Many people who owned a Dreamcast probably took a chance on a game that was released early on in the system's life which most gamers would generally scoff at. That game was Virtua Tennis. Virtua Tennis was one of those games that just did everything right. It had simple gameplay to pick up, that was hard to put down. It was insanely fun for a single player and even more fun when you stacked on the friends. The game seemingly was released out of nowhere and there were even shortages of the game as it attained an almost underground cult status.

History has struck again. I was meandering through a local Gamestop when I just happened to catch the box for Virtua Tennis on the GBA. After my initial shame of not knowing the release of a Sega game, I picked up the box and made sure that it wasn't one of those preview boxes that tend to show up on shelves too early. Apparently the game was released two weeks before my purchase, so I snatched up the tiny box which ended up being the last copy in the store.

So I rush home with my Virtua Tennis cart like a little kid who bought the candy store. Naturually, I did not even play the game for two days. Due to a hectic work schedule and other pressing issues, the game sat in my neglected GBA, which got more playtime from a buddy of mine in at work, who said the game, "Plays great but cheats like a mother fucker in the last round of the tournament." I guess he expected to win everything in the first 10 minutes of play.

This weekend afforded me with an extensive amount of time to play Virtua Tennis along with being able to delve into the deep World Tour mode which emulates it's console cousin on the DC. Altron was the chosen developer for Virtua Tennis, who was supervised by the Hitmaker division of Sega. (Hitmaker was the division behind the original Virtua Tennis as well as Tennis 2k2.) Altron certainly took great care in it's development and Virtua Tennis is very much what fans of the series would expect. The game plays well and there are a decent amount of mini-games which help to not only break up the core game, but actually do help to improve your skills on the court.

The core gameplay of Virtua Tennis works pretty well on the GBA. It employs a two button control scheme which should be familiar to Virtua Tennis vets as well as being easy enough for anyone new to the game. The A and B buttons control your slice and topspin shot and the combo of both buttons yields a lob which you can unleash on an unsuspecting opponent who is crowding the net. The gameplay, just the Dreamcast version, is top notch. Timing plays a key role in your offense as you can pretty much hold down the button from almost anywhere on the court to buffer your swing. You will have to decide whether you want go for the quicker release or the set up shot to position your opponent hopefully right where you want them. Virtua Tennis is one of those games that is loved for it's gameplay, and the GBA version is no exception. I do, however, miss the dive move as it always seemed to add tension to the game no matter who was taking the dive.

The one thing that does suffer in the GBA version is the graphics, moreso the player sprites rather than anything else. The players tend to looks a little on the nasty side. Of course, I'm not expecting the GBA to handle DC caliber polygon models, but I do believe Altron could have done a bit better in the character sprite department. The rest of the game looks great though, or at least as good as most of the elements can look. Let's face it, a grass court isn't the most dynamic element you will find in a video game. The mini games do feature some colorful and far more interesting elements. Overall, the graphics do make the game feel like Virtua Tennis as the layouts and style match it's console cousins.

The sounds in Virtua Tennis on the GBA are adequate. The in game fx are actually quite nice and even feature some digitized grunts and voice calling out the scores. Quite frankly, that's more than I expected. The disapointment comes in the form of the music. It's not like the series has produced new classic, but even though the tunes are not the worst I have heard on the GBA, I'd at least like to have the option of turning them off in game. The rest of the sounds are seemingly taken from the original games, which help give the game a familiar and quality feel to the overall experience.

The game modes are broken up into a standard Tournament, Exhibition matches or the main World Tour mode where you will likely spend most of your time. The Tournament mode is great for a quick fix, but I honestly don't think many people will bother with it once they start in the very detailed World Tour mode. Exhibition mode is great for when you just want a quick match to practice some match skills.

In the World Tour mode, you get a chance to create both a male and female tennis pro to tackle tournaments throughout the globe as you increase your skills by participating in eight mini-games. The mini-games are all surprisingly playable and even enjoyable for the most part. Many times I find myself being annoyed by at least half of the mini-games included in games like this. However, Altron used some of the tried and true games already seen in the series as well as adding a couple unique ones of their own in an overall solid package. Instead of just saying that they're fun, I'll actually touch on each mini-game here.

Disc Shooter -- My choice for the weakest game just because I have such a hard time with it. Sure, it's shallow, but this one kicks my ass. Basic premise is a tennis court based game of Othello where a serving machine lobs balls at you and you return them in an attempt to flip all of the chips. Very difficult, at least for me.

Stomp Man -- This one is interesting and a lot of fun. Basically, a set of cans are arranged on the court and you need to 'stomp' them while keeping a tennis ball in play against a wall all under a set time limit.

Egg Crasher -- In this game, you work on your serve against three giant eggs in a barn. Smash an egg right, and a creature hatches out and gives you points depending on what kind of creature it is. The real skill is trying to position your shot to break more than one egg per serve.

Bull's Eye -- The familiar skill shot game returns and it's as addictive as ever. Excellent, yet simple game which is essential for building up your skills and stats.

Tank Attack -- This is a fun skill shot game where you have to return shot fired from a tank back at it as it moves about the court within a given time limit. The real fun begins in later levels of the game when more tanks are added.

Burger Chef -- Easily the oddest game of the bunch where you serve your ball at a grid on the opposite side of the room. Each square on the grid corresponds to an item that can be put on a burger, included the dreaded point sapping fish bones. Build a tasty burger, get loads of points. Surprisingly addictive and very challenging.

Fruit Conveyor -- This is a relatively easy game that works on improving your overall footwork by running on a conveyor line as obstacles and fruits travel down the line. Collecting fruits help you gain points while hitting certain obstacles or falling off the line cost you precious time.

Alien Force -- This one is pretty tough, requiring you to return salvos of shots fired from a group of moving auto serve machines. Destroy all of the machines including the lead 'alien invader' within the time limit to win.

I have found myself almost hopelessly addicted to the mini-game portions of Virtua Tennis, just like the original console versions. It definitely is the intention, though, since you need to play them to improve your skill points so that you can successfully compete in world tournaments. The only game I would have loved to have would have been the bowling game since that was my favorite on the DC version, but I can't complain. Altron did an excellent job with this portion of the game.

In addition to the mini-games, there is also a pro shop which allows you spend your tournament winnings on new performance enhancing gear as well as partner contracts so that you can compete in doubles tournaments. Throughout the competition, whether it is in the tournament or mini-games, you can win and collect various items which can even help to enhance your play. Items are awarded for all sorts of situations from just winning a tournament to stranger events such as getting three fishbones on a burger or completely missing the target in the Bull's Eye game three consecutive times.

Virtua Tennis is a must have if you were a big fan of the console versions. I would also highly recomend this game if you were in the market for a tennis game since there definitely is no competition for Virtua Tennis on the GBA. Virtua Tennis is a high quality game that didn't lose the focus on exceptional gameplay which is usually the first thing tossed out the window when a console game is ported to the portable market. It's nice to see that THQ didn't waste this license like the subpar efforts of the first Sega Smash Pack and the early reports of the Altered Beast port. Virtua Tennis is very much a gamer's game and I hope that people out there pick this cart up. Actually... I hope they can at least find the damn thing as it seems to have some sort of limited distribution or something. Good luck.