N +

Oh Wii, you are so brilliant, and yet so disappointing. Your motion controls have divided the gaming community, nay the world, and as a result you have become a bit of an enigma. You can almost picture the mental wrangle that developers go through; the success of the Wii means that they'd be stupid to overlook releasing their games on it, and yet feel obliged to utilise the motion controls. It's either all or nothing, and as a result you run the risk of alienating large sections of your target audience.



VT2009 is an excellent example of this. Since the launch of Wii Sports, it's clear that any tennis game is going to be tough to get right on the Wii. Sports sims seem ideally suited to the wiggle and waggle of motion controls (even more so with the release of MotionPlus) and yet they can restrict your gaming experience, rather than enhance it. In Wii Sports Tennis, for example, you have no control over your player's movement, and shot placement is limited to the timing of your swing. This may be more "realistic", but I cannot see any logic in not being able to use the nunchuk to direct your shot, with a quick flick of the wrist to determine power and shot-type. Having played many, many tennis games, using the D-Pad or analog stick to place pin-point shots is a tried and tested system that has proven to work. Indeed, the Virtua Tennis series is one of, if not, the best tennis franchise in existence, and you would assume that this experience would be put into good use. Instead, you are confined to having the swing dictate the game, which leads to a very random and infuriating experience. I don't want to bash Sumo for adopting this approach (in fact I would chastise them if they didn't take advantage of the feature that makes the Wii unique), but I cannot see why they didn't offer a choice. VT2009's arcade simplicity is perfect for the Wii, with little need for a plethora of buttons, and there seems no sense in forcing people to only use motion controls.



Instead of being intuitive, the standard motion controls feel unnatural and awkward. Your character will move toward the ball, and a bar will appear onscreen. An indicator moves across the bar, and the position of this when you swing the Wii Remote determines the direction. It's a relatively simple system, but there are other factors to consider, such as the way you hold the Remote, and the manner in which you swing. Practice does make perfect, but the game's high tempo means that you have to have decent reactions to time the shot to perfection. I found however, that more often than not, it was an accomplishment just to return the ball in the general direction you were hoping for. There is a fairly detailed tutorial that will assist you in learning the basics, but the game just feels far too random to be enjoyable. Playing top-spin shots are easy enough, but anything else is almost impossible, even the standard slice, which involves "turning your wrist and swinging in a downward motion". An action that should be second nature, soon becomes infuriating to perform.



There is the option to control your player's movement, by connecting a Nunchuk, but this simply means that there is another thing to think about. By the time you have reached the ball, the shot meter has appeared and you have a split second to think about timing your swing. When using this method, I found myself trying to use the Nunchuk's analogue stick to direct the shot out of habit, resulting in neglecting the shot timing altogether. It's far easier to just disconnect the Nunchuk and rely on the CPU to control your character, but for me this takes away part of the experience. It also limits your style of play; if you prefer to serve and volley, for example, you will have to use the Nunchuk, as the CPU control is only interested in getting you to the ball. As a result of this, VT2009 becomes a very frustrating experience.

Until you connect MotionPlus.

Whilst the initial impact appears to be minimal, the difference in using MotionPlus soon become obvious. The visual shot indicator disappears, but that leaves you free to dictate play in a more natural fashion. Each swing is registered, and instead of timing, it's the strength and angle of swing which affects direction. Maybe it's just because the Wii's traditional controls are so tempramental, but using MotionPlus is surprisingly refreshing. It's a joy to send a top spin shot into the corner of the court, or deftly dink a drop shot over the net to leave your opponent helplessly scurrying to return it. There are instructions on how to hold the Wii Remote to ensure optimum performance, and although it takes two or three games to adjust to using MotionPlus, it soon becomes second nature. Its advantage over the traditional controls is apparent when playing opponents who don't have it. Their less accurate shots, and flailing mis-hits of the ball should mean an easy victory for those who wield the magic box of tricks attached to the bottom of their Remote.



I'm undecided if MotionPlus is the way to play VT2009. Yes it's fun, and works up a sweat, but there are times when I don't want to jump around the living room like an idiot. I still maintain that VT2009 would be a good game with traditional button controls, and the MotionPlus would have been a great bonus. Yes, the Wii version has jaggy graphics, and jerky animations on occasions, but Sumo's recent SEGA Superstars Tennis has shown the console can produce a very decent tennis game. In fact, Superstars Tennis offered both motion and button controls, and so it seems strange that the same approach wasn't adopted here.



What's most disappointing is that if it wasn't for the controls, VT2009 would be a fantastic game. With 40 courts to play on, and over 20 tennis superstars to choose from, there's a great deal of variety, and I don't think a tennis fan could ask for much more. Whilst the World Tour mode suffers from the same slow rate of progress that is apparent in all versions of this game, it will keep you occupied for several hours. There are 12 well-thought out mini-games, and although some work better than others with the motion controls, they can get fiendishly addictive! With solid online gaming, and the ability to play online tournaments, you should have a solid tennis game that would rank up there with the best sports sims on the console. Without spending further money on MotionPlus, however, the traditional controls make for an infuriating and disappointing experience. It will be a worthy investment, as MotionPlus is clearly going to be a big part of the Wii's future, but avoid VT2009 if you aren't prepared to make that commitment.

N+ Summary

Game: Virtua Tennis 2009
Developed by: Sumo Digital
Genre: Sports
Players: 1-4
Release Date: Out now
Rating: 3+
Supports WFC: Yes

N+ Points

N+ A great deal of variety, with plenty of courts, players, and playing styles to master
N+ A wide range of addictive mini games
N+ MotionPlus is great fun
N+ World Tour is lengthy and involving
N+ Online, and offline multiplayer is entertaining

N- Points

N- Frustrating "traditional" motion controls
N- Inability to play with buttons, or Classic controller
N- World Tour gets dull, quite quickly, due to the slow ranking system
N- Having to point at your player before every point whilst using MotionPlus
N- Having to change control systems to MotionPlus before every game, if you want to use it.

JudgmeN+: 5.5