| | Operation Sports:Tennis at Its Finest
By Shawn Drotar
Sports have been a staple in video gaming since its inception, and a tennis game (well, table tennis, anyway) started it all. Oh, how far we have come …
Top Spin™, Microsoft Game Studios’ foray into video game tennis, provides everything a gamer could ask for in an Xbox tennis game.
Don’t believe me?
- Do you want controls so simple that you can pick up a game pad and be playing in no time? You’ve got it.
- Do you want all the strategy involved in the real game, with passing shots, lobs, drop shots, and overhead smashes? No problem.
- How about a wide selection of pros to choose from? Do Pete Sampras, Lleyton Hewitt, James Blake, Martina Hingis, Daniela Hantuchova, and Anna Kournikova ring any bells?
- How about a variety of stadiums and surfaces to choose from? Well, Top Spin has 45 to choose from—from the four Grand Slam courts to the Tashkent Silk Road Tennis Center in Uzbekistan. Does that fit the bill?
- So, you want a deep Career mode? The Career mode in Top Spin takes you from the playgrounds to the top of the world rankings, complete with training, sponsorships, and tournaments on six different continents.
- And, you want it playable online? No problem. Top Spinfeatures Xbox Live and XSN Sports functionality. How does a 64-person tournament sound? Or a 16-person tour? How about a 16-person Season mode?
Now, what do you think? I thought so …
Top Spin brings all the excitement of real tennis home in a game that the entire family can enjoy. While the controls are easy to master, and the game is simple to play, proper tennis strategy can still be employed to great effect. Obviously, positioning and aiming your shot is critical. If your player is in the correct position before the ball arrives, with feet firmly planted, the shot will become more powerful and more accurate. Hit on the run, however, and everything becomes much more difficult. Like real tennis, the best strategy in Top Spin is to keep your opponents guessing. With lobs and drop shots at your disposal, your options are many, and opportunities to win points are plentiful. The beauty of Top Spin is that the teams at Power and Magic Development and Microsoft Game Studios have incorporated all the thinking of tennis … without making it difficult to use. The controls are very intuitive, and when you play, everything feels right. Players make shots they should be able to, and don’t make impossible or unnatural ones. This results in a natural-feeling game without a steep learning curve.
There’s nothing quite like a four-player doubles match in Top Spin. Players jostle for position, trying to cover for each other (and likely arguing over whose ball it was … again, just like the real thing). 
Top Spin™ delivers.
Top Spin also has an added bonus: one of the most robust player creation tools ever made for a console game. With the ability to sculpt 12 different facial features as well as a player’s hairstyle, body, and clothing, it’s possible to create virtual alter egos with eerie similarity to almost anyone. Not only is it fun to use, but it also goes a long way towards helping you identify your player quickly and easily during those lightning-fast volleys.
With all of these features, it’s easy to overlook the graphics and sounds of Top Spin—or it would be if they weren’t stellar. The selection of courts is wonderful in both appearance and variety, and the players move on them fluidly and interact well with the surfaces. They’ll slide a little on grass and a lot on clay, but on the hard courts, they’ll stick like glue. It makes the different surfaces really count during gameplay, and that, in turn, adds depth and realism to the title.
There isn’t another title like Top Spin available for the Xbox. So, if you haven’t played it yet, you’re missing out on one of the most enjoyable video gaming experiences of the year. And, who wants to do that? Get out and try Top Spin today!
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