The Virtua Tennis series has been well-received by critics and fans for its "ease of play but difficult to master" gameplay. With Virtua Tennis 3, the series returns with enhanced photo-realistic graphics and advanced player animations that perfectly match the behavior and mannerisms of individual professional athletes. Next-generation systems allow gamers to see the most detailed expressions on the faces of their selected players as they battle to win heated tournaments around the world. Improvements to the game's AI have also upped the challenge to becoming the top seed of the tennis world.