Virtua Tennis

A Game Boy Advance version was also released in 2002, followed by an N-Gage version in 2003. For the home console market, the game was expanded with the introduction of the campaign mode. A sequel, Virtua Tennis 2, was released for arcades in 2001 and was ported to the Dreamcast the same year and to the PlayStation 2 in 2002. An updated version was released on the PlayStation Portable in 2005, under the name Virtua Tennis: World Tour. 2006 saw the release of Virtua Tennis 3 for arcades (using the Sega Lindbergh hardware). Xbox 360, PlayStation 3, PlayStation Portable and Windows versions were released in 2007. Virtua Tennis 2009 was released in 2009 on the Windows, PS3, Xbox 360 and Wii platforms. Virtua Tennis 4 was released in 2011 on the same four platforms, but also had an arcade version which was released later, as well as a PlayStation Vita port released in 2012. The latest addition to the franchise, Virtua Tennis Challenge, was released in 2012 on Android and iOS.

• Title — Virtua Tennis • Developer — Sega AM3 • Publisher — Sega • Director — Katsumoto Tatsukawa • Producer — Mie Kumagai • Designer — Kazuko Noguchi • Programmer — Mitsuharu Saikawa • Composer — Chiho Kobayashi • Series — Virtua Tennis • Release — Arcade December 1999Dreamcast Windows Game Boy Advance N-Gage • Genre — Sports game • Modes — Single player, multiplayer • Platforms — Arcade, Dreamcast, Microsoft Windows, Game Boy Advance, N-Gage • Arcade System — Sega NAOMI

The player must win five matches played on different surfaces and venues to win a tournament. If the player performs well enough, he is challenged by Master, one of the game's bosses.

This is a single match in which the options are customizable. The match can be played as singles or doubles with up to four human players (two for singles). The duration can be varied between one game and one set. Other options include the court that the match is played on and the skill of the opponent(s).

Users have to win matches and complete training exercises in order to progress and unlock new ones. The user enters with a rank of 300th, which improves as matches are won. These matches are unlocked by completing easier matches or training exercises. The focus of the training exercises are to be fun, rather than realistic. Each exercise has three levels, with the difficulty increasing progressively. By completing the hardest difficulty with a certain amount of time left or points scored, an outfit is unlocked, which players can wear in all modes.

• Jim Courier • Cédric Pioline • Tim Henman • Tommy Haas • Mark Phillipoussis (Playable on the Arcade version & the Dreamcast version only) • Carlos Moyá • Thomas Johansson • Yevgeny Kafelnikov

• Australia Challenge • French Cup • U.S. Super Tennis • The Old England Championships • Sega Grand Match

Virtua Tennis was developed by Sega AM3. The producer, Mie Kumagai, wanted to create a game that appealed to broad demographics of players, taking note of the large number of one-on-one fighting games that proliferated throughout Japanese arcades during the 1990s. She also wished to replicate the critical and commercial achievements of Sega AM2's soccer title Virtua Striker, which was directed by Satoshi Mifune and was a hit among a wide range of age groups. Kumagai began planning a game that could serve as a both a fun, casual experience and competitive, hardcore experience for people to play with friends and family in arcades and at home. Her initial proposal, a basketball game was rejected, while her alternative proposal, a tennis game, was accepted. However, the potential for the project's success was still met with a large amount of skepticism within Sega. After Kumagai acquired a programmer, they made a trip to a tennis school for research, and began designing a unique paddle controller. By twisting this paddle, the user could switch between forehand and backhand shots, but after months of in-house experimentation it proved too difficult to operate. Taking advice from Mifune, the team simplified the controls to a more traditional joystick and buttons. User reception at location testing and in Sega's offices proved to be very positive and development thereafter was smooth. Sega executives feared the game's original Japanese title, Power Smash, would not translate well to overseas audiences. For its North American and European localizations, the name adopted the familiar Virtua label and was changed to Virtua Tennis.