When Virtua Tennis was released for the Dreamcast last year, I was certain that Sega had created a Tennis game that no developer could beat. Mario Tennis was a decent alternative, but fell short of achieving that true-to-life gameplay that Virtua Tennis had, all the while retaining that fast, arcade-style gameplay that you can't get enough of. Other Tennis games were released, hoping to take away the top spot from Sega's classic title, but all of them failed. That is, until Sega decided to release Tennis 2K2. Tennis 2K2 did the unthinkable. The unimaginable. The...oh, forget it! I think it would be a whole lot easier if I just came out and said it. Tennis 2K2 is better than its predecessor.

At a glance, Tennis 2K2 may not look all that different from the original, and your first match may not play all that different either. But continue playing and you'll begin to see all of the enhancements Sega's made to the game. It's not as if Virtua Tennis needed any tweaking, but the controls have been slightly improved. The analog control is smoother, gameplay is faster and overall, the game just feels better. These enhancements are trivial to gamers who missed the first game, however, anyone with good taste will still be able to appreciate the extra effort that went into developing this game. It's not a sequel and it's not being advertised one, but as a sports series that will likely see yearly installments, this is the next step in evolving tennis beyond a three-dimensional version of Pong.

Tennis 2K2 features three modes of play: Tournament, Exhibition and World Tour. Exhibition is the most basic of the three modes, allowing you to select one of 16 players (both male and female) and challenge 1 or 2 of your friends in a game of singles or doubles. Up to four players can participate in a game of doubles, but if one of your buddies doesn't make it, a computer player will gladly fill his shoes (and kick your butt much more efficiently). If none of your friends come over, you can team up with a computer-controlled player for a doubles match. For solo players though, the Tournament and World Tour modes are much more rewarding.

Tournament mode is an extension of the Exhibition mode. There are five stages of singles matches and three stages of doubles. Four gamers can play together in this mode as well, though it's most enjoyable playing by yourself or with only one friend. The Tournament mode is fun and has a lot of replay value, but it's the World Tour mode that'll keep you coming back for more week after week.

In World Tour mode, you build two players, one male and one female, from the ground up. Enter their names, select one of four head types (all of which look very similar), choose their hair color and style, etc. Height and body weight can be changed, as well as the color of their clothes. Once you're finished customizing the players, it's time to delve deep into World Tour mode's enormous world. Like the stuffing of a turkey on Thanksgiving, it's what's on the inside of the World Tour mode that counts.

There are several mini-games to "train" your players with. Some are as simple as hitting the ball in the center of a bull's eye, while others are much harder. One difficult mini-game in particular requires you to volley the ball back and forth against a wall, and as the ball is in the air, quickly run over the tennis ball cans lying on the court and prevent the ball from going out. The ball must be struck by your racket to highlight the cans. If the ball goes out, you'll have to wait for the machine to serve you another one, which wastes even more time, and the clock never stops ticking. Upon successfully completing a mini-game, you'll be rewarded with experience points that will enhance your player's speed, control and power, among other statistics. By facing off against various opponents, you'll earn money that can be used to purchase a partner contract to enter doubles matches, buy new clothes, rackets, shoes, stages, etc. Needless to say, all of the mini-games are very, very addictive.

The only complaint I have with Tennis 2K2 is its difficulty. Tennis 2K2 is considerably harder than Virtua Tennis, and while I'm sure the increased difficulty will appeal to every VT master out there, most other gamers will get frustrated and quit. This is ironic, I know. If a game is too easy, I complain, and if it's too hard, I complain about that too. In this case though, I feel over-powered. Tennis 2K2 isn't cheap, but it is very challenging. In the game's defense, until I lost for the fifth time in a row, I did not want to stop playing. Anyone who is looking for a serious challenge should definitely go out and buy this game right now. Even if you're not looking for a serious challenge though, Tennis 2K2 is an excellent buy.

Graphics: 8.5 
Tennis 2k2's character models are superb -- Serena and Venus Williams really look like Serena and Venus Williams! I am truly amazed at how much graphic designers are able to get out of a three-year-old console. The real-time shadows are especially detailed. Depending on the direction(s) the light is coming from, the shadow will take many different shapes and sizes. Some courts have sunlight, so the shadows are solid black, while other courts are lit with several stadium lights, creating a faint, multi-shadow image on each player. Even the ball has three shadows! Each shadow jets outward as the ball bounces, quickly coming back together to form one solid shadow when the ball hits the ground. I'm not surprised when I play a great PlayStation 2 game with stellar graphics, but seeing such intricacy on the Dreamcast is really amazing. I honestly didn't think that the Dreamcast was capable of generating shadows this realistic. Most developers concentrate on making their football and basketball games look as realistic as possible. Sega takes pride in all of their games though, making Tennis 2K2 one of the most visually impressive Dreamcast games ever made.

Sound: 5.9
Some of the techno tunes are excellent, but most of them are repetitive at best. At worst, they're annoying enough to make you hit the mute button. The sound effects are quite good though.

Difficulty: 8
This ain't a walk in the park. Or even a walk in the tennis court, for that matter. Tennis 2K2 will make you wonder if the computer really is that good, or if you are just really bad. Here's a tip to any gamer having trouble beating the Tournament mode: invite three of your friends over to your house. Not your hard-core gamer friends, your beer-drinking, video game-illiterate body-building friends. Plug in four Dreamcast controllers and play a few games. While they're trying to figure out how to hit the bright yellow ball, you're scoring so much that they'll begin to wonder if you really are Patrick Rafter. Believe it or not, beating your friends, no matter how bad they are at the game, will greatly improve your chances of success in the single-player modes. It helps hone your skills, and wining a few dozen times in a row will give you the confidence you need to beat the computer.

Concept: 6 
First comes Virtua Tennis, then comes...Tennis 2K2. The concept for a sequel to an awesome game isn't a new concept at all, but the unique gameplay ideas deserve some credit.

Multiplayer: 6.5
Much to the dismay of every SegaNet subscriber out there, Tennis 2K2 does not include any online multiplayer modes. In fact, it doesn't have any online modes at all. That is the one thing missing from the series. Sony and Microsoft's gaming networks will be up and running by the time Tennis 2K3 arrives, so here's hoping that Sega brings the next installment of the series online. The offline multiplayer modes are a blast, but that may not be enough for some gamers.

Overall: 8.5
Tennis 2K2 is the fastest, most exciting tennis game ever made. If you're going to let its extreme difficulty scare you away, then you might as well stop playing games all together. Video games are meant to be challenging, or else they wouldn't be any fun.