One of the major complaints about Virtua Tennis was the complete absence of female players. No Anna Kournikova. No Venus or Serena Williams. Well, this has been addressed in Tennis 2K2, with the addition of the Williams sisters, Mary Pierce, Arantxa Sanchez-Vicario, Lindsay Davenport, Alexandra Stevenson and Monica Seles among others. No Anna, though (sob). The new roster of females is appreciated, but the inability to play cross-gender matches with the males sort of defeats the purpose, in my opinion. The graphics are very nice for Dreamcast, and everything from the courts, crowds and players are well-represented. The on-screen avatars are less angular in Tennis 2K2, with sharp texture mapping and tons of animations. There is wear and tear on the courts as matches go on, and the stadiums themselves are more detailed than Virtua Tennis.

Gameplay is faster this year, and the controls have been adjusted slightly to compensate. It's easier to go for balls hit behind you, players don't dive nearly as much as last year, and everything just feels generally better tuned. There are a ton of options here - world tour has been expanded greatly in Tennis 2K2. After creating your own player, you take him or her through the world tour circuit, building a career, piling up victories and using the points awarded to purchase better equipment and hire pros to work in doubles matches with you. If you want to build up your created player's statistics, there are various mini-games that you can participate in. Exhibition mode and Tournament mode are pretty much the same as last year's version, however. Just like Virtua Tennis, multiplayer is an absolute blast. There is no better party game available on any platform than Tennis 2K2, and I'll stand behind that statement come hell or high water. Yelling at your doubles partner to cover the side of the court while you rush to the net, pounding your opponents while talking trash, all the while enjoying the easy control - it just doesn't get any better than this for multiplayer sports. Even friends of mine who don't care much for videogames always seemed to come around for tournaments, and once they found out that I had Tennis 2K2, I couldn't get them out of my house.

The sound in Tennis 2K2 is good for what it is, with the thwack of the ball and pounding feet on the court represented as well as could be expected. Crowds clap, players grunt and moan, and the umpires are clear with their calls. Unfortunately, the music is generic techno/electronica, which is a bit of a letdown after the cheesy rock of Virtua Tennis. While it wasn't up to the ultra-swanky standards of Daytona, Virtua Tennis' music was pretty funny to listen to, with the soaring guitar-fromage licks...and Tennis 2K2 seems rather soulless in comparison.

Tennis 2K2 is an excellent tennis game, easily the best one out there. Is it enough of an improvement to justify shelling out for this version? In the end, I'd probably have to justify getting this new version, especially with the addition of the female roster and the tightened-up controls. Others might not find that worth the extra 60 bucks, since the original still stands up as a great game even today. Still, multiplayer rocks hard, the graphics and control are sweet, and all DC owners owe it to themselves to check out one of the best games on any system. Simply said, you can't go wrong with Tennis 2K2.