Top of the Gaming Class

Tennis, a sport that the greats are amazing at, the great matches amaze us, but to be honest, so few of us are actually any good at. Well for those like myself who's back-hand ends up on the rail way tracks (as in where the trains really go) and who's forehand smash usually results with my swan-diving the asphalt, Top Spin, is our friend.
Published by Microsoft Game Studios, it was released in Q3 of 2003, to those Tennis watching fans, who are also partial to some video gaming action. Originally hitting the American market in October of 03, and Britain in November 03, Japan's releases was in July of 2004. The game was released to massive success, and was the Xbox's first major Tennis game. Latterly it was published by 2K Sports for the PS2, before spawning sequels in Top Spin 2 and Top Spin 3.

The game which can be picked up for around £5 second hand if you can find any stores that still stock old Xbox games (I've recently purchased a 360 as I couldn't find any old Xbox games in high street stores, not even second hand), is worth it, and how. Though I admit I got it the Christmas I got my Xbox (2004 if memory serves), and traded it in, having, at the time, no real interest in Tennis, I re-bought it about 4 months before I upgraded my console and started playing it recently, suddenly remember how great the game actually was.

The game has several modes, a career mode, which is where the bulk of the single player game is spent, where you create a character (I advise a silly looking one, just...because it's funny), and play the real tournaments as your creation. Winning world tournaments like Roland Garros (The French Open) or Wimbledon is fun, especially as an Albino hippy with pink T-shirts... but this mode does lack any extensive difference, all the tournaments seem oddly short, with very few matches (simmed matches included). The multi-surface of the tennis world is replicated in the tournaments, with Wimbledon being grass, the Madrid masters being blue clay, etc, so the details are there and the game is pretty life like in that respect.
Challenges for sponsorship deals are also fun, as is the training for specific shots early on, but the lack of long term improvement on the strokes feels a bit of a let down.
Though for single players, like I said you will be spending time playing it, running across the globe winning the tournaments and getting to the #1 ranking. Fun and mid to long term appeal, though mainly only for the tennis nuts out there.

Though where the game comes into it's own is the multiplayer (upto 4 players), where you and a friend can either play 1 on 1, or doubles, where the games simple controls and complete playability, even for beginners, comes into it's own. The game is pretty pick up and play, which means after a few drinks, you come in with your buddies, switch it on, and even in a tipsy state can still put on a good match together, enjoy it and, much like pro evo, have a bloody good time. The doubles made is hectic, but yet not frantic, simple, but yet far from boring. 
Again all the courts are available, which were seemingly fully licensed.

As it seems were several key players including:
(men)
Lleyton Hewitt
James Blake
Tommy Robredo
Pete Sampras*
Michael Chang*
Gustavo Kuerten*
Sébastien Grosjean
Jan-Michael Gambill

and
(Women)
Meghann Shaughnessy*
Anna Kournikova*
Daniela Hantuchová
Martina Hingis*
Barbara Schett*
Ashley Harkleroad* 
Elena Dementieva
Amanda Coetzer*
(The PS2 version has slightly different players)

So for those of you who dreamed to be Sampras, now you're chance to do it, and to beat some stupidly dressed creation of your mates...what could be better?

Well as some of you Tennis fans will know, an awful lot of those have either retired, or were never that good. (* dictates retirement, or long term out of the game status, in some cases down to the birth of a child)

Now the games easy to play appeal, big name tournaments and high profile players all brought it awards when it was released, looking back the game still holds up strong as a multiplayer game, and even a solid single player one. Though it has aged (as noted with the retirement of many of the players), the game it's self is still fun, extremely playable, and probably better than it's follow ups. What I've played of Top spin 3 has made it look like the series went backwards in playability, which may just be the fact it's more complex, or it may be that the games have reversed in quality.

The simple controls made the game special, with the face buttons playing different types of shots and the shoulder buttons doing riskier shots (power serves, power shots, drop shots), the lift stick moving the player. See simple, in the newer one it's how long you hold the button and the timing is the key part not the shot selection as such.

The sounds on the game...I'll admit are totally unmemorable as I can't recall what any of them are apart from the “twhack” of a shot, and the graphics are relatively out dated, though you can still tell that Pistol Pete, is the character on the screen. The game probably still stands by reason that graphics aren't the key to any game, but can add something to it, in this case the games actual fun factor out weighs the cost of superior graphics.

Overall a fun if slightly limited single player game.