Easy
to recommend as it's the only tennis game going, but
it's improvements over the original will be appreciated
by former fans. by
Vaughn Smith
April
11, 2006 - In
the beginning there was Pong. And it was good...Yada
Yada Yada...Virtua Tennis, Mario Tennis, Top Spin
and now Top Spin 2. How was that for fast forwarding
through the annals of gaming history? I've just spent
two days playing Top Spin 2 and I'm pooped. That's
hard work moving my little tennis pro around like
that. I'm tired just watching the poor guy.
Top
Spin 2 continues in the tradition of PAM's (Power
and Magic) original game released for the Xbox and
PS2. This is definitely good news if you've played
Top Spin before, as the game seems to be targetted
slightly more to returning champions, than complete
noobs. Top Spin 2 is not an easy game to master, although
it's as "pick up and play" as Mario Tennis;
at first. To completely master Top Spin 2 you'll have
to practice your ass off, quite possibly as much as
you'd have to if you wanted to be a real tennis star.
Top Spin 2 can be quite unforgiving as you progress.
If I had a racket, I would have smashed it against
the wall a few times. John McEnroe ain't got nothing
on me.

Those
wanting to jump in to have a quick game before learning
the basics will assume that Exhibition mode is the
place to be. Wrong. I say this from experience. 24
real life pros are waiting for you in there and they
are maxed out and looking for fight. I had egg on
my face pretty quick. I was returning volleys like
Billy Jean King, but I wasn't scoring any points.
I had absolutely no finesse, even though my chosen
player had attributes up his little tennis shorts.
I quickly skulked into the career mode, which incidently
is made for noobs. Noobs just like me! Having not
played Top Spin for awhile, I was quite rusty.
Before
you can get to the career mode, you have to create
a player (or throw caution to the wind and randomize
it with a gentle press of the X button). You'll spend
all sorts of times adjusting your players chin and
forehead - the most inane details I've noodled with
yet in a game - and then you'll take your creation
to training mode where some nice guy just gives you
$200,000 coin to play with. Sweet! No need to take
this tennis thing any further...can I leave now with
the cash? Training will teach you how to play the
game via little cutesy tennis mini-games like trying
to serve the ball into the glowing areas or returning
the tennis balls so that they hit large bowling balls
which then knock over piins. There are quite a few
training areas and truth be told, I would have preferred
a 5 minute no nonsense tutorial and how to play the
damn game. The loading times are excruciating as you
have to wade through numerous screens just to return
to the training mode, not to mention having to endure
that acoustic guitar rock tune over and over and over
and over. Eventually you'll be able to enter a tournament
where more than likely you'll get your ass handed
to you, which means it's right back to training.

Indie
Built/PAM listened to that old adage "don't fix
what's not broken" so you'll find Top Spin 2
plays and handles virtually the same as the original
game. What makes the Top Spin series so revered is
the amount of shots at your disposal. Each face button
functions as a type of shot, volley or serve and can
be modified depending on the situation. Serves are
available in three varieties: safe, topspin and slice
- while shots are broken down into safe, topspin,
slice and lob. Volleys at the net are similar but
if used correctly can make or break a particularly
tough match. Risk shots/serves and advanced shots
help to fine tune your style and while hard to master,
are an absolute necessity. You won't get far without
these in your repertoire. Advanced shots are obtained
by completing special traning sessions and they are
worth their weight in gold. It's too bad they aren't
available at the outset as I found even the novice
levels more than a little challenging.
In
terms of control, you won't find too much to complain
about. If you haven't played Top Spin previously,
getting the timing down of the more advanced shots
which require holding down the LT or RT buttons will
take some getting used to. This forces you to only
rely on these shots when it's absolutely safe to do,
otherwise you risk giving your opponent the point
or even the match. Playing with 2 or more players
is effortless, although we found it most preferable
when our characters were positioned close. It's a
bit of an adjustment playing when your character is
on the other side of the court, but since the game
switches back and forth, everyone will be at the same
disadvantage.

Visually
Top Spin looks nice - but if you've seen the recent
releases on the X360 you won't be blown away - after
all this is tennis we're talking about. The character
and court models look very good and the animation
is smooth. I especially liked the little "attitude"
flourishes you can activate with the bumpers after
you've either aced it or blown it. I'm pretty sure
my guy was really foul-mouthed, but I couldn't really
hear him. Too bad, because when I screwed up, he looked
pretty pissed off.
Top
Spin 2 is one of those niche titles. I'm not very
big into tennis and I imagine those that are, prefer
to play the real game. Perhaps it was my lack of real
interest or the length of time since I played the
first game, but the challenge level was a little intimidating.
When playing against other human players I found that
I enjoyed it far more. With real pros and real courts,
Top Spin 2 will easily be a hit with the racket and
ball crowd who enjoy playing their X360 more than
hitting the courts.
By
Vaughn Smith
CCC
Site Director
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