The10k.com Game/Product Reviews

For one thing there is very little to do in Let’s Tap. In game there are five activities but only four of them are games with the last one being a visualizer. You can play Tap Runner and race against other players, you can play Rhythm Tap which is akin to Donkey Konga’s bongo music game, there’s Silent Blocks which challenges you to move blocks out of a Jenga style tower, finally you can play Bubble Voyager where you help a character float through an obstacle course with your taps controlling his ascent. The final thing that you can do in Let’s Tap is play the Visualizer that visualizes your taps. Depending on the combinations and firmness of your taps you can do different designs in the clouds. While all these games work the way they’re supposed to none of them stay fun for long due to their minimal variety and the lack of depth to the controls of Let’s Tap.

What kills the entertainment value of Let’s Tap is not solely because of the types of games included but the fact that the controls in Let’s Tap just don’t stay interesting for long. Controlling Let’s Tap is like having a big button that you simply press in different timings and with different pressures. Imagine playing all your games with only one pressure sensitive button and you’ll understand why Let’s Tap isn’t much fun. There isn’t any variety to the tapping. The Wii remote can’t even differentiate left and right taps so you only have one way to tap. At least with Donkey Konga’s bongos you had a left and right side to tap. There is also a design problem with Let’s Tap controls. As you tap the remote moves on your box. The game recommends that you leave the jacket on to avoid this problem but even with the jacket on I had to chase my remote during mid game on multiple occasions.

While I thought that Let’s Tap’s controls could have been deeper, even though the Wii’s technology may not have allowed it, I was surprised that the idea actually worked. When I was tapping to control a game I thought that the idea of tapping was executed well. I was just hoping that the game would have been more fun to control this way. I felt that tapping just isn’t a reasonable way to play most games as you have to simplify the game to a near kindergarten level. Give me a normal controller or Wii Remote any day.

Let’s Tap suffers from a lack of interesting things to do and a control scheme that was best left in the idea of pool rather than being shoved into the spotlight. It’s sad to see that such an interesting idea turned out to be so boring but it’s still good to see developers like Sega giving new untested things a try. While Let’s Tap may not end up being a great success story of video games it may lead to another new experience that will be. Great tech demo, but not much fun on it’s own.

Overall: 4.9/10

Up’s story revolves around Carl and Russell. Carl is an old man who dreams of going to the forest of South America to find a childhood area of adventure and Russell is a wilderness explorer, or boy scout, who stows away with Carl to try and earn his final merit badge. The character’s mode of transportation is Carl’s house. Carl attached hundreds of balloons to the house and the two floated to South America. This is the story that you’d get if you watched the movie, however in Up for the Nintendo Wii the developers butcher this wonderful story. Instead of starting with Carl and Russell floating out of town you’re dropped into an airplane dog fighting scene with Dug, a dog the two meet, and are told to shoot down four planes. Then the game shows you a reel of back-story and cuts to Carl and Russell pulling the house through the forest. By doing this the developers did two things: they confused the player who hasn’t seen the movie and completely cut any emotional ties you have have developed with the characters in Up. Aside for Up’s blatant disregard for it’s story the game has abysmal graphics , terrible controls, and boring gameplay.

The majority of your time will be spent playing as Carl and Russell as they drag Carl’s floating house through the jungle. While playing as Carl and Russell you explore the forest while climbing over and removing obstacles in your path. You can do this either by yourself or with another player in a cooperative mode. The only way to play this game though is Co-op because the computer’s AI is brain dead. If you decide to play single player the computer does a descent job of following you but when you switch to them and then place them somewhere to finish a puzzle most of the time they simple follow you! It’s incredibly frustrating trying to get the computer to do anything in Up. On top of all this the things you have to do are mapped to the face buttons on the Wii remote or assigned to waggle. The waggle you do doesn’t even make sense when you use it. For instance, when you are cutting a rope to drop a rock you must shake the remote left to right, why no forward and backward? It doesn’t make any sense at all.

