User Reviews (11 - 21 of 42)

Show these reviews first:

Highest Rated
Lowest Rated Newest
Oldest Most Helpful
Least Helpful

Stop the complaining, gamers.

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: July 29, 2006
Author: Amazon User

Im going to try to be as clear as I can, while being completely unproffesional about it; Don't listen to the whiny haters. Those who claim the system is "frustrating, annoying, difficult" and such simply don't know how to play the game or are defficient at games in general. This game IS better than Virtual Tennis. It's more addictive, more fun, fuller, deeper richer, AND with a carreer and online mode that is plain awsome.

If you like a challenge, like pretty visuals, and just enjoy sport games in general, you'll appreatiate all the aspects of this game. With deccent practice one can perform all the super tacticle moves such as the risk shots as smoothly as the A.I in the game, and even if perhaps the difficulty is unstable, it really won't matter once you commit just a few hours into learning the stradegies of the game, and tennis in general.

Getting Closer, but not quite there yet...

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: January 17, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Ever since I first played and fell in love with Tennis for the original NES, I've been waiting for the perfect tennis game. For over a decade I bought newer gaming systems solely to find an improvement on the original Tennis, and was repeatedly frustrated as the games actually got worse. With Top Spin, we're getting closer, but there is still one major problem, which happens to be what plagues all sports games - the lack of control, the arbitraryness. Yes, you have different buttons for top spin, slice, flat, lob, drop shot, and that's all good, but the fact that your shots almost never hit the net or sail wide or long is my main frustration. Either you're overpowered or you're not. The only shot that hits the net is when you put too little on the drop shot. Otherwise every groundy is perfectly arced three to six feet over the net, all slices are lasers an inch over the net, etc. A netcord here and there would seriously spruce up gameplay. Basically, in video game tennis you are never off. You can win handily or lose handily, but you'll look good playing either way.
Also, you can press and hold any button before your opponent has even hit the ball and you don't even have to really move your guy and he'll hit the ball perfectly-therefore you don't really need good timing to execute these shots. Which as a result lowers the satisfaction when you make a nice shot, since every shot is a nice shot.
I understand that there probably isn't a solution to this. The only feasible way I can think of making this possible is increasing the sensitivity of each button tenfold...basically this is like those keyboards for infants-no matter how soft or hard you hit the keys it comes out the same tone/pitch/volume.
As for the AI of your computer opponents, ultimately you just have to power it past them. It would be nice if they hit off the frame once in a while or hit wide or long. That 99% of the points end with either you or your opponent hitting an outright winner is ultimately my biggest frustration with this game.
This is minor but the taunting/complimenting buttons are pointless once you do them a few times. Kinda like with Double Dribble ten years ago-once you see the slo mo black n white dunks a few times it's almost annoying to have to see it again. Perhaps this could be improved by making it more integral to gameplay-affecting the ITZ meter, or maybe if you bean the opponent in the head at net he yells at you...
With that said, I give this game 4 stars because the graphics are amazing, and despite its flaws it's still so much fun to play. I have to say it's a rush to be able to play as Sampras and you really feel like you have that lumbering motion of his and his strokes and serve are authentic, especially his forehand. This is a major plus. How much fun it would be to play Becker's serve, or hit Sabatini's backhand, etc...note: Kuerten has a unique backhand in real-life and his seemingly flailing motion is NOT mimicked well in this game, compared to the Sampras movement.
Very minor wish: I'd like to be able to spin the racquet, I know that's trivial but as a player since juniors I always spin waiting for serves, etc. and it'd be a nice touch in this game.
Final suggestion: It would be nice to have a wider range of racquets, including wooden. TopSpin 2 would be my favorite if you gave Roddick or Rusedski or any of the big servers wooden racquets and see how one dimensional their games are without power. My other minor wish is that players get injured-tendonitis, strained calf, anything. To be able to play as Sampras and puke all over the court and still win would be quite a thrill...
PS. I almost forgot, there's one more minor flaw with this game but I highly recommend this nonetheless (I advice anyone to buy this game): It's frustrating that you're on a leash waiting for serve-I'd like to be able to have more range on positioning as I wait for serve, or even be able to walk out of the box and get penalized by the ref or something. Actually this isn't that big a deal, it was just fun in TENNIS for the NES to move my player up to the net and get beaned in the head by a serve now and then or see how many laps around the court I could run while my doubles partner awaited serve...so really this is a stupid complaint.
Anyhow, this is a beautifully rendered, very playable and addicting game and I highly recommend it to anyone...the only reason I don't give it 5 stars is because I'm reserving that for the day someone makes the perfect game. This is as close as anyone's come so far...

