The only third party game demoed for Playstation Vita at E3 2011 was Sega’s Virtua Tennis 4.
The demo was a best of three game match between the top two male players in the world – Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, with the player taking control of Federer.
Graphically the game seemed on par with the Playstation 3 version with detailed characters that looked true to life (Luckily, they showed the two male tennis players I’d actually recognize!). The courts looked great and the game animated smoothly. Although only a real tennis match was shown off as gameplay, other videos showed mini games that are a trademark of the series as well.
As seems like it could be the norm for early games on Vita, there will be two styles of control. The tennis action can be controlled normally, using the dual analog sticks and buttons. This type of gameplay mimics the console titles and will be familiar to gamers who have been with the series since the Dreamcast days.
The other style of control takes advantage of the Vita’s front touch screen. The players can be moved around the court by touching the location to run to. Then shots can be made by swiping the touch screen. This basic mechanic – moving and swiping – was intuitive and easy to play. However, when advanced moves are done using the touch pad, such as top or back spin, there were more unexpected results. Of course this was only a limited playthrough at E3 2011, and there is time for the precision of these advanced moves to be tweaked.
Overall Virtua Tennis 4 was a graphically intense and faithfully represented console-like sports game on display for Vita.
More of my PSP Vita Impressions:
10 Thoughts on PS Vita
Little Big Planet
Little Deviants
Uncharted: Golden Abyss
Sound Shapes
Leave a Reply