There are other things wrong with the single player adventure as well. For one thing the game’s camera is horrendous, it does more to obscure your view than it does to help you. You can’t control the camera and some of the standard positions of the camera give you a view only of where you’ve come from and obscure what’s right in front of you. This is downright frustrating as it makes some puzzles just about guesswork. The game world will also just disappear sometimes due to a graphical glitch, so if the camera isn’t obscuring the world it may just disappear all by itself for a few seconds.

What I found to be strange was how Up has you earn bonus content. Rather than finding special items throughout the level that unlocks art and videos you’re stuck collecting coins that unlock cards that tell you have to collect the bonus content. When I finished the first area and I found out that’s what coins did I was floored, why do you have to go through two collection processes just to look at some artwork? This system of unlockable was purely put into the game to artificially extend the gameplay in Up.

From a presentation perspective Up could be a lot worse. The game looks passable but it sounds exactly like the movie. Most of what you’ll hear are quips and sound bytes from the movie. The only problem I found was that in multiple places in game sound bytes come very far after their ques. So you will jump or get hit and a full five seconds later the character will make the sound.

If for some reason you find that Up’s Co-op is not fun or you want to find something else to do with Up you can play through the Multiplayer modes that are offered. All the multiplayer modes involve dogfighting like with Dug at the beginning of the game. The modes are Attack, Pop, and Team. The best one of the three is Team because it allows you to team up to take apart the other team’s dirigible and is fairly entertaining. What Up comes down to though is that it’s a rush job. Up was rushed out the door to meet the movie in theaters and as a result is a mess that barely works the way it should. There are graphical glitches and gameplay problems nearly everywhere. In addition the computer AI couldn’t be more stupid. Avoid Up unless you’re the most diehard fan out there.

Overall: 3.3/10

For years rumors swirled about a third Ghostbusters movie in the works. While the movie still hasn’t come to fruition a new Ghostbusters game has. Luckily for fans the game is made by the original Ghostbuters crew with incredible attention to detail and original casting making this Ghostbusters game look and feel like the genuine article. While the third Ghostbusters movie may never come to fruition this game expands the Ghostbusters universe with a new story that should satisfy long time fans. However, while Ghostbusters the Video Game succeeds as a testament to the Ghostbusters franchise it does fall short in some gameplay categories such as pacing. It’s not enough to ruin the experience but it does hold the game back.

You play as an unnamed Rookie Ghostbuster who has just joined the team. Your job is to test out the experimental ‘tools’ that Egon has made. Therefore your character doesn’t have a name because the Ghostbusters joke they don’t know how long you’ll last. Mostly your character simply gives some facial gestures in a conversation and lets the Ghostbusters move the story along. This was a great design choice because a new character doesn’t get in the way of the tried and true formula that the Ghostbusters started in the 80’s.

The gameplay in Ghostbusters the video game is what you would expect from the Ghostbusters, you’ll use your proton packs and traps to capture ghosts and even track them using the PKE meter. In an amazing feat the developers managed to make all these things look and feel authentic. When you first use the PKE meter and are tracking ghosts using the two pronged device you’ll truly feel like you’re using the genuine article. The proton packs on the other hand feel good and work well however I had some problems with it. For one thing I think that the method of capturing ghosts felt a little too much like fishing. Once you’ve weakened a ghost you must use the capture stream to slam them against walls and drag them to traps. While this was true to the actual Ghostbusters name I felt that the added part at the end a battle reminded me of fishing. I also found that the meters for health and overheating were not large enough on the proton pack. I have a 46” television and I was squinting to try and see what my health was. This should have been something the developers changed from the movies. I know that they were going for authenticity but this problem hurts the game.

In addition to this issue with the Proton Pack I also found that the pacing in Ghostbusters is very variable. At the start of the game everything moved along at a brisk pace and you never feel that you’re idle. However it takes just one missed que to bring the action to a grinding halt until you find the correct Ghostbuster or story piece to move the story farther. In addition to this the game has you use the PKE meter almost all the time to scan and move the story along. This portion of the game is once again true to the Ghostbusters formula but it feels unnecessary sometimes to scan an entire area just to find one spot that will allow the story to move again. These stops and sputters really hurt Ghostbusters and is a glaring flaw in it’s gameplay. For most people simply quitting for a while and starting again will alleviate the issue but some people may never come back at all.