Fantastic and addicting!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: February 16, 2004
Author: Amazon User

Top Spin is simply a gem. Its more than a tennis game. Its an example of a game so polished in it's gameplay and feel that it transcends its position as a "tennis" game.

First of all, the gameplay is amazing. To a new player, or even one that isn't familiar with playing videogames at all, Top Spin is simple and easy to become comfortable with. You can simply keep smashing the "A" button to serve, return, and volley while using the control stick to move and aim your shots. As you gain experiance, you can master the use of the other 3 face buttons and their use in making different kinds of shots for different purposes, and everything is exactly like real tennis. For example, if you opponent is right up on the net, then a well-placed lob (Y-button) will at least make them fall back. Topspin shots (B-button) bounce fast and high, perfect for catching opponents on the base line off guard. The final face button, "X", is for slices, the defensive alternative for lobs. Just like in real tennis, slices bounce low, meaning that your opponent's return will be less powerful and angled. "Risk shots", activated by the shoulder buttons, offer you the opportunity to make either an extremely powerful shot or a really delicate shot forcing your opponent to dash for the net, but are much harder to pull off because if you don't time and aim them correctly, they will hit the net or fly out of bounds. Generally, you get the extremely satisfying feeling that everything behaves the way that it should in real tennis. Strategy from tennis also pertains. For example, much of the game is spent hitting cross court and finding angles, and knowing how/when do make certain actions such as playing defensively and moveing up to the net are critical to becoming good.

The single player "career mode" is good as a game by itself, but mostly serves as the platform in which you can create powerful custom players that you can use to play online (on XBOX Live). Right at the beginning you customize everything about the player, inluding looks (every imaginable aspect), height, weight, muscle, and clothes. Early parts of your career serve as a very effective tutorial. You progress, and the ultimate goal is getting your character to have comparable efficacy (given in terms of "stars" and "skills") to the pro players but with your own choice of specialties. Then you can take your character and play with him in exhibition matches (against computer or friends) and on Xbox Live.

Multiplayer support on a single xbox is great. You can choose to play exhibition games of singles or doubles, meaning that 2, 3, or 4 people can play at the same time (with 3 people, there would have to be one AI). There is also a custom tournament mode, allowing you to make a tournament for up to 4 rounds and 16 people on a single xbox.

Xbox Live support is seamless and awseome. Everyone has their own tricked-out character that they created, including their look, their clothes, and most importantly, their attributes. You can play with a pre-made character (including 16 top-name real world pros) but whats the fun in that?

My favorite "gimmick" is that they did different voices for every stadium. So, for example, the stadiums in Monaco and France annouce the scores in French. Soi not only does each stadium have it's own unique (and usually gorgeous) look, but they each have unique sounds and voicing.

Basically, if you have even the most small interest in anything about tennis, I would highly recommend this game. Without a doubt its the best one ever made, and its gameplay is a perfect example of "a minute to learn, a lifetime to master", and is similar to the real way that you would expect tennis to be played.

Best Xbox Tennis Game

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 2
Date: March 22, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is easily one of the best sports game for Xbox. It''s really easy to pick-up and play yet takes some time to master. There are no difficulty settings, just that the AI improves somewhat for some opponents if you are winning. Meaning, the AI might take more risks than normal. Yes there are some real-life tennis stars in the game, Sampras, Hewitt, M Chang, Kournikova, etc. You can play as them in exhibition mode. In Career mode, you create your own player. Though IMO, there's some slight similarity with all created and AI players. You'll see what I mean when you get this game. My only really major gripe is the save method. The game does this automatically yet you can not save in the middle of a tournament if you need to bolt out of the house because you have to go to work. Bummer. The other save gripe is, the game does not save the music volume that you set. It's always at the default max level. Just a minor complaint. I recommend this game whole heartedly for all types: single player, co-op players, and online players. It's very fun and addictive.

