Your career pans out as an event per week on your virtual calendar, and each week will give you three choices – to train with a designated coach and earn more abilities to your statistics, enter tournaments or enter special events. You can even buy new clothes and gear for your player, but this seems to be little more than a glamour thing, as (bizarrely) buying new rackets and items don’t appear to raise your stats or skill level like in most tennis games. It’s a weird thing, because if you’re not interested in what you look like, there seems little point in actually spending hard earned ‘coin’ on a different coloured shirt. More often than not – especially when starting out – you’ll end up working out with your trainer to beef up your player points.
Each training event will cost you a certain amount of money and will earn you back a certain amount of ‘stars’ upon completion, which you can attribute to a few aspects of your character. When you win stars, it is up to you where you place them. As Captain Planet once put it, the Power is yours. But, if you don’t also make the Speed, Accuracy and Backhand yours, you may get nobbled by a faster or more agile opponent.
And for the most part, if you get done like a kipper, it’s largely your own fault. The controls are very tight, with the face buttons dedicated to particular moves, from safe shots to curlers and topspins. Holding a button down will make your shot more powerful, while holding a direction will aim your shot to the side. When you start out your player isn’t very accurate so trying to angle your attacks to take your opponent out can usually get your ball out of the court itself. Once you become one with the tennis ball, and teach yourself inner zen, light directional touches are understood to be necessary.
Unfortunately, we at the SPOnG office don’t have that kind of patience – sod inner calm, we’d rather keep at it with a desire to shove our rival’s face into the dog turd that is vengeance and humiliation. Which works too, on most days. The good thing about the controls in Top Spin 2 is that it accommodates for an arcade mind as well as adding extra features that the pro may delve into – holding the triggers will either pull off special moves once you have a power bar replenished, or perform ‘risk shots’ if timed correctly. Risk shots can be much too fiddly for our liking however and usually end up with a worrying 40-0 loss in the name of trying to look ‘wick’.
Online, Top Spin 2 delivers. It’s exciting to see developers making use of the XBOX 360’s advantages and main features, and the entertaining Live mode is just as much, if not more, a draw to this game as its lifelike graphics. There are usually loads of people just waiting for you to join them in a quick match, and Boris Becker bantering is the universal language of camaraderie here. The game needs to load an extra deal at the beginning of each match but after that, depending on each other’s connection, it’s virtually lagless. For a local game with three chums there’s the aforementioned party mode too, where teams have to paint each other’s side of the court, knock down opponent’s block walls or pass the bomb until it explodes. It’s all great fun while it lasts.
And this is the only drawback, aside from a few other niggles. Top Spin 2 has the tennis game curse, wherein it entertains for a few weeks and then gets put back on the shelf. For the prettier graphics and online modes, is it worth parting with £45? Tough question, considering 360 game prices are extortionately high right now, consumers are going to likely look towards the blockbuster titles instead. A bit of a shame as the game is thoroughly enjoyable until you’re through with it. But it’s the ‘through’ bit that may be the sticking point for most 360 owners. Rent it before you buy it.
SPOnG Score: B
Top Spin 2 is one of the more accomplished Tennis games out there, although considering there’s not much competition for it that’s not saying a lot. The modes are really entertaining and the career mode will last a fair while, but like most Tennis titles its appeal wears off after a week or two. Tight controls and extensive features make this game closer to Wimbledon (the grand slam) than Wimbledon (the film).
