| Game Reviews From a Parental Perspective! | |
|
|
|
| Home | Forums | Review Archive | Columns | Feature Articles |
|
Home >
Review Archive >
Video Games
> Results: Top Spin 2
Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Scroll down for our Kid Factor. 
I was on the high school tennis team for a school that regularly ranked in the top 10 state-wide while I was in school, and it has been a sport that I have kept active with for the ensuing twenty-five years or so. It has become a fun family activity now, and as a result my kids were excited when I brought this game home - and had a nice chuckle at my expense seeing how my prowess on court (and in Wii Sports) didn't translate into success in the game! Top Spin 2 was released on the XBOX360 (as well as DS & GBA) just about a year ago, and is a solid game that really delivers the most technically involved and accurate game of tennis available. The game is not without some baggage, but my kids and I had a blast playing it - or more truthfully getting seriously played by it!
You can quickly jump into a Tournament, play an Exhibition, join up with friends for some crazy party games or get to the heart of things in Career mode. All of the other modes are based on events you can play out in career mode, but feature pre-made players or options to play multiplayer. Career mode provides detailed character creation and then launches you into practices and small tournaments before sending you against really difficult opponents. Unlike the Virtua Tennis games, you are burning cash during each training session and want to maximize your skill advancements. Once you get into a tournament, you will meet someone significantly more skilled than you - but someone who is also quite beatable if you have done a decent job in practicing up your skills. If you are running around hitting only basic and 'safe' shots you will have a very quick and one-sided match. This is a reminder of why practice is so important - this is not just 3D Pong! This is a very technical game of tennis where strategy and shot selection and placement are all very important. You have four 'basic' shots, four 'risk' shots and four 'advanced' shots. The basic safe shot will never go out, but will also be easily returnable by your opponent - so it is best left for desperation shots. You want to make as few shots as possible per point, and force your opponents to make mistakes - the best way to do this is with 'risk shots'. These are just as they sound - they will either be spectacularly successful or a spectacular failure based on your timing. There were versions of Top Spin 2 released for the Nintendo DS and GBA handhelds at the same time as the XBOX360 version. I had the unfortunate experience of playing the DS version and - trust me on this - the less said the better. Suffice it to say it might just be the worst handheld tennis game ever - GBA graphics with terribly choppy performance and utterly random feeling gameplay. Not worth a try at any price. Despite the issues I mentioned, I had a blast playing Top Spin 2 - and so did my kids! We spent a lot of time over the course of the weekend laughing at each other and encouraging one another to do better. Given a single PC to play it on - and a single gamepad - we never got to do much of the multiplayer, but we still had fun. We all agreed that it would have been much more fun on the TV in the living room going head to head. But at the budget price it is being sold for, this is a fun little game certain to bring you loads of fun - especially if you have a XBOX360 controller. If you have an XBOX360, it is worth the extra $10 to get that version - or get it used for about the same price as the PC version. If you are PC-only, definitely get the XBOX360 controller - you'll be glad you did in the long run.  
Tennis is a wonderful game in all of its many forms from the real-world court game to Pong through a variety of video games on just about every system ever made. Some sports have games made that mess with the basic concept, including adding more adult elements to make it more 'cool'. Fortunately Top Spin stays away from that! There is absolutely nothing inappropriate about the content in this game.
There is some interesting perspective in the 'skill building' realm I'd like to share. This is the most 'technically accurate' tennis game you can find - whereas the Virtua Tennis series is more of a friendly arcade game, this is much more exacting in terms of skills and shots. I spent some time with them comparing it to my PSP copy of Virtua Tennis, and they preferred the PSP game. The reason is simple - they are looking for fun, not realistic simulation, and since my terrible skills showed that real-life talent means little in Top Spin there is little incentive for them to master the PC game in hopes of whooping me on court when the snow melts. They said they'll just stick to Wii Sports to work the muscles! Other Platforms Xbox360: Out for a year, best controls and performance, still the most expensive. PC: $10 cheaper than Xbox360, system hog, really needs controller. DS & GBA: Listen to Nancy and just say no! Comments? Chat about it in our forums! Format For Printing | Tell A Friend | Digg | Slashdot | del.icio.us | Buy This Game Home > Review Archive > Video Games > Results: Top Spin 2 |
Read the GamerDad 2007 Holiday Guide!
|
Please Note: GamerDad is not intended to be read by anyone under 18. We stay clean, but be warned! Content Management System developed by Redbird Solutions. |