Aside from the usual menagerie of story and set pieces Ghostbusters includes a multiplayer mode where you catch ghosts with buddies. Also included is an upgrade system for your equipment, using money you get from busting and capture ghosts you can make your proton pack or stable or powerful, etc. The upgrade system isn’t imperative but it is nice to have. As well you grab new shooting modes for the proton pack that changes up the gameplay of Ghostbusters from what you would usually expect.

Ghostbusters is a fun game and recommended for anyone who was a fan of the Ghostbuster movies in the 80’s. The only issue is that in some places the developers decided to make Ghostbusters like the movies too much and it hurts the overall gameplay. Also pacing issues can be frustrating. On the whole Ghostbusters does a great job with its source material and still comes out being an entertaining games. If only the developers had taken a step back and looked at what could have been changed to help make the experience great rather than good.

Overall: 7.5/10

I’m going to make an earth-shattering discovery right now, not everyone has ever played the Sims. No matter how long the game topped the PC gaming charts or how many people said the game was addicting I myself have never played a Sims game before. I don’t even think I ever played Sim City when it was popular back in the 90s. Sue me but the idea of playing God doesn’t really get my motor running if you know what I mean. So when the Sims 3 for the iPhone crossed my desk I felt that I must be in for something special. I mean how can millions of people be wrong? I can say one thing for certain after playing Sims 3 for the iPhone, I can see how people love this game. The Sims is a quirky universe where you can create and play as a person however you want.

My biggest fear when going into this game was that Sims 3 would be like a Tamagotchi from the 90’s. You know, that key chain that always beeped at you to feed it and clean up it’s poop. However with the Sims the game stops when you leave the game. From where I stand I think that’s pretty fantastic as I could mold my character on my own time and not worry that it was going to die of starvation if I didn’t boot up the game for a while. Now maybe in the future when Push Notification is finished for the iPhone we may have a different beast on our hands but the simple fact is that the Sims 3 is a game, and not a digital pet. That’s a plus in my book.

So the first thing that you do when entering the world of the Sims is that you create your own character. For me I didn’t want to model the Sim after myself because I wasn’t sure what type of God I was going to be, good or evil, so I went with a character from How I Met Your Mother: Barney Stinson. After having some fun and suiting up Barney I was off to the world of the Sims. What surprised me was how quickly my character creation was done. Don’t get me wrong, being able to create a character quickly and easily is nice but I would have enjoyed being able to do more with my virtual character. In the Sims 3 you simply slide through menus instead of being given large color palettes or clothes to change into. For me I felt like this was a tad bit archaic but overall the creator was simple, quick and easy to use, and got the job done.

Once I had created a look for my Sim I was also able to give them a personality. This is where the Sims took on a different temperament from what I was expecting. In the traits section not only do you get to make a character who looks but also one who acts. What I mean is that you can choose if the character is talkative or sad, and then you specialize by giving him further traits. This model of bestowing traits reminded me of an RPG and seemed to give the Sim some depth. This trait system allowed me to make the perfect Sim to model Barney, one who was flirty and talkative.

Now, once the character creation was done I was dropped into the world of the Sims. In past Sims games my understanding was that you are given and house and have to make your way in the world with very little to guide you in what you have to do. However, just like in real life if you want money you need to get a job and if you want food you have to buy it from the store. In the Sims 3 for the iPhone this is no different. You can travel from your home to the outside world and find jobs, people to meet, and things to do. What was interesting about the Sims 3 was that there is a wish system in place where you get wishes and goals to complete. With 73 goals for you to complete there was never a shortage of what I liked to call suggestions rather than objectives. The suggestions in the game allow you to figure out something to do. One was as simple as buy a repair kit. I enjoyed this aspect of the Sims 3 because games with no direction tend to bug me. With the goal system in the Sims 3 I was able to pick and choose what I wanted to see and do next.

