Those that want to try their new piece of hardware with a realistic game need to buy Grand Slam Tennis and read no further. Virtua Tennis 2009 on the other hand needs a lot less getting used to but still you'll need to be more concentrated than with your previous controller. Both the corner where you swing to as well as the timing when you hit the ball and the speed you hit it with are now effectively transferred to the game. A step forward when it comes to depth, but don't expect realism to blow you away, this remains arcade.

This is also very noticable in the difficulty degree, another big difference with EA's latest tennis game, as it never gets really hard. Just like on X360 and PS3 the first matches are extremely easy. If I remember correctly it took a number of tournaments before I even got one game against me, and you'll spend several hours with games, (still very good, funny and varied) minigames and trainings before you get some decent opposition. The structure of the single player mode has remained unchanged. You need to climb the World Rankings by winning matches and get yourself to the number one spot.

Unfortunate is the fact that the experience you gain doesn't result in improvements of your character. While in the predecessor you could upgrade attributes (think legwork, forehand, service power, ...) and you effectively noticed this while playing you can now only unlock some bonuses that less obviously result in a better game of tennis. This RPG element in my opinion brought some depth and is largely cut away here. Not that you really need these improvements very hard. Before I forget: you can create a player, adjust him and later on get new clothing, gear and material through unlocked items and a virtual store.

Another thing that bothered me, just like in the previous editions, is the constant steam of shitty music. I have no clue what the idea behind this is but I still have to meet the first person who thinks this makes the game more fun. We can be more enthusiastic on the graphics and say that both the courts as well as the player models are beautifully displayed. The animations could be better though, especially when you're used to those from the Xbox360 or PS3 version. Another thing we applaud is the fact that you can play your career online (and can climb the rankings) against human opponents. Too bad that it will take you some time to find another smoothly playing challenger.