Well, there's not much good going on with this game!
Not much to explain about the basic game - it's tennis! In Top Spin, you create a little
guy/girl to play tennis and compete in various tournaments to gain money to get
better and buy more stuff for your create a player.
The create-a-player is actually quite good with lots of different facial
aspects to change and theres some erm... lovely hair styles! Basically you can
change whatever you want but it isn't guaranteed to be how you imagined it - I
couldnt work out how to get a perfect nose, it looked more like Sarah Michelle
Gellar and her weird conkey nose - but hey! I do have to admit the graphics on
this game are a big step up from the rest of the tennis games on the market -
Wow the players actually look how they're meant to so it will get a bonus point
for graphics.
The offline game is actually quite good. Basically you're the worst tennis
player alive and get better by playing - woo-hoo what an original concept(!),
but playing through the tournaments you gain experience and cash, competing against
various ability competitiors - you win, you progress.
Different buttons for forehand, backhand and slice and some well dodgy system to work out if you can
pull off your "risk" shot - a bar goes up and down and you have to press it at
the right time to get you fancy shot that in a lot of cases cannot be returned
and it does impress the audience - so not just your plain old boring tennis -
there is a hint of excitement, brief but still there!
If you're planning on taking this baby online then... DON'T unless your
great! The online side of the game is pretty pointless - you can play against one
other person which is a bit boring for a chat or argument and unless you're good
at the game and have a pretty swanky player already you will get aced out of the
game - I think you'd have more chance winning a wrestling match with the
Terminator!
So, if you like tennis then play, my pretties, but if you just want yet
another online game or fancied playing your mates at tennis then don't bother
unless you only have one friend! Oh, and online THERE'S NO MUSIC! which is real
annoying when the guy your playing against has no microphone plugged in - ooooh
beaten by 3 clear sets without a sound - yawn. i'd rather stay in bed
personally!
GRAPHICS SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC PLAYABILITY ENJOYMENT
As of April 2009, Blu-rays and DVDs reviewed by the editor are watched on a Panasonic TH-37PX80B
37" Plasma TV with a Sony BDP-1500 Blu-ray player and played through a Yamaha DSP-AX820 amplifier.
PC games reviewed by the editor are on:
Since Jan 2011: Intel Quad Core Dell XPS 8100, i7 CPU 860 @ 2.80Ghz, 8Gb RAM, nVidia GeForce GTS 240, Windows 7
Since Nov 2005: Intel Pentium D 830 3.0Ghz, 1Gb RAM, 128Mb nVidia GeForce 6700XL, Windows XP
Since Aug 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.66Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb GeForce4 MX440 graphics, Windows XP
Since May 2003: Intel Pentium 4 2.6Ghz, 512Mb RAM, 128Mb ATI Radeon 9600TX graphics, Windows XP
Since Jun 2002: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, 64Mb ATI Radeon 8500LE
Since May 2000: Intel Pentium III 600Mhz, 384Mb RAM, Windows 98 SE, Voodoo 3 3000 AGP
The offline game is actually quite good. Basically you're the worst tennis
player alive and get better by playing - woo-hoo what an original concept(!),
but playing through the tournaments you gain experience and cash, competing against
various ability competitiors - you win, you progress.
If you're planning on taking this baby online then... DON'T unless your
great! The online side of the game is pretty pointless - you can play against one
other person which is a bit boring for a chat or argument and unless you're good
at the game and have a pretty swanky player already you will get aced out of the
game - I think you'd have more chance winning a wrestling match with the
Terminator!
