Virtua Tennis: World Tour

Virtua Tennis: World Tour
European cover art which includes Tim Henman, Andy Roddick, Roger Federer and Maria Sharapova
Developer(s)	Sumo Digital
Publisher(s)	Sega
Platform(s)	PlayStation Portable
Release date(s)	EU September 1, 2005 NA October 7, 2005 JP January 26, 2006
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single-player
Rating(s)	ESRB: Everyone PEGI: 3+
Media/distribution	UMD

Virtua Tennis: World Tour (Power Smash: New Generation in Japan) is a tennis video game which was released for the Sony PlayStation Portable.

Overview

Virtua Tennis: World Tour was first released on 1 September 2005 in Europe with a North American release following shortly afterwards on 6 October 2005. It was later released in Japan on 26 January 2006 under the title Power Smash: New Generation.

The game features 14 real-life professional tennis players, four court surfaces (with multiple arenas of each surface) and multiple game modes.

Players

Male Players

• Roger Federer
• Tim Henman
• Sébastien Grosjean
• Juan Carlos Ferrero
• Tommy Haas
• David Nalbandian
• Lleyton Hewitt
• Andy Roddick
• King (unlockable)
• Master (unlockable)

Female Players

• Nicole Vaidišová
• Maria Sharapova
• Lindsay Davenport
• Venus Williams
• Daniela Hantuchová
• Amélie Mauresmo
• Sarah Bailey ^FIC
• Carolina Relandini ^FIC
• Queen (unlockable)

Key
FIC	Fictional Players

Two fictional female tennis players, Carolina Relandini and Sarah Bailey, were added to the list to even up the male/female numbers. The pictures which accompany these two players are actually photographs of two female employees at Sega Europe.

Courts

Note: This list is incomplete. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it.

• French Cup - Paris - Clay
• US Super Tennis - New York - Hard
• Australian Challenge - Melbourne - Hard
• English Trophy - London - Grass
• World Tour Final - Tokyo - Carpet
• BNP Paribas Cup - Los Angeles - Carpet
• Lufthansa Challenge - Stockholm - Hard
• Wilson Grand Prix - Berlin - Hard
• SEGA Cup - Singapore - Grass
• Volvo Open - Moscow - Carpet
• FILA International - Barcelona - Clay
• Honda Women's Hardcourt - Hong Kong - Hard
• Fossil Doubles Challenge - Doha - Clay
• NTT Communications Ladies - Miami - Grass
• Fossil Men's Indoor - Capetown - Hard
• Challengers I - Rio De Janeiro - Hard
• Challengers II - Gold Coast - Hard
• Challengers V - Casablanca - Clay
• Challengers VI - Vancouver - Grass

Game modes

World Tour

This is the main 1-player mode of Virtua Tennis: World Tour. In this mode, you create one male and one female character and attempt to win all the tournaments in the game to reach you goal of becoming the #1-ranked player in the world. In between tournaments, skill levels may be raised by competing in a variety of quick minigames.

Quick Match

As it sounds, Quick Match just throws you into a match, automatically selecting the players and court.

Ball Games

These are a few minigames, perfect for a short play time. These are Blocker, Balloon Smash, Fruit Dash and Blockbuster.

Tournament

You select a player and attempt to play through 6 matches in order to win a tournament. Courts are automatically selected. There is also a retry option which enables the player to try to win again and again.

Exhibition

You can select a player and select your opponent.You can select a court.

Multiplayer

Using the PSP's Wi-Fi capabilities, up to 4 players can compete in a tennis match.

Reception

In a GameSpot review, Virtua Tennis: World Tour received a score of 8.2. IGN gave the game "8.5". However, many critics were disappointed by the added element of two fictional female players, on the account of the high numbers of top players in the WTA.