Genre: Sports
Developer: Sega AM3
Publisher: Sega

Virtua Tennis' player models are hardly approaching uncanny valley territory, but they are slightly zombie-like in appearance when viewed up close, such as during the game's frequent replays. They animate wonderfully though, and the stage artwork is positively fantastic; each stage has its own aesthetic, and each is equally gorgeous. The outdoor scenes during the career mode's training mini-game sequences are especially noteworthy.

The soundtrack in the title is the kind of light rock guitar work that has just enough seriousness to it to give emphasis to important matches and to lend some mood without getting in the way of the action. Sound effects are perfect; the smack of the ball against the racket, the announcer's voice, and the grunts of the players almost make one feel that they are watching a live, televised match.

Virtua Tennis is remarkably simple to pick up and play-- it can realistically involve only movement and the use of a single button-- but has an amazing amount of depth to it. Player positioning and attention to footwork is of paramount importance, and there are several different channels towards which to direct the ball, with subtle nuances in the engine determining in which channel the ball is played. The lack of consistent serving behavior is the only potential fly in the ointment here.

Virtua Tennis is like a throwback to the simple-yet-deep sports games that populated the NES' catalog, but brought up-to-date with modern technology, and brought to life with marvelous aesthetics, both visually and aurally. There is an unfortunate lack of a solid single-player mode, as the career mode is enjoyable but very short, yet the game is outstanding when its sophisticated, nuanced engine is enjoyed with others.