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No Mans Land

2 Rating: 2, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: January 28, 2008
Author: Amazon User

players hitting in no mans land shows how this game is nothing like real tennis.everybody on xbox live hits in no mans land and in the game thats the best way to win points.but in real tennis no mans land is death.you should either be inside the servers box to make a volley or behind the baseline.other problems with this arcade style game you cant get in close to make a big server pay for hitting a huge serve by using his pace off his serve to send back a fast return and come in off it.also players walk backwards which as you know in real tennis players dont take backwards steps.i noticed playing this game on xbox live the best players are always the ones who come from france so on a hunch i looked at the credits at the back of the top spin booklet and sure enough all the names of the people who made this game are french names like pierre and jean claude.coincedence?i think not.this game is a step down from the first one.the quickest player is the one who wins.this game has nothing to do with how to construct a point and work a point using your tennis brain like smashcourt tennis 2 does.it just matters if you have speed.the fastest player wins.the graphics are great but great graphics dont mean a great game.if you wanna play a great tennis game that stays true to real tennis i recommend smashcourt tennis 2.top spin 2 is too arcade like and players are too fast and run down everything.in this game they make it so power is the way to win and in real tennis power isnt the way to win.edberg beat players who were much more powerful than him with the volley which takes away speed and power.but on this game you cant do it thats why everybody online stays at the baseline.not one person serves and volleys in this game online.i just hope when smashcourt tennis 3 comes out it isnt a dissapointment like this sequel was.

Best tennis game out there, but could still be improved...

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 8 / 9
Date: November 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

PROS:
1. Character Design- one of the most fun aspects of the game is creating new characters and designing everything about them right down to the last detail.
2. Inclusion of Pro Characters- finally they added some current stars to a tennis game (Federer, Roddick, Venus, Sharapova, Hewitt, Blake, Davenport)
3. Graphics- some of the best backgrounds and rendering that I've seen in a tennis game
4. Tournaments- you can actually play in real recreations of major tournaments (Australian Open, Wimbledon, US Open, etc)
5. Career Mode- much improved over the original Topspin, with the ability to play on a week to week schedule over the course of several years.
6. Variety in players abilities- I love that you can design all of a characters skill and strenghts and not just a few.

CONS:
1. Player Movement- some of the moves that the players do is a step backwards from the original in terms of realism. Also, what happened to the miss-hits off the racket and blocking serves back from the original?
2. Player Sounds- the grunts from the players are limited and very unrealistic.
3. No More Replay- one of the cool features about the original was being able to watch a good play over in slow motion. Why did they take that away?
4. Serve Return Too Easy- my biggest gripe is that it's way too easy to return difficult serves. There is no way an opponent should be able to swat back a 140mph serve at nearly the same speed.
5. Career Span- the span of a created persons career should be longer than 5 years. Most pros go at least 10 years now (or some even longer).
6. Where are Nadal, Serena, Safin, Clijsters and Henin-Hardenne?

A good tennis game, but disappointing in some aspects

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: December 19, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First off, let me say that I am a huge tennis fan. When I first starting to purchase console systems, I would pluck out every tennis game I could find.

When I finally came upon Top Spin (the original) I was blown away at the gameplan. The graphics were solid, but the movements of the players, their strokes, the stadiums, were amazing!

So when I heard about Top Spin 2, I rushed to get it. Overall, it is a small upgrade to the original, with some really annoying flaws.

Pluses:

Great selection of players, including Venus Williams, Davenport, Sharapova

Stadium design is much improved, you can plan in awesome settings, with great details like fan interactions

Graphics are a better than the original

Single player campaign is very fun

Negatives:

You are forced to use the joystick for movement. This is incredibly annoying, as the original Top Spin allowed you to use the lower pad

Learning curve is very steep. It is MUCH easier to hit balls out of bounds, which is not fun for friends coming over and just picking up the controller and playing. After about 10 minutes, it will get frustrating for a beginner player with no experience.

Summary:

Overall, I will always love all tennis games, but because of the tougher controls, and tough learning curve, this is not the upgrade I was hoping for.

If you are a huge tennis fan, definitely pick it up for the graphics, and stadium settings. If you cannot dedicate a lot of time to this game, or want to play it casually, I would pass, or look for it in the sale bin.

Topspin 1 Better

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 2
Date: April 10, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I think topspin 1 was much better than this one. The online features aren't nearly as entertaining and that's the main reason I bought 2.

not bad

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: May 19, 2008
Author: Amazon User

graohically very nice and all! I guess I have been spoiled by Wii! so! the gameplay is no where close to the Wii system! Sorry to be comparing but I think sports game should cannot be played on traditional controls !it takes half off the fun and the Excercise!

I would be looking for topspin for Wii! its a waste of time for PS3 or XBox 360

Still the best tennis game ever made

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 4 / 13
Date: April 04, 2006
Author: Amazon User

I got this game 4 days ago and I like the fact that they didn't change anything on the game they did add some more players like Venus Williams but Serena isn't on here the graphics are cool their not 2 far off from top spin 1 but graphics don't make the game the controls are smooth they twicked them a little but if you know how to play top spin you can get used 2 it in career mode after you create a player you have to do weeks of training before you can actually play a tournament its still the fun game all the modes are there and the price is reasonable well worth ya money at $39.99 if you have a 360 this is a must have especially if you like sport games picked this up you want be disapointed

Best Tennis Game Available .... With Room for Improvement

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: June 30, 2006
Author: Amazon User

First let me start by saying that this is hands down the best tennis game available at the moment. So, if you want to play tennis on a console there's no need to read further, since you've found your game.

