By Michael Palisano
Tennis has been the one of the
mainstays of electronic gaming, dating back to the days of Pong. With the
release of Top Spin 2 on Xbox 360, this longstanding bedrock of electronic
gaming continues its decades of dominance. The game itself offers an
excellent, nuanced recreation of the sport with multiple shots and
volleys, moves and modes. Top Spin 2's selection of real world players and
courts adds to its authenticity. While the visuals are somewhat
underwhelming, the game's solid play more than compensates with
surprisingly deep controls and replay value.
Taking players back to the court, Top
Spin 2 is a follow-up to the successful Xbox game that offers more of the
same solid gameplay mechanics, addictive multiplayer party modes and tight
controls that made the original game so addictive. The game allows you to
play as any one of 24 different professional players including such famous
tennis stars as Roddick, Federer, Tommy Haas, Venus Williams and more.
Each of these players has been recreated faithfully, and the game brings
their own unique style to the court. In addition, the game lets you make
your own 'Digital Identity', where your on-screen character represents
your personality. Once created, each player is also ranked in various
skill levels, allowing players to select different levels of opponents for
each match. This allows you to practice basic techniques with lesser
players and work your way up to the champions. The game lets you play
either mixed or singles matches, and players can also set the number of
wins for each match and other options at the start of each round. Top Spin
2's gameplay modes offer a variety of different approaches, players can
choose to either play a single match or can delve deeper in the game's
unique career mode, where you can trace a rising star from the beginnings
on schoolyard courts until they reach the pros at the professional
tournament level. During the career mode, players won't just need to
defeat opponents, since they'll also face a number of training levels.
These act as mini-games, where you need to complete a simple task, such as
returning volleys or performing a specific type of shot before the timer
runs out. When you've done this successfully, you earn points which you
can use to increase your character's attributes and skill levels. As you
progress through the career mode, you'll unlock additional items, such as
extra outfits, rackets and accessories which allow you to further
customize your character's appearance. These include hairstyles, shorts,
shoes, sweatbands and more.
Top
Spin 2's approach to the sport is fairly straightforward in that the game
doesn't drown the player in complexity. The controls are fairly easy to
learn, with a few basic shots available to the player. Most of the
strategy is deciding when to use standard shots, and when to take a chance
on the riskier swings, which are harder for an opponent to volley, but
also have an increased chance of falling outside the lines. The interface
simple enough to give Top Spin 2 an immediate accessibility, but the depth
provides you with the ability to learn new skills and perform a variety of
shots including slices, drops, chops, lobs and drives. Setting up your
shots requires a great deal of strategy and is a key element that
determines whether you win the matches or not. The game's pacing is superb
throughout, and players will find that the game offers plenty of intense
action, whether it becomes fast deadly blows, or extended back and forth
between the two players. Top Spin's single player mode is quite addictive
and stands with the best tennis titles on the market. While some of the
earlier opponents you face are somewhat predictable in their attack and
shot patterns, the more skilled AI opponents keep you off guard and are
much harder to score points against. This gives the game a very high
replay value that pushes you to keep improving your game, while never
seeming to become too difficult. The structure is excellent in this
regard, and allows you to play either casually or more seriously,
depending on your state of mind.
Top Spin 2's single player mode is
excellent and quite addictive, but the game really shines when you connect
to Xbox Live, where you can compete against many other players. There are
several modes of play, and you can select to either play against a single
opponent, or compete in tournaments with the associated rankings and
scores displayed. The simplicity of the game makes it ideal for online
play, and matches are generally fast and speedy. The player matching and
lobby system is straightforward and intuitive, allowing you to jump right
into the action with little effort. The game's addictive play mechanics
and intuitive controls are evident in the online modes as well.
Unfortunately, the one area where Top Spin 2 falls a bit short is in its
graphics. The player models don't look much more sophisticated than they
would have on the original Xbox, with most still showing somewhat stilted
animations and undetailed polygons that make them seem a bit behind the
curve. The game's limited number of camera angles and cut-aways make it
feel a bit thrown together as well, making for a game that doesn't quite
live up to the console's promise. For a next-generation title, Top Spin 2
seems to make little effort at exploiting the Xbox 360's processing power
and feels like something that's been ported over with minimal upgrades. To
help mitigate this to some degree, the game's low retail price means it
retails for about half the usual rate for an Xbox 360 title. This helps
make the lack of polish easier to swallow, but no less disappointing.
Despite
the fact that Top Spin 2 lacks the production polish you'd expect a
next-generation title to offer, it makes up for it with some solid
gameplay. It's controls are intuitive and easy to learn, allowing you to
jump right in and play a quick match, while not compromising the depth of
moves and shots. If you want to go a bit deeper into the game, you'll find
a number of interesting techniques to master. The standard tennis matches
are enjoyable, but the party and mini-games add some variety and fun to
the game as well. Top Spin 2's gameplay unfolds at a good pace, and it
does a generally excellent job of recreating the feel and intensity of the
sport. While it's not the most elaborate game on the system, this is a
solidly enjoyable title that serves up an entertaining and occasionally
challenging experience. Its low price makes it an excellent value, and
should make a decent addition to the Xbox 360 library.