What really surprised me about the graphics in the Sims 3 was how they changed from when you’re in a building to when you’re on the street. When you go into a building the Sims 3 changes to an isometric view that lets you see the house in 3D and all the furniture, characters, and walls are in full 3D. This inside the house view looks great. However when you move outside the game changes to a bird’s eye view and your character becomes what looks like a play piece from an old board game like Risk. The problem with this is that it makes it very difficult for you to find other Sims on the map to meet as you walk the streets. It’s entirely possible that you can see them, since they’re yellow, but I can’t count the number of times I found it difficult to find Sims populating the small world map.

On the whole I found the Sims 3 to be a pleasant experience. The Virtual pet micro management is kept to an acceptable minimum, there is as little or as much as you want to do in the world, and finally the game allows you to do what you want. The Sims 3 is just a marvel because of everything you can do in such a small portable package. If you have an iPhone or iPod Touch and like the Sims than the Sims 3 is a great game to take on the go. For people who haven’t played the Sims before the Sims 3 is great as well because it allows you to get your virtual feet wet without taking the plunge of purchasing the full retail package. Other than some minor quibbles the game is lots of fun.

Overall: 8.3/10

The idea behind 21! And Fun should be familiar to anyone whose played Blackjack in the past. The goal is to get the exact number 21 with any combination of five cards. If you were expecting some game about drinking, a play on 21, you should look elsewhere. The idea of getting 21 using cards is the only thing you’ll find in this game. Though it’s a simple concept 21! And Fun does manage to make it interesting with a few interesting design choices and different modes to chose from. The best I can describe 21! And Fun’s appeal would be with other games with similar concepts like Bejeweled. The concept is simple and familiar but done in such a way that repeat games never play out the same and the game has deeper strategies than first meet the eye.

So in 21! And Fun the idea is to get 21 but you have four rows that you can place cards in. You are drawing one card at a time from a deck and have a time limit to work within. Also depending on the mode you also may have row totals along the top of each row and if you get 21 in two cards you fill in letters that spell out F-U-N-! in the four rows. If you can fill these rows you are given a bonus. Also randomly placed in the deck you draw from there are Jokers that automatically give you 21 in a row but do not fill in a letter. You can turn off these Jokers as well if you’d like. On top of all these there is a multiplier on the side of the screen that fills and empties if you get a Bust. On the left there’s also a counter that tells you how many 21s you’ve gotten in a game. With these two side meters you can keep track of your progress while playing. There is also a timer so you have to play quickly!

So the three modes that you can play in 21! And Fun are Classic, Advanced, and Expert. As you go higher in mode difficulty different helper functions in the game are taken away. In Advanced lane totals are disabled and in Expert you lose Mystery cards, jokers, as well. Depending on your skill you can play on any of these settings and have a good time. When you’re done with a game you can view your stats, play an additional round, or even share your scores on Facebook. As with various other applications recently 21! And Fun allows you to share what you’ve done with Facebook to compare how others have done compared to you. This is nice because it allows you to compare to others and see how your skills fare against other players.

Aside from the main game and uploading scores there isn’t much to do in 21! And Fun, there are stats that you can view for your game but the only thing for you to do is play 21! And Fun’s game. While this may sound like a critique it’s actually good that the game didn’t try to do too much more because it would have taken away from the main game. 21! And Fun is a deceptively simply game that is great for simple pick up and play sessions to eat away at a few moments in a doctor’s office or around time. It doesn’t require a lot of setup or a take a long time to get started. That makes 21! And Fun a great game for pickup and play gamers everywhere.

Overall: 7.5/10

Clue for the iPhone is EA’s attempt to port the classic Hasbro board game to Apple’s mobile device. Clue is a game about a murder at a fancy party. While playing with others you race to search for clues on who killed the person in question, where, and how. The game is over when someone figures it out. In this rendition of Clue EA decided to use a Saturday morning cartoon art style that actually suits the game well. The characters have a good look to them and at the same time look shady and well defined, this was a great use of cel shading. Unfortunately for Clue on the iPhone EA made an abysmal omission in that the game is solely single player. There is no multiplayer to speak of in Clue and this presents multiple problems, first among them is that the game simply isn’t as entertaining alone and second it limits how long you can play Clue before it’s over. There was no reason EA did not include some multiplayer as they have included it in almost every other board game transition they have made for the iPhone.

