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Intro It wasn't all that long ago that Sega's Virtua Tennis and its sequel, Tennis 2K2, shared the spotlight as the two best tennis games ever made. It was something that few would have disputed - until now. Top Spin, which bears the Microsoft logo, wasn't considered to be much of a challenge to this throne by anyone until it surprised the heck out of everyone with its quality gameplay. Still, it isn't quite the runaway winner it's been made out to be. Gameplay: 8.5/10 After over two decades of having played tennis on both the video game and professional fronts, there is a possibility that I might be a bit more analytical and critical about this subject than most reviewers. Top Spin plays very well and covers many aspects of what truly might be real in competition at an elite level of tennis. Ball physics and motions are realistic, as are the players' kinetics and movements. Under spin (slice), top spin, the curiously named "safe" shot (flat), and the defensive lob are shot selections from which to choose. The longer you press the particular button that corresponds to the type of shot that you desire, the more power that will accompany the stroke. Directing the shot is done through the left thumb stick or analog pad, which also maneuvers your player. The controls are simple and intuitive enough for players of all skill levels to quickly pick up and understand. The problem with Top Spin's simplicity is that the "safe" shot in the real sport is hardly that: belting a flat winner with overwhelming power is far more difficult to hit flat than it is to hit with a measure of top spin, and apart from the lob shot, the title's moniker seems to be the most difficult shot to control. Furthermore, one of the most potent defensive shots in the sport, the top spin lob, is completely absent from this title. The defensive lob vanishes from view in either camera mode, making it nearly impossible to determine the depth or location of the play. As with Sega's Virtua Tennis titles, the net play of Top Spin is a considerably weaker element of the game, especially with regards to the ground strokes and serves. What's more, punching a volley winner is more difficult than it needs to be. That being said, Top Spin as a game (rather than an imitation of the real sport), is very successful on a many fronts. Part of the secret of its success is that simplicity: you can easily pick up the game and compete quite nicely with anyone that hasn't spent oodles of time with it. It shares many strategies with its real life counterpart in that you must slowly and methodically try to get your opponent out of position before you can really put him or her away with a winner. There's a lot to be said for ground stroke battles that go back and forth for twenty or thirty strokes with nice gets and a final fist-pumping winner to cap it all off. Top Spin offers a career mode where one can create a player and try to move him up in the world rankings to the eventual goal of becoming the world's number one player. Tournaments, such as Minor Pro, Major Pro, and even the four Grand Slams (cleverly, minorly renamed to avoid litigation) are obstacles for you to eventually overcome. Though noble in its effort, Top Spin is a minor disappointment in this area for a number of reasons. You shoot up in the rankings entirely too quickly, which is as far from real life as possible. In "real life," you have to navigate countless "satellite" circuit tournaments to get precious points that count towards your world ranking. This is a grueling tour in which even some of the better players will take years to achieve any kind of significant ranking, and Top Spin does away with it entirely. Furthermore, you can eventually choose a sponsor which will allow for different shorts, sneakers and hats. However, the most important artifact for most sponsors, the tennis racquet that you're going to use, is completely overlooked. You can somehow have a sponsor, such as Prince, and play with a racquet from a completely different company, such as Head. In "real" tennis, such an event would never occur unless you changed sponsors. Significant sponsorship demands that you use the sponsoring company's racquet without fail. Also of note is that, once you enter a tournament (always starting in the quarter finals), you cannot exit without counting as though you had lost. You cannot save in the middle of a tournament, so you are bound to play three consecutive matches or you must leave your Xbox on and return at a later time in order to avoid being penalized. It seems that it would be far more logical to have a "save once" feature for the tournaments than to penalize those that don't have 90 minutes to spend on the game. Finally, the skills challenges that "level up" your particular areas of expertise (serve, volley, ground strokes, etc.) aren't nearly as innovative as either Virtua Tennis or Tennis 2K2, nor are they as remotely as fun. Top
Spin really excels in its Xbox Live implementation, which allows you to compete
in singles (or doubles, if someone is sitting beside you) with anyone across the
globe. The competition is fierce and you can achieve rankings within Live. You
cannot, however, play doubles as a single player, which is a bit weak. In keeping
with its stellar simplicity, Live just might be Top Spin's best feature,
and is certainly a blast to play online.
Graphics: 8.5/10 Sound:
9/10 Control:
8.5/10 Overall: 8/10 [ top ] | |||
