Sega has always produced some relatively solid tennis titles throughout the years. Most likely than not, you've heard some of Sega’s past offering—such as Sega Professional Tennis and Sega Sports Tennis—but they didn’t quite deliver that satisfying feeling that fans were hunger for. Hence Sega went back to its roots to revive a classic hit, which was one of Dreamcast’s platinum collections, Virtua Tennis. Two generation consoles later, we have a brand new legacy in the making, namely Virtua Tennis 3. The game certainly astounded us with its point-and-click gameplay and locked us in with its lineup of addictive mini-games. Getting the swing mechanics down might take some experimentation though. The reason is that each character has a specific playing style, and it's just a matter of finding your niche.

The game features a massive career mode, a tournament of mixed singles and doubles, a standard online option, and a bunch of wild and wacky challenges where up to four of your friends can participate. In a career mode (also known as World Tour), it’s much like any other tennis game that came before it—you create a character, upgrade the athletic skills, win a number of matches, improve your rank, and receive sponsored prizes along the way. The prizes aren’t as plentiful as we would have hoped for, and they don’t pop up as often as you would like to. Sure, you get the usual perks of becoming a tennis pro—the sleek sunglasses, top of the line shoes, stylish clothes—but the only prize worth having is the tennis rackets. They are the only items that actually have strong influence on the gameplay.

The training sessions are just one of the exciting aspects of World Tour. These sessions include a series of fruit-collecting, drum-toppling, pin-knocking mini-games. Did we also mention fighting off orb-shooting aliens and bashing numbers on bingo? Well, you will definitely get a piece of those actions when you play World Tour. There is also a training academy specially designed to test your reflexes and enhancing your individual techniques. Each exercise has a specific objective to complete such as scoring a point behind the baseline, win a match through volley only, and achieve a point only through lobs. Of course, you are awarded with a medal depending on the performance of your work out. Your stamina diminishes as you train and go about your tours. Injuries are most prevalent when your stamina is dangerously low.

You can refill your stamina with an energy drink and not lose any time, but this increases your risk of getting hurt. So take our advice, take the “week off” option. The whole career scene is a very entertaining one; once you get the right balance between hitting the ball and anticipation, the game becomes rather engaging. The matches are quick at first but they get longer as the competition get more prestigious. You start on Challenger series, and then work your way up through the Advance series; eventually you open up expert matches. Once you hit the rank of 55 in the world, you can finally enter the grand slams. Creating a character in Virtua Tennis 3 is interesting but limited in the particulars. It gives you freedom to be as hip or funky as you can be; but this feature could use additional personal accessories and facial modifications.