Aside from the single player in Clue there are some Extras that EA has included. These are made up of biographies of each character, player statistics such as solved cases etc, and finally there are achievements that you earn when playing through the game. All of these are light reading and make little difference to the main game.

So how is the single player game played? In the single player game you play as an investigative reporter who is working himself up the newspaper ladder. This translates into you playing progressively harder scenarios to solve the murder and bring the culprit to justice. When I say harder there is no difficulty setting in Clue, instead the game simply adds more suspects and more weapons that could potentially have been used for the murder. What’s nice about this scenario mode is that even if the elements stay the same each scenario will move around which weapons, person, and location is the correct answer so there is some replay value in playing the scenarios repeatedly. In addition to this the game assigns you stars depending on your accuracy in game with the maximum being four stars. You can get a star for staying within the time limit, being correct about weapon, location, and suspect. You have to earn a specific amount of stars before you can move on to later scenarios.

To actually play through a scenario you are placed in a first person mode and given a time limit to get your story to your boss. In each scenario you have an on screen hud that allows you to do various things in a single room. You can talk to a suspect in a room or investigate various things to learn more about what has happened. All these menu options are quick and easy to use, but be careful because talking to a suspect or investigating objects eats up time. Also you use up time if you decide to move to another room and investigate the people and objects there. All of these things to make you feel like you’re in a true game of Clue.

In addition to these various options in rooms there are things that assist you in remembering facts and keeping track of clues. There is a Crime Map where you can keep track of where people and things are located, there’s a Notes section that keeps track of clues, and finally there’s a suspicions section that lets you rule out different weapons and people so that it’s easy to make your final accusations. Even with all these tools and options I always felt that my accusations came down to guesswork, in addition I never felt like I had enough time either. This is the main reason I didn’t enjoy Clue. I never felt I was getting better at the game and without any player interaction the gameplay felt dull. In the end Clue is most fun because of the multiplayer, add that to this version of Clue and you’ll have a great game. Until them Clue ends up being a mediocre game for the iPhone.

Overall: 5/10

Kaloki Adventure is a game all about making the customer happy. Your job is to add expansions on a space station. Each station allows you to either satisfy a specific customer type or supplement your growing power needs. The idea is sound and almost feels like Sim City in space. Kaloki Adventure is a port of the big brother version on XBLA. Overall this transfer has worked rather well but in the process of making a game for the iPhone the precision of controls was overlooked. As a result Kaloki Adventure suffers a bit and isn’t as fun to play as it’s console counterpart. If you liked Sim City in the past Kaloki Adventure may be worth a look as the aspect of building and satisfying customer is interesting and fun despite the controls.

In Kaloki Adventure the majority of your time is spent in the main game. Here you are given objectives you must complete that range from create a certain number of these types of building or make this much money or power within a time limit. On the whole the types of objectives you’ll encounter stay fairly standard throughout Kaloki Adventure. What it all boils down too is watching your power consumption and customer base needs on the right side of the screen. Here you find six types of demand from your space station: Social, Science, Trade, Information, and Nature. Your job is to make sure you have buildings to satisfy all these various needs.

To go along with these different needs there is a category of buildings for each one. There is also a power category that you use to make sure you can run all your buildings. Inside of each category of building there are also more complicated and expensive types. As you build the less expensive building types you gradually unlock the ability to build better buildings, just like in an RTS. Once you have built buildings on the space station you can also edit their behavior. By that I mean that you can tell them what type of things to research and do. This system is risk and reward based so you can choose to have your power station output more power but on the flip side they deteriorate faster. It’s the same way with the buildings where you can edit what they are researching to fit the customer better and make more money. Aside from the main game there is a scenario mode you can play as well but really it’s more about simply messing around with a blank slate space station.

