Finally, a tennis game for the XBox. Ever since I played Virtua Tennis on my computer, I've been waiting for another good tennis game to play. The problem with most of the tennis games is that they are either way too hard or too repetitive (so that all you do is press the same button over and over). Well this game addresses both of these issues and produces a great tennis game.
The format is the same as most sports games. You start out as a nobody and have to work your way through tournaments to improve. In Top Spin, you start at a ranking of 100, with no skills and almost no attributes. You create your own character and have to enter into tournaments and as you beat higher seeded players, your ranking gets better and your skills improve. As you climb to the top, you play lesser known players first (or made up players) and then you play the real ones such as Kournikova, Hingis and Agassi (if you are a women character you play other women, if you are a man you play other men). The difficulty levels as you climb the ladder are quite evident. The 98th ranked player is clearly not as goos as the 70th. Also, with special skill attributes, a player can be really good at one thing, such as serving, and average or lousy at others. Your player is the same way, having to improve four aspects of your game: Serve, Forehand, Backhand and Volley. The problem is that you can only improve your skills so much, with a maximum amount of points that you can use to take pro-lessons (which have challenges attached, so you can't just increase your skill by selecting it, you must beat the challenge first). So no player can be totally perfect, yet you can get close. You can also learn special skills, such as curved serve, etc, but this is limited also, with each player only allowed a certain amount.
In addition to this, you can also get sponsored. To do this you must also complete tasks. The companies hire you at a lower level and then let you move up in the company as you get better. For example, at first you get some free accessories to carry around and then as you get better, you can be put into a television commercial, which gives you more money.
As you accumulate money (from sponsorships and tournaments), you can spend it at the pro-shop. You can buy clothing, accessories, rackets and some other stuff. The graphics are very nice, with players, stadiums and crowds looking as they should. The crowd even gets larger as you get to the finals of the tournament. One feature I really liked was the "Attitude Button." Most games show player reactions after every rally, which gets a little annoying, Top Spin lets you choose when you want your character to react, with the white and black buttons. There is nothing offensive, no one yells or swears, but it is better than having to turn them off completely. The replays are also well done, only appearing when needed. They also which between regular overhead replays, to split screen multi-angle replays and even picture in picture ones (overhead with a close up of the player).
There is also the aspect of a "Super Shot" which is always available, yet very hard to perform. During regular play, you can hit any trigger to do this shot, yet you must stop the bar in the center to execute it properly or else the ball will go out of bounds. As you improve, it gets easier to do, yet never gets really easy. It is also available during your serve.
One thing that I didn't like is the fact that once you start a tournament, you must complete it in the same sitting. You cannot play one match and save the rest for later. With each game taking about 30 minutes, you need a good hour and a half to play a tournament in career mode.
Finally, the split screen multi-player and XBox Live give this game endless replay. If you like tennis games, this is the one to get.
Rating: 9/10
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