Wimbledon is here again and it’s another year where the folks in the UK all put their hopes on one player, this time its Andy Murray, the poor sod. As ever there are a few tennis games coming out around this time and the first of these is Top Spin 3.
Tennis games have come a long way since their inception of Pong, Super Tennis on the Snes and the unbeatable Virtua Tennis 2 on the Dreamcast. Top Spin has gone its own way over the years and goes for the realistic approach rather than the arcade feel of its main competitors.
Character wise there plenty to choose from, including stars such as Haas, Murray and Roddick, female players such as Ivanovic, Kournikova and Cornet plus the addition of a few classics like Borg and Becker. Each players likeness is truly realistic from the selection screen to the actual gameplay, but not just the players faces which hold real likeness, the clothing models are stunning, shirts will flow and ripple as you run around court, get a long game going and sweat patches will start to appear and grow (eeww). As well as the selectable characters you are also able to create your own character, you are given a few base models to choose from and then you get into the tinkering areas, where you can change all of the usual customization areas including eyes, hair , muscle tone and so on. Your created player will have basic stats to start with, but as you play the game modes you earn points to rank up your core skills.
The main game mode is Career, where you start playing in a small club, trying to prove yourself against similar players, and as you win more games you will then start to play in larger games and pro tournaments. The more wins you get in this area the more stat points and cash will come your way. The stat points can be used to increase areas like forehand, backhand, service and return and the cash to purchase from numerous stores including Adidas and Nike.
Other than career mode you also have the Top Spin School which is definitely recommended to start with just to get the hang of the controls, the training modes are very simple but effective. One such piece of training has a robot ball launcher fire balls at you, the aim is then to return them at the correct speed and angle. You also have the option to play stand alone tournaments, there are loads to choose from, each one varying in game and set length. The most impressive part of the game however is the online mode, this is a very easy to navigate area, enabling you to find or create a game very quickly, so far no lag had been noticed, which is vital for a game where you rely so heavily on timing and reaction and this mode just further lengthens your overall tennis experience.
Controlling your player is very difficult at first, the button layout is not dissimilar to most tennis games, the A button for normal hit, B for lob and X for a spin. The hard part is in the timing, you are supposed to hold the swing button quite a while before the ball has even crossed the net, and then release the button to start the swing when the ball bounces on your side of the court, the timing feels really weird at first, but after playing through the training and then the first few games on career mode you start to get a feel for it.
Top Spin 3 really separates itself from the arcade styles of Virtua Tennis and therefore it is probably the perfect game for the tennis purists, its does not have the pick up and play feel of Virtual Tennis but does offer some great graphics and realistic gameplay. The only thing that would make this game more authentic is Strawberries and Cream and perhaps Cliff Richard singing when it rains.