Who Knew Tennis Could Be This Fun????

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 3 / 6
Date: December 20, 2003
Author: Amazon User

Let me start out by saying that I am not a tennis fan. I don't watch it on TV because I think that it is boring and is too long. I bought this game because I wanted to get familiar with the sport and also to try something new. I had my doubts about his game....for one the Williams sister aren't on the game and I was hoping to play with one of them. Also I just thought that I would get bored easily doing the same thing over and over again. Boy was I ever wrong.

Story/Season Mode(9/10):The season is really fun and competitive. Your player can travel to different countries around the world and compete with some of the top ranked players in the world. Your player also has the opportunity to train and go out for sponserships such as Prince, Reebok, Adaidas and more (except there is no sign of NIKE). The goal is to become the #1 tennis player in the world. There are also differnt ranking such as minor, pro, major pro and grandslams!!!

Graphics(10/10):I think that the graphics are top notch for the Xbox. The lighting is off the hook on this game. You can see the sun rays and also the players shadows on the court. In some countries such as Africa the courts are made of sand, so when the player slides you can here the noise it makes and also see the slide marks. To put make it simple...THE GRAPHICS ARE GREAT!!!

Controls(8.5/10) Well the only problem that I really have with the controls is the fact that there are not different buttons for different strokes. Forehand and backhand are the same buttons it depends on your positioning that determines which stoke is going to be used. The only stroke that has its own button is the lob. I do like the fact that you can control your players action by using the black and white buttons. Your player will end up pumping his fists, throwing their racket or shaking their head.

Bottom line is that if you a hard core tennis fan you should pick this game up. Even if you aren't that familiar with tennis you should still give it a try because there is so much to do in the game(changing clothes, sponsers and even changing your players apperance). Also don't forget that you can take your player online(XBOX LIVE) and top their charts as the best tennis player in the world.

Pretty Much A Superb Tennis Game

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: June 23, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is possibly the best tennis game I have ever played. I recommend it to anyone remotely interested in Tennis. There may not be the latest tennis champions and all but I really like the work done of some of the top line players like Sampras,Hewitt,etc. Of course you have the ladies too. There is fatigue in this game and it is not exaggerated by any length of imagination except maybe two small things that are absent.

A)the ball boys dont move
B)no commentary

Despite the absence of these two the game pretty much rocks.
There is Career mode and there is practise. Graphics are neat and precise.The cloud volume could be a little less irritating.

I don't play tennis but enjoy watching it.The wimbeldon is going on right now. I'd rather play TOP SPIN with my cousins than actually bother to watch.Yes,I am a lazy head.
Anyhow,I'll stop talking now.

Buy it for the love of Tennis.
Cheers and enjoy.

Best tennis game out there, but still needs work

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: November 03, 2005
Author: Amazon User

This is definetely the best tennis game I've ever played:

The pros:
1. The graphics are awesome, whether you are in first person zoom view, far TV view or in the replays.
2. The movement and motion of the players is realistic and convincing for the shots they attempt (slices, smash, dropshots, etc)
3. Crowd reactions are realistic and sound real.
4. You can design your own player with great detail in the facial features, body shape, playing style and clothing.
5. Many real pro tournaments are actually used (Pacific Life Open, Nasdaq-100 Open)
6. Real name brands appear in the backgrounds as sponsors (Pepsi, Mastercard, Kroger, Microsoft, etc). Also clothing and equipment sponsors are real companies (Prince, Wilson, Adidas, Reebok, etc)
7. The sound effects for the ball and running on different surfaces is very realistic.

