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| | Title:
Top Spin 2
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System:
Xbox 360
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Genre:
Sports
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Publisher:
2k Games
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Developer:
Indie Built
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Release:
1/23/2006
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Online:
Yes
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ESRB:
Everyone (E)
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The original Top Spin was a popular tennis game that reminded many of how fun tennis really is...for a video game, anyway. Well, the Xbox 360 is now getting the well-deserved sequel to one of the finest tennis games of all time. In Top Spin 2 players will once again engage in the fun-filled tennis bouts, except this time with 24 top tennis pros from around the world, including some returning favorites: Andy Roddick, Venus Williams, Roger Federer, Llyeton Hewitt, Thomas Haas, Guillermo Coria, and many more.
Second’s best
The original Top Spin was developed and published from Microsoft gaming studios. Top Spin 2 now has a new publisher and developers: 2K Games and Indie Built Inc., and PAM. However, it still features the amazing career mode with the returning, full-featured, create-a-player mode as well as the fantastic gameplay of yore. In the original, players were given extensive control for the look and feel of their custom character. In this sequel, though, you can customize just about every detail to make your character as original and unique as you want. The customization ranges from detailed facial features, hairstyles, clothing and shoes, and much more than I can list here.
Besides the standard move sets and swings, players have been given the option to assign their created player a special signature shot. Not only is it special, but the S- shot is a move that no one else on the circuit will be using, making your character even more unique from everyone else on the roster. Depending on your playing style, and use of the signature move, players will also be awarded attribute points to assign to their created player so that stats such as power and control can be increased.
After you get done whipping together a professional-looking tennis athlete, it’s time to head out and a career to become the best. You can send your character through training camps until you find it necessary for them to move on to more challenging tasks, and you can enter the junior championship division. However, if you think you can capture all the glory and grandeur that tennis has to offer, you can take on all four of the Grand Slam championship tournaments.
The career mode has also undergone changes for a more serious effect. Instead of the career mode sequences featured in the original Top Spin, the newer career mode has a more simulated feel. Players now go through a calendar-oriented season that lists their matches and tournaments in a more organized fashion. The playtime of the career has also been extended; according to the developers, the career mode now spans for up to 50 (possible) hours of playtime.
Spinning detail
Back in the day when the original Playstation and N64 reigned, stellar graphics was secondary in comparison to the larger scope of the game’s content. Now, during this generation consisting of the PS2 and Xbox, graphics are as much a necessity in the overall quality of a game as any other feature. Furthermore, with the newest generation upon us, it seems that graphics play an even larger attributing role to the overall quality and content a game has to offer. So when an Xbox 360 game comes out, we expect the same if not greater level of playability as the current-generation consoles, yet there’s a much greater anticipation for the graphical splendor the newer consoles have to offer.
I’m proud to say that Top Spin 2 not only looks fantastic, but also has splendidly smooth frame-rates. The character animations and racket control all look amazing, and also plays out very smoothly. The details that went into the characters themselves are also impressive. From the craters, and skin dimples, to the crinkles in the clothing and muscle-tension that are all entirely visible, none can argue the fact that the developers did an amazing job on the visual presentation of the game, especially since the game can be viewed in the high-def modes, featuring 720p and the crystal clear 1080i options.
The environments are another well-done element. In fact, I couldn’t tell if the far backdrop was the typical box/spherical polygon dome with a texture, or if the buildings were actually in 3D. The horizon and draw distance seemed to stretch on as far as the eye could see. The tennis courts were also fully rendered with startling detail. One of the sun-beaten courts looked worn and haggled in an urban environment; brick buildings lined the outside streets as slightly bent fences surrounded the playing field. Another court was outlined in a scenic view from atop a fancy house, with palm trees and an in-ground pool sitting next to the court. Of course, though, what would tennis be without those traditional, tournament styled courts? From grass, to clay, to the standard hard surface, players will still have the option of playing on the stadium-style courts.
New moves and bigger plays
The original Top Spin for the Xbox featured some fast-paced, fluent tennis action, including all the taunting, showboating, and skilled shots which are most definitely returning in this sequel, except this time with a bit more spin. The skillful use of “risk shots” has returned. However, players will now have more freedom in the use of a “risk shot”. For instance, on the original, a “risk shot” was taken by simply pulling the right-trigger. This time around players can exercise different types of risk shots by combining the normal shots with the right-trigger. The extended use of such “risk shots” should add more skill and technical prowess to the overall matches. Or, if used wrong, they will have you succumbing to utter defeat.
Tennis from around the world
On top of an alluring career mode, and the standard singles exhibition modes, Top Spin 2 still features the favored online modes so you can still challenge your arch-rivals from around the world, and have the match stats tracked with an online scoreboard. Or you can grab a partner and go at it in head-to-head team matches against the CPU or with three other players.
It looks like the publisher, 2K Games, has a more-than-competent sequel under their wing. Just about everything you could ask for in a tennis game has seemingly made the cut, although, it would’ve been more interesting if custom game modes were tossed into the mix–modes such as a four-player free-for-all, or handicap matches would be interesting. Nevertheless, the developers still tossed in a custom soundtrack feature, so you can knock balls around the court while listening to your favorite tunes. So there isn’t too much to complain about there.
You can look for this to hit shelves come January 23, 2006.
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Luke
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