The main problem with Kaloki Adventure is its lack of interesting things to do. For instance, while you may be told to build lots of a certain type of building you’re almost never told why. The characters and their comments have little or nothing to do with your objective and as a result feel unnecessary. The entire game of Kaloki Adventure would have benefitted with some interesting characters to fill the space around you. The second problem with Kaloki Adventure comes with the change in control scheme. While it’s fairly easy to spin around the space station by swiping your finger across the screen the menus and selection of empty expansions is far too difficult. You’ll try and tap on an expansion port and miss or you won’t be able to tap on the right one. Kaloki Adventure demands you perfectly tap an item before it will open. This will quickly frustrate you as a player because you won’t feel in full control of the action.

Aside from these control and character issues Kaloki Adventure is a decent game. The ideas behind the game are sound and work well it’s just a shame that a more interesting premise or story could not have been implemented. The main question when playing the game for me was, “Why am I playing?” There’s no motivation to move farther into the game.

Overall: 5.4/10

I couldn’t have reviewed two more different tennis games if I had tried. Top Spin 3 is a game with complicated controls and simple gameplay while Virtua Tennis 2009 is a game with interesting gameplay and simple controls. Unfortunately Virtua Tennis 2009 also doesn’t take very many risks and ends up feeling too much like Virtua Tennis 3 for long time fans of the series to justify picking it up. However Virtua Tennis 2009 is still a fun game to play with a World Tour mode that combines tennis matches with mini games that increase your statistics into an enjoyable mode and also the game has serviceable multiplayer.

In Virtua Tennis 2009, like most sports video games, there are a few different modes for you to participate in the top one being World Tour. There are other modes like Tournament that let you play in a tiered tournament and there is also Court Games that lets you play the World Tour minigames without going into the World Tour mode. However neither of these modes are as full fledged as the actual World Tour mode itself. When you begina World Tour you start out as a rookie and have to build your own character. In the character builder there are a variety of things you can change but rather than having preset designs for the face the developers allow you to simply mold the face in a variety of ways to make a character who suites your purposes. After you create a face and body type by stretching or scrunching the game allows you to choose colors and body type for the player. On the whole the character creation system felt like it had just enough things for you to tweak so you can make a unique character.

Once your character is ready to take the court you are dropped into Virtua Tennis 2009’s world map. Here you can participate in 12 court games like collecting groceries on the court or hitting alien space craft to build up your skills. There are three categories that you can build in: Ground Strokes, Serve and Volley, and Footwork and Technique. Each game has a trick to doing well and follow a steady progression of difficuly that makes you truly earn your stat boosts. Don’t expect to max out your charater quickly in this game. As you earn better skills for your player you can also go train at the club or play in tournaments against other players. As you move through the ranks you slowly rank up from Rookie to Pro. What’s nice about Virtua Tennis 2009 is that the progression of Rookie to Pro really feels like a steady progression rather than a huge leap. Virtua Tennis 2009 does a great job easing the player into more difficult matches.

What makes Virtua Tennis 2009 so good at this progression though is the superb implementation of its controls. In the Xbox 360 version of the game you simply use the A button and analog stick to run around the court and hit the ball. You an also use a variety of lobs and slices with other face buttons but timing is everything and the better your timing in the Xbox 360 version the better you hits are and the more accurate they become. However in the Wii version of the game timing is the key only because of the onscreen bar that is included in play. The bar on the screen has a line that runs across it and you must swing when it is dead center. The closer you are the better your hit is. This works out great for Virtua Tennis 2009 because the game was already fully about timing but does allow you to “cheat” by seeing when the correct time to swing is rather than you having to gauge it yourself. Virtua Tennis 2009 can use Wii Motion Plus but the problem is that Wii Motion it’s not great in this game. It feels like a tacked on gimmick that doesn’t work the way it was intended.

The only area that Virtua Tennis 2009 is really deficient in is the graphics in game. No matter if your talking about the Wii or 360 version, Virtua Tennis 2009 doesn’t hold a candle to it’s competition. The characters look like zombies on the course more than they do a living breathing being and the modeling for the famous players in Virtua Tennis 2009 really aren’t up to the standards set by games like Top Spin 3. The other thing that is weak was the online play in Virtua Tennis 2009. The basic modes abound here, singles and doubles, but why can’t I compete against someone in Virtua Tennis 2009’s mini games or play a doubles mini game? These things seem like they’d be obvious editions to Virtua Tennis 2009’s repertoire. On the whole though there isn’t much to complain about in Virtua Tennis 2009. The game is absolutely solid with the tried and true formula coming through for Sega again. I don’t know if it will continue though. Virtua Tennis as a franchise is long overdue for an overhaul.

