Virtua Tennis 3

Virtua Tennis 3 isn't just tennis, but multi-tennis, with 12 mini-games for you to hone your skills, have fun or exert your Federer-like dominance over the competition.

These involve things like knocking down ninepins with well-directed serves; volleying balls into the middle of targets; playing bingo with numbers that move across the screen above the net; and keeping encroaching Space Invaders away from the net by knocking them down with volleys and smashes. Work your way through the mini-games and your player's attributes improve. There's also a Tennis Academy for more normal training, which sets you some seriously tricky tasks.

Add to this the improved AI over previous versions, the chance to play online (Xbox Live) and the true to life player visuals, and Virtua Tennis moves on apace from any of its previous incarnations.

Virtua Tennis 3 majors on customisation, from players (create your own to take on all-comers) right up to constructing your own tournaments. This is complemented by the use not only of real player images (and names) but also by the matching of their actual skills and preferences (grass, clay, long game, net-play) to their virtual characters. The depth of the AI, game-play and customisation is matched by the next-gen graphics and audio, both of which reflect the arenas, practice areas and camera angles that bring the video game Virtua variety of tennis close to the real thing.