The Cons:
1. There should be more involvement with the ball boys and linesmen. They never move.
2. There should be questionable line calls where you can challenge the chair umpire.
3. There should be more variety in gameplay between the different surfaces. Clay should play slower and grass faster.
4. The players grunts should be more distinct and realistic. The sound on that is rather weak.
5. They should have the real Grand Slam tournaments represented like the Australian Open and The US Open instead of the fictional Melbourne Open and Americas Championships (What the hell is that?)
6. You should be able to see a replay more than just once and they should show the whole rally and not just part of it.
7. There should be more current top ten players in the roster for both men and women. Where are Federer, Nadal, Roddick, Agassi, Safin, Davenport, Sharapova, Venus, Serena, Clijsters, Henin-Hardenne, etc)? Why do we still have Sampras and Kournikova? Aren't they retired?

Good graphics, playable, too much loading time.

4 Rating: 4, Useful: 2 / 3
Date: December 03, 2003
Author: Amazon User

If you were a virtua tennis and virtua tennis 2 (Sega Tennis 2k2) fan this game is a tasty treat for that old appetite. I won't mislead you... this game is not as good as virtua tennis. But if you give it about 15 minutes of fiddling with it you will most likely get addicted. You will find that it has a larger library of strokes and serves than vt and vt2. The only thing making this game a real pain is the load up time that occurs everytime you finish/fail in a career or change any screen in the system. Literally, the programmers did not cache anything in memory on this game. Because of this I give this game 4 stars. Sound and graphics are excellent. Playability is good, but of course takes time to get used to if you are a real fan of vt.
-Peace.

Incredibly realistic!!

5 Rating: 5, Useful: 2 / 4
Date: December 31, 2004
Author: Amazon User

I just recently acquired an XBOX system over the Holidays and bundled with the package were two games on one disc..NCAA Football 2005 and Top Spin. Prior to getting this XBOX, I had a PS1 for years and played a few games on my brother's PS2 so that was the extent of my gaming experience, but when I popped in the free game disc included with the XBOX holiday bundle..charged it up, and selected Top Spin, I was greeted by incredibly realistic graphics and an absolutely addictive and easily learned video game! Top Spin is a fantastic Tennis game and you will actually feel like you are engaged in a match with some of the greatest players of the game..like Michael Chang, Pete Sampras..etc. The mannerisms and characteristics of the players are also incorporated in the program..it's unreal..I understand this game is only available on XBOX and it's the best tennis simulation out there! I had so much fun playing this game that it is still my favorite, even after buying several more XBOX games...You can choose how you want to hit the ball..solid, slice, top spin or lob..so there is a certain element of strategy involved..you can choose to play the computer or another player and you can even set up custom tournaments..you can play on a "Grand Slam" stage or even the local playground..the realism of the surroundings is amazing..you can even slide on clay and hear the sound effects as well..you can see the dust kick up from your ball and also watch replays of all your great rallys at all kinds of different angles..to the developers of this game..my hats off to you!! This game is so much fun!! For all you XBOX owners out there this is a must have for your collection!

Good Start

3 Rating: 3, Useful: 1 / 1
Date: April 01, 2004
Author: Amazon User

This is a great tennnis game if you have someone to play with. Although a little unreal, the rallys can last a long time and tennis strategy can be employed.

The computer, however, is another story. Someone below mentioned the computers use of the risk shot, and the near impossibility of pulling it off for us humans. This is true. However, its not that the computer is too good, its too predictible. There are 2 major flaws:

1. Serve to the weak side and volley, everytime. This alone will give you the match as it makes it nearly impossible to be broken. But then add...

2. the single player AI opponent gives away its intentions everytime it serves. If he/she lines up in the middle, the ball will go down the middle 95% of the time, if he/she lines up outside, the ball will be served to the outside.

These 2 major flaws make the computer opponent useless. If you have someone to play, it is a totally different game. It would be great for MS to give the AI a stronger service return, and stop the foolish line up problem that kills the AI game.

Beyond those flaws the game is actually great. Fantastic graphics and lots of fun to play with another gamer.

Review Page: 1 2 3 4 5 Next 

Actions