Virtua Tennis 2 on PS2 adds nearly every element fans of the Dreamcast's excellent
Virtua Tennis longed for. The game features eight female players, including the Williams sisters and Monica Seles, along with eight male players, including Patrick Rafter and Yevgeny Kafelnikov. As if that's not enough, you can create your own male and female players--selecting from a range of faces, hairstyles, heights, and weights--and train them to conquer the new World Tour mode.
The gameplay is slightly deeper than in the previous instalment thanks to separate topspin and backspin buttons and a lob button to foil opponents who rush the net. You'll need all the tricks you can muster to beat the revamped AI opponents, who put up a fight even on the easiest difficulty setting. The amazing graphics engine from the original game has been tweaked to look even better, with smoother animations and more detailed players. Squint and you'll almost be fooled into thinking you're watching a TV broadcast. The fun minigames from the original are back and better than ever, but it's the depth of the World Tour mode that keeps us coming back for more, and that puts our copy of Virtua Tennis in permanent retirement. --T Byrl Baker