difference between it and GST huge.

The motion controls feel really shoehorned into VT, and the game suffers big-time because of it.

Grand Slam Tennis, flaws and all, suddenly looks a ton better after playing VT.

Neither game is great, but GST seems a lot closer to being good, though not quite there, while VT seems to be quite sub-par overall.

In a truly dumb move, VT can also only be played with the Wii remote.

So not only did Sega waste their time trying to implement a control scheme that doesn't fit their fast-paced, arcade brand of tennis, but they also disabled the one control scheme that would have actually made the game its usual, fun self.

GG noobs.

Well.... anyone play the 360 version? There is still hope for it to be good.

All I really want is DC Virtua Tennis with updated graphics and a modern roster and online play. Is that too much to ask?

I heard the 360 version of VT has a bunch of bugs with the online mode, but Sega *shock* already has a title update set to launch that allegedly fixes most of the problems.

One thing you'll want to note, though:

Even though the career mode has a lot of variety and options, you now progress up the rankings at a snail's pace (literally one or two spots per tournament win) and there is NO STAT BUILDING like there has been in every Virtua Tennis game to date.

I think they made it that way so everyone will be on a level playing field when they're playing the online world tour mode.

So VT on Wii can't be played with just the dpad and buttons?
That's Sega brand stupidity at its finest.

Nope.

The d-pad on the Wii remote can be used to move your player around, but none of the buttons on the remote can actually be used to hit the ball; you have to use the motion controls to do any sort of hitting.

And since there's no support for classic controllers or wavebirds/gamecube pads, it ends up being a motion-controls-or-no-controls-at-all type of game, which is incredibly unfitting for a fast-paced arcade game like VT.