Game - Virtua Tennis 4

Virtua tennis 4 which I played on PS3 (but also available on wii) is a game that I absolutely hated.

The graphics may be superior in some ways to the other tennis game I tried and mostly loved (top spin 4), but the animation isn't nice to look at. Indeed, the flow isn't natural at all ; players look somewhat OK (as are in the other game, whilst none is 100% truthful), they all have the same exact movements when they win a point (a twirl around themselves, turning around), or when they win a match (100% identical). 

The animation control is also very clunky, and I fell almost on every single point during my first attempts, and still fall 75% of the time now that I got used to this game. Each time, it looks like my player slipped on a banana-peel. Not graceful, not exhaustion. Just a banana-peel got in the way (and you don't see one, mind you). 

The career mode (world tour) is the clunkiest system anyone could have imagined ; the ticket system would have been ok if it were more realistic, but it just makes you move on a weird map, on which you seldom land on actual matches. 

Most of the time, these are silly minigames as you can see on IGN's review. Like hitting stacks of cards, or collecting chicks to bring them to their proper areas, and whatever else the programmers invented and that I may not have experienced yet. Really, these are stupid!

The map also brings you to hotels where you can rest from all the accidents it puts on your path, and by the time you get to a match that is made up from short sets of 3 games (you must win at least 2 games), the feel of playing tennis is just totally ruined. Indeed, I'm used to watch tennis on TV where a match is comprised of, in normal tennis, 2 or 3 wining sets, each with a minimum of 6 games, if you win 6-0, but can go to 7-6 in case of tie-breaks or, if the match ends in a 5th set to much longer possible scores, as in real tennis, there are often no tie-breaks in the 5th and you must win with 2 games ahead when you get to 6-6 and above. Well, not in this virtual tennis 4! 

I dug around in all menus and options/settings, and the only way to get to a match of that proportion is in the exhibition mode, and that's all.

You can create up to 8 players for the game, which is twice as many as top spin 4's 4 players, but the process felt so much more tedious to me. 

The game roaster comes with 22 players and 2 to unlock (but I have no clue how). 
Out of these 22, 7 are women, 15 are men. You can choose one, or tell the game to choose for you at random. 

There are only 11 available courts, 16 to un-clock (again, no clue how). 

Virtua tennis allows 1 or 2 players to play either VS, or join as doubles and to go online. You must have a physical partner in the room with you, using a controller to be your doubles partner for this to happen, otherwise you play against the computer. 

Overall, this is a total let-down as the reviews seemed rather promising. IGN's score is 7/10 and I must disagree : 

I never wanted to play minigames that have nothing to do with tennis, and I wanted to win in more than 2-1 or 3-0 scores.

I also hate that there is so much that needs to be un-locked, with no clue as to the method. 
I also wanted more courts, more balance in genders and never fall as soon as I get to a ball! 

My score is severe : 3/10.