Top Spin Hands-On
Top Spin is back--this time for the PS2. We check out the career mode and controls in this updated hands-on look.
The original Top Spin for the Xbox, released nearly two years ago, was a superb game that blended razor-edge controls with fine graphics and, more importantly, loads of fun. With the decline of the XSN brand of Microsoft sports games, licenses were sold off and the Top Spin license landed with the good folks at 2K Sports, who are now bringing the series to the PlayStation 2. We were able to play the game for the first time since our initial look back at E3, and we're pleased to report that it has made a good deal of progress since then.
Top Spin's menu of mode choices includes exhibition, custom tournament, career mode, online, and a tennis school tutorial. As you might be able to guess, exhibition matches let you create either a single or doubles match with male or female players, and you can choose the number of games and sets per match, as well as the difficulty level. Similarly, in the custom tournament mode, you design your dream tourney from the ground up. Just as in exhibition matches, you choose from either male or female players in single or doubles (though we couldn't find the option to play mixed doubles matches), the number of human players in the tournament, the number of tournament rounds, as well as the number of games, sets, and level of difficulty.
Top Spin's career mode is the heart of the single-player game. It's a mode where you create your virtual tennis likeness and then hit the courts (be they clay, grass, or cement). There's a lot to do in career mode and all of it is accessible on a fairly attractive-looking map that will have you flying to tennis locales throughout the world to compete in tournaments, hook up for endorsement deals, work on your game in coaching sessions, buy new gear in the pro shops, and even hit the salon to try out different looks for your created tennis player. Matches start out on the easy side--you should be able to blow your opponent away even without much coaching--but quickly ramp up in difficulty as you progress up the ranks a bit. Because of this, you'll probably immediately scamper back to the coaching sessions to improve your game.
The coaching sessions are graded by their difficulty--bronze, silver, and gold--and each focuses on one particular aspect of your tennis game, such as serve, volley, forehand, and backhand shots. Most of the challenges involve simply hitting the ball into specific areas of the court. While this sounds simple, it often isn't. The targets in the serving challenge, for example, shift after each attempt and you're never quite certain where they will end up next. Once you've passed a particular coaching session, you'll earn a star in that particular attribute and will see an immediate improvement in that area of your game in your next tournament. Considering the challenge that you'll face with some of the later tournament opponents--who are experts at crosscourt shots and rarely, if ever, hit a ball out of bounds--you're going to need every star you can get.
You start out in Top Spin for the PS2 as a lowly amateur and, once you've racked up a few tourney wins, you take your first step up the rankings, where you'll be known as a "young gun." The grand-slam tournaments, such as the Americans Championship and the Great Britain Championship (the Top Spin equivalents to the US Open and Wimbledon, respectively) won't open up until you've earned the title of "star." You'll eventually reach "legend" status once you've dominated the biggest tournaments in the game. The game includes a detailed list of all your accomplishments in your Top Spin career, including tournaments won, skills earned along the way, and trophies received; a ranking list that shows your precise placement among the players found in the game (including real-life pros such as Lleyton Hewitt and Roger Federer); detailed player stats that show things like serve games held, the number of aces you've pulled off, your total number of unforced errors, and, of course, your overall record.
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- GameSpot Score7.2good
Check Prices: $29.99 – 39.99
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Top Spin Gameplay Movie 6
Take a look at some footage of Top Spin in action on the PlayStation 2.
- Sep 29, 2005
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