Overall: 7.3/10

I couldn’t have reviewed two more different tennis games if I had tried. Top Spin 3 is a game with complicated controls and simple gameplay while Virtua Tennis 2009 is a game with interesting gameplay and simple controls. Unfortunately Virtua Tennis 2009 also doesn’t take very many risks and ends up feeling too much like Virtua Tennis 3 for long time fans of the series to justify picking it up. However Virtua Tennis 2009 is still a fun game to play with a World Tour mode that combines tennis matches with mini games that increase your statistics into an enjoyable mode and also the game has serviceable multiplayer.

In Virtua Tennis 2009, like most sports video games, there are a few different modes for you to participate in the top one being World Tour. There are other modes like Tournament that let you play in a tiered tournament and there is also Court Games that lets you play the World Tour minigames without going into the World Tour mode. However neither of these modes are as full fledged as the actual World Tour mode itself. When you begina World Tour you start out as a rookie and have to build your own character. In the character builder there are a variety of things you can change but rather than having preset designs for the face the developers allow you to simply mold the face in a variety of ways to make a character who suites your purposes. After you create a face and body type by stretching or scrunching the game allows you to choose colors and body type for the player. On the whole the character creation system felt like it had just enough things for you to tweak so you can make a unique character.

Once your character is ready to take the court you are dropped into Virtua Tennis 2009’s world map. Here you can participate in 12 court games like collecting groceries on the court or hitting alien space craft to build up your skills. There are three categories that you can build in: Ground Strokes, Serve and Volley, and Footwork and Technique. Each game has a trick to doing well and follow a steady progression of difficuly that makes you truly earn your stat boosts. Don’t expect to max out your charater quickly in this game. As you earn better skills for your player you can also go train at the club or play in tournaments against other players. As you move through the ranks you slowly rank up from Rookie to Pro. What’s nice about Virtua Tennis 2009 is that the progression of Rookie to Pro really feels like a steady progression rather than a huge leap. Virtua Tennis 2009 does a great job easing the player into more difficult matches.

What makes Virtua Tennis 2009 so good at this progression though is the superb implementation of its controls. In the Xbox 360 version of the game you simply use the A button and analog stick to run around the court and hit the ball. You an also use a variety of lobs and slices with other face buttons but timing is everything and the better your timing in the Xbox 360 version the better you hits are and the more accurate they become. However in the Wii version of the game timing is the key only because of the onscreen bar that is included in play. The bar on the screen has a line that runs across it and you must swing when it is dead center. The closer you are the better your hit is. This works out great for Virtua Tennis 2009 because the game was already fully about timing but does allow you to “cheat” by seeing when the correct time to swing is rather than you having to gauge it yourself. Virtua Tennis 2009 can use Wii Motion Plus but the problem is that Wii Motion it’s not great in this game. It feels like a tacked on gimmick that doesn’t work the way it was intended.

The only area that Virtua Tennis 2009 is really deficient in is the graphics in game. No matter if your talking about the Wii or 360 version, Virtua Tennis 2009 doesn’t hold a candle to it’s competition. The characters look like zombies on the course more than they do a living breathing being and the modeling for the famous players in Virtua Tennis 2009 really aren’t up to the standards set by games like Top Spin 3. The other thing that is weak was the online play in Virtua Tennis 2009. The basic modes abound here, singles and doubles, but why can’t I compete against someone in Virtua Tennis 2009’s mini games or play a doubles mini game? These things seem like they’d be obvious editions to Virtua Tennis 2009’s repertoire. On the whole though there isn’t much to complain about in Virtua Tennis 2009. The game is absolutely solid with the tried and true formula coming through for Sega again. I don’t know if it will continue though. Virtua Tennis as a franchise is long overdue for an overhaul.

Overall: 7.3/10