If you've played previous versions of Top Spin and wonder whether this game is worth the purchase, I would say yes as well. The button controls have remained consistent, so you can pick up the new version quickly. There are a two enhancements, which I think are worth mentioning: (1) graphics and (2)ability to control spin, slice and lob shots.

In addition, there are much more tournaments available than in previous versions and the career mode has also been expanded. My only gripe with this game is that I lost interest after I reached the #1 position and built up my custom player's attributes. Once I reached that point most matches became too easy. However, the game did provide a good amount of game time leading up to that point. It's also a shame that there is no commentary.

Overall I would probably give it a 9.4 out of 10.

A good buy, but could be a little better...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: June 16, 2007
Author: Amazon User

I was a huge fan of the first Topspin game and love to play tennis, so I eagerly anticipated the release of this game. I actually bought my 360 so I could play Topspin 2. The game didn't disappoint, and I raced through my first career. Topspin 2 is an upgrade over the original title for a variety of reasons, including a more in-depth player construction (attributes, body features, etc.) and a more complicated career. The game includes more of the modern stars, but Rafael Nadal sadly is missing. This game is fun to play, but it has some problems:

Pros: - Realistic tennis experience
- Well thought out and long career
- Accurate attributes on the licensed pro players
- Realistic shots allow for strategy to be incorporated
- Easy to customize players attributes

Cons: - Missing many top players: Nadal, Murray, Davydenko, Monfils,
Djokavic, Nalbandian, Ljubicic, etc. (though you cant blame 2K
Sports, because some of these players hadn't yet come to power
when the game was produced)
- Tournaments aren't well contructed: the #1 seed plays the #2
seed in the quarterfinals an awful lot
- Once you get good, the career mode is much too easy, with no
visible way to change the difficulty (for the career)
- This isn't a big issue, but the clay of the French Open is
ridiculously bright, with no way to toggle the brightness
settings

The cons may seem like a much longer list, but that is because they are so subtle that they must be explained. This game is a good buy for the gamer that wants tennis realism. If realism is no issue, perhaps buy Virtua Tennis 3. Or, if your a true gamer/fan, buy them both!

One of my favourite games for this console

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 0 / 0
Date: August 15, 2008
Author: Amazon User

Top Spin 2 has some amazing players with different sets of features. You have Federer who's good but slow to move around, you have hewitt - who's just a great allrounder, you have Roddick who has speed and you have this guy in a yellow or white tee called Costa. Besides some familiar names, the game really does well and has an improved 2 player playback. The computer difficulty level is just right and at hard, it can be very difficult to beat the computer sometimes but soon you will master the top spin.

One of the elementary feature of this particular version of the ever so famous, Top Spin Series, is the use of the top spin button on your stick called B. The game is touch sensitive if you're holding a button for a tad too long or if you're pressing a button softly, you will get the same reaction. What can be annoying about this game in due course of time is the fact that it still does not have replays on a regular basis and the graphics aren't up to the level of football and basketball games but then Top Spin 3 was recently launched.

New features -
a) Longer rallies with more realistic ball control
b) A new well defined series of strokes
c) Better courts, more options
d) More relaxed setting for matches with lesser crowd noise
e) Top Spin 2 had a lesser of an arcade feel than Top Spin did

Now, I must remind the reader that I'm a casual gamer and I game every now and then. My xbox 360 console belongs to me but I got it just because I wanted a console so I don't game very much. This game is well worth purchasing whether you're a fan of tennis or not. The four player can be very cool and entertaining if you're playing doubles although on my own console I haven't tried it yet but I have played doubles on a friend's and it's fun.

Overall, worthy of adding to your collection. Can it be better? Of course, I await a "sensational" tennis game until then Top Spin 2 is my best bet.

Great Tennis Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 18 / 19
Date: May 17, 2006
Author: Amazon User

If you're a tennis fan, then this is definitely a game to get. You have a wide variety of real life stars to choose from, or you can custom design your own to match your playing style.

Your character selection is great - 24 names including Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova, Andy Roddick, Roger Federer and much more. You can custom create your own character with the hair style and look that matches you.

As you play, you earn stars which you can apply to a variety of skill types. You can buy training and enter in low level tournaments to hone your skills. Sure, some of those beginning tournaments might be on questionable courts with only a few audience members - but once you begin to prove your talents you can work your way up to the larger scale arenas.

I really appreciated the fine detail in each court. You don't start out in large, lush arenas. You start out on concrete courts with cracks, with barely a dozen people watching. Random passer-bys walk or bicycle along the court's edge. Take heart, though - after months of hard work and practice (in game time) you'll be wowing the larger audiences.

My boyfriend used to play tennis quite seriously and was quite impressed with the accuracy of much of the game. The different types of shots actually sound differently. The characters move very fluidly for the most part and react as a real tennis player would. There are stumbles as they chase the ball, racquet spins while they wait for a shot.

They try to give you an "environment feel" with the sound. For example, when you're playing a tournament in Japan you get asian style music. As mentioned, the tennis shot sounds do actually sound like the ball would in various situations. Really, other than that, you get audience clapping. What else do you want to hear in tennis?

If you've never really played tennis before, you might really come to appreciate just how much strategy is involved in a game of tennis. If you're a tennis player, you can really hone your strategic skills by playing this, seeing what works and what doesn't work depending on the court type and situation.

Well recommended!

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