Better graphics, refined gameplay, and minigames out the ying yang!
User Rating: 7.7 | Virtua Tennis 3 PS3
First off let me say i bought the game not because i'm a tennis nut or even follow the sport. I actually bought it because it's one of the few games my girlfriend likes and will play. With that said...it was a pleasant surprise to find an easy to pick up, fun game with a deep career mode and more addictive minigames than you can count on one hand. Four player multiplayer (offline) means you can get a doubles game going with a few friends and yell at your partner "i though you were covering the right side!" every time the other team scores. The gameplay is crisp and responsive. Once you get the timing down you can pretty much put the ball where you want it with whatever type of shot you want. The multi-button layout of slice, top spin, lob etc is back but you'll end up hitting X most of the time to return serves and go back and forth relying more on power of stroke and angle than on different swing types. The graphics are obviously the best in any tennis game and the shading and details seem a bit more crisp on the PS3 than on the Xbox360. It's a minimal improvement but noticeable if you're looking. The sound is as exciting as it can be (this is tennis remember) so you're basically listening to multi-lingual announcers, raquets hitting the ball and various grunts. The career mode is fun and pretty deep for a tennis game. The create a character options are minimal and simple at best. You can get someone that looks sort of like you but it's nothing like Tiger Woods, Tom Clancy's Rainbow Six Vegas for the Xbox360 or even Def Jam ICON for that matter. Overall a fun game that's easy to pick up and play and can offer up loads of fun beating friends and playing the different minigames. No online is regretable but there's always next year. 
