Reviewed: November 29, 2005
Reviewed by: Mark Smith

Publisher
2K Sports

Developer
Indie Built
PAM Development

Released: September 26, 2005
Genre: Sports
Players: 1-2
ESRB: Everyone

6
5
5
7
6.1

Supported Features:

Top Spin on the PS2 is a pale cousin to the Xbox version, and even with two years to tweak and mold this game into something more than it was, PAM has basically just ported the Xbox version over to the lesser system, stripping away graphics as needed to make it work.

Sadly, there isn’t a lot of competition in the tennis genre, especially on the PS2, and Top Spin can’t even muster up the energy to defeat Agassi Tennis Generation, the PS2 tennis game that released about the same time as Top Spin on the Xbox.

Exhibition mode gets you into some quick and dirty tennis matches while Custom Tournaments allow you to create your own tournament tree and play up to 15 of your friends. Naturally, the Career mode is where we are expected to spend the majority of our time but frankly; it’s not all that engaging or even fun.

There is a character creation engine that allows you to build your character choosing from numerous presets then tweak those with even more subtle alterations to noses, eyes, lips, hair, etc. But the graphics are so poor that the characters are usually pretty odd or even ugly. And most of the cooler clothing and equipment is locked down in the tennis shop forcing you to come back later when you have earned some cash.

Once your character is created you start off on a map of the United States that looks like some pre-school drawing with cartoonish icons representing training, events, and pro shops. Your immediately goal is to find the trainer and play mini-games that will increase your stats in power, serving, speed, etc.

This training concept fails miserably because it costs you money to train, even if you fail. I started off with 5,000 coin and went to tennis camp to learn to serve. This session gives you 90 seconds to score 1000 points by hitting three targets on the other side of the net. The targets vary in size and placement with smaller circles offering more points.

But there is NO training, no instruction, no advice; the instructor just takes your money and throws you to the wolves. Three attempts and 3,000 coin later I had yet to score more than 500 points so I bailed on the training and decided to play a match. A quick scan of the map revealed a Kroger amateur tournament so I joined up.

I entered the tournament ranked at 99 and my first opponent was ranked 64. I smoked her – flawless victory – she never won a set or match. Then I went up against 96 with the same results, and for my final tournament I went up against 68 and didn’t lose a match. So even though I am woefully inadequate to “train” or hit some arbitrary target, I am more than capable of going undefeated in a tournament and winning 15,000 coin.

It’s inconsistencies like these that sapped the fun right out of this game. Plus, during all those games and future ones, the computer never offers that much competition, even on the harder players. You can use basic tennis strategy of alternating left and right, short and deep and always get the point. And that’s using the standard shots with occasional flat and drop shots. There is never a reason to even risk the R1 and L1 skill shots, although I admit to always trying a power serve on my first attempt since you get two faults per service. But even if you do nail an 89mph serve the computer usually returns it so why bother trying.

The controls make sense and are precise enough to play an accurate game of tennis, but there is nothing here that even hints at a requirement of skill. Just mix up your shots and smash your way to victory. The four face buttons perform the basic hits and the R1 and L1 execute skill shots. You press and hold the particular shot button as the ball comes over the net toward you. This powers up the return while you aim the shot with the analog stick, usually somewhere as far away from the other player as possible.

The last tennis game I played was Outlaw Tennis on the Xbox, and while that game was more about humor and over-the-top characters, I have to admit, it had a better core tennis engine than Top Spin and it looked better doing it. And don’t even get me started on the horrendous load times. Wilson certainly got their money’s worth on their sponsorship for this game. You’ll see that spinning tennis ball on the load screens a lot more than you’ll be hitting it.

The two players and the ball are the only thing that cast shadows and these are just painted on the court. The ball boys are motionless, like ceramic statues poised like track runners on the starting line waiting for a gun that never fires. The line judges could also be cardboard cutouts and the generic crowd is faceless and repetitive, both in shirt colors and synchronized animations.

The player animation is admittedly very nice with some good fluid movements, backhands, and diving swings. These look even better in the closer replays where you can actually see more detail. You are offered two selections of post-shot ”attitudes” but these are very repetitive, usually one of you gloating at the other player and another of you walking away from the net all upset.

Top Spin supports the EyeToy for putting your face on the player but this is comical at best. The game doesn’t really put your face on the model, but rather takes your “features” and superimposes them on the CG model. I mistakenly tried to map my unshaven face onto a male model and the only thing the camera picked up was my lily white nose and scruffy 5 o’clock shadow, which resulted in a character that should have been admitted into the burn ward.

Sound effects are pretty much limited to the bouncing ball and the footsteps. And how about those footsteps – we’re talking the sound of trotting Clydesdales down a brick street whenever the player is walking or dancing around in circles after winning a match. Are they wearing Nikes and playing tennis or getting ready to perform in River Dance?

Voice work is also very limited with no play-by-play. I certainly wasn’t expecting anything as humorous or in-depth as Outlaw Golf but in Top Spin we only get a very brief introduction as the players walk to their respective sides of the court, then a computerized female voice that rattles off the scores with an unnatural delay like the computer is having to scan the score, look up the sound file for that number, load it, and play it.

Top Spin admittedly fills a much-needed gap in the tennis genre, but if this is the best the sport has to offer it’s time to find a new sport, or at least a new system to play it on. True tennis fans can only hold their breath in anxious anticipation for the upcoming Top Spin 2 on the Xbox 360.