It's the championship point, the crowd's on the brink of a momentous celebration and you trip up, falling flat on your bum. Ponder this: you're one of the ballboys - or girls - in the Wimbledon final. With MotionPlus approaching its second birthday and facing competition from Sony's PlayStation Move, you'd expect there to have been some progression since Virtual Tennis 2009, but controlling your player seems far clumsier and fiddly than 2009’s release. Where it falls apart is in the game's control and responsiveness, and without that you're left with a horde of zombies in shorts tossing balls. The pace, format and modes are all extracted from the well brewed formula. Playing the game feels like the signature Virtua Tennis that's been built up over the years, at least on the core level.
On a more positive note, the basic level of detail surely helps it all run as smoothly as it does - animations are slick, convincing and in some instances replicate a player's signature stance, pass or serve well. Player models aren't terribly exciting either, vaguely resembling their real life counterparts albeit apparently taking inspiration from the undead. Levels aren't much of a leap from the last Wii entry, murky ground textures and lifeless crowd scenery resulting in a generic and slightly dull feel. Whilst in theory it all sounds like the tranquil dream for a tennis fan, Virtual Tennis 4 isn't the most visually appealing game. Our tennis stars have the opportunity to battle on a range of courts based on top global locations: you'll be honouring the Queen in the lush finely cut lawns of London, brushing dirt across the heat-strained clay courts of Paris and duelling on the more secluded training grounds. We're also treated to their strengths, and ultimately weaknesses too - Federer's the all-round precision beast whose strokes generally send balls where you’d like them to go, Nadal's a powerhouse who's a touch clunky on his feet and Murray climaxes after half an hour on court, offering a greater contrast between players compared to past iterations. It's an overall meaty roster that could have benefited from a few more veteran faces, but it does offer enough variety and covers most bases for tennis fans. There's a handful of female pros on offer too, lead by Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova and the recently inducted British hopeful Laura Robson.
#Wii virtua tennis 4 pro#
There's a whole host of familiar faces returning to the court - the likes of world champion Roger Federer, beefy muscle cake Rafael Nadal, Serbian pro Novak Djokovic and Britain’s number one Andy Murray. Simply forget everything you know about a decent tennis game and prepare for a bumpy ride. Familiar with the likes of Top Spin and Mario Tennis? Yes? Great.
#Wii virtua tennis 4 series#
It's also the first time SEGA's team have worked on the Virtua Tennis series on Nintendo's platform, resulting in a very mixed affair. The return to the mainline numbered entries also sees original developer SEGA's AM3 taking the helm after allowing the UK based Sumo Digital craft a handful of tennis sims, including Virtua Tennis 2009 and SEGA Superstars Tennis.
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