Grand Slam Game

By Jason Carl

The difficulty in designing great sports games is often underappreciated: the trick is to achieve the right balance between fun and realism. Too much realism, and the casual players find the game boring and inaccessible; too little realism, and the game becomes just another ho-hum arcade title. Top Spin™ gets this delicate mixture exactly right. This is the total tennis experience! All tennis games let you lob the ball back and forth over the net, but Top Spin’scombination of exciting gameplay, true-to-life features, and online capabilities make it the grand-slam winner in its field.

Setting up the return.

Fore!
Solid gameplay and a variety of modes make Top Spin a worthy entrant in the field of next-generation Xbox sports titles in the XSN Sports lineup. The game features great ball control, giving you the ability to hit fast, hard, flat, with or without topspin, or with any combination you’d like. Slice the ball deep, and watch your opponent scramble to return your shot. The variety and complexity of shots is more than enough to satisfy the most diehard tennis fans. Lobs, slices, drop shots, forehand smashes … they’re all here, and so are trick shots. Ever wanted to amaze your friends with a behind-the-back return or place high-risk shots that, if successful, would give your opponent fits? The best time to attempt these chancy shots are when you’re riding a wave of positive momentum generated by the crowd. That’s right. The virtual audience behaves much like the genuine article, cheering and jeering at the appropriate moments and giving each match its own unique energy.

Like the shots, the competitive arenas are satisfyingly realistic, featuring all the approved court types (grass, clay, hard, and carpet). Each court type behaves as expected. Shots on clay courts, for example, tend to bounce much higher than on other types of surfaces, exactly as happens in real life. The competitions aren’t real tournaments, but they seem so genuine that you won’t know the difference. If all this sounds slightly arcane or intimidating, don’t be concerned: the game controls are flexible and simple, and the virtual tutorials will have you lobbing and slicing with professional grace in no time.

Gotta dig for the winners.

It’s Your Career
The tennis players included in the game are wonderfully rendered, right down to their chin stubble and hair follicles (Anna Kournikova and Andre Agassi fans take note). You can choose to take on the role of one of the 14 star athletes included with the game or create your own persona with the robust Player Creator system. There are dozens of variables for you to determine; you’re in control of your player’s gender, hairstyle, facial features, gear, and clothing. Once on the court, your player emotes realistically, allowing you to convey your feelings to your opponent, judges, and fans. Victimized by bad calls? Throw your racquet—heck, throw a tantrum while you’re at it. John McEnroe would be proud! It’s somehow satisfying to shake your fist in Pete Sampras’ stoic face, even as he’s pounding you to smithereens.

Game Point
Jump into Career Play, the single-player mode that takes you from lowly amateur status to the giddy heights of pro tennis. First, you’ll compete in lesser tournaments to win some prize money. Then, spend your cash on some good coaching at the Tennis Academies, and pick up some better equipment. Soon, you’ll be playing in bigger events, winning bigger purses, and gaining endorsements from sponsors eager to have your face in their courtside advertisements. By the time you’ve entered the top ranks, you’ll be a seasoned circuit veteran, ready to meet your toughest opponents yet: other Xbox Live players!

Without style, it’s just a game …

Live from Your Living Room
You can play against other local opponents via Xbox System Link, but that’s merely scratching the surface of the game’s multiplayer capabilities. Top Spin is one of the first games featured in the upcoming XSN Sports line, so you’ll have the chance to compete against other players from around the world in single matches, leagues, and tournaments. Check your ratings and rankings at The Hub, the nerve center of the tennis circuit; it’s also where you can check your sponsor status, view your scrapbook of photos chronicling your greatest moments on the court, or just change your outfit (white gets so dull). And, you’ll be pleased to know that all the fame, cash, and gear you earned in Career Play comes with you into the world—you and your lucky sweatband will get your game on together when you make it to the big time!

See you on the court this fall! (I’ll be the one wearing my lucky pink sweatband … )