Tennis 2K2

THE GOOD:
Graphics, sounds, difficulty curve is perfect

THE BAD:
ummm i'll have to get back to you on that

SUMMARY:
Yes. The Dreamcast is Dying. Yes. SEGA is moving on to develop new games for other systems. But in all fairness, does that mean that no-one is buying Dreamcasts anymore? NO! I know plenty of people with the analogy that,

'Oh, I can't afford £200 for a PS2.....hey, DC is only £89.99. and there's plenty of games for it....'

These people are the clever ones. They realise that PS2 has gone the way of the PSX - LOTS of games, only a handful of them with brilliant gameplay and top-notch replayability. But the PS2 only has 2 CONTROLLER PORTS. Whats the deal with that?

Anyway, back to Virtua Tennis 2, my reason for writing this. Frankly you can't beat having 3 mates around having a 4 Player doubles match which one game lasts for an eternity. Plus the World Circuit mode is...

THE GOOD:
Feels realistic. Careers mode is a plus. Controls are as easy as the original. Still fun like the original. Big names, but not all of them. Women players!

THE BAD:
Not officially licenced by the WTA and ATP. Career mode gets really hard when you play high ranking tournaments.

SUMMARY:
This does not have an arcade feel. Pickup Virtua Tennis for that. This is real tennis on the console.

Career mode is the highlight of this. You start with a male and female player who suck... and train them to make them awesome. You play Mini-games like Bowling and Tank Boss to level up your serve, strokes and volleys.

You can actually feel the difference, it's a great experience.

There is the option to play mixed doubles which is a great addition. You can also load your career player in exhibition mode and arcade which is also a plus.

There are not many improvements in...

Serving is only permitted from the near end of the tennis court in all play modes. On the other hand, Virtua Tennis permits serving and receiving from both ends of the court in its Exhibition mode, a necessity in "real" Tennis. 2K2 seems to justify the solitary serving side of the court by flashing "Position Change" and "Court Change" across the screen.

Apart from the above, Tennis 2K2 is excellent and an overall improvement over Virtua Tennis in most respects.

Ok, that's it.