we have had one thread which had a combination of TopSpin and Grabbed by the Ghoulies but this game is so good that it deserves its own official thread.....
so onwards and upwards as they say...
TopSpin Tennis is the best tennis game released on console upto now - it takes the accolade from Smash Court Tennis (aka Anna K Tennis) and both Virtua Tennis releases. The depth of play is immense with a perfect variety of groundstrokes available via the fascia buttons on the Xbox pad with 2 new additions being placed on the shoulder triggers. These new additions are Risk Shots - one is a powerful Risk Shot (right trigger) whilst the other is a cheeky 'ball just over the net' lob shot (left trigger).
Graphically and Sonically this game absolutely pisses on any other game in the genre - its nearest competitor looks wise is Virtua Tennis 2 (which it just beats imo). the animation on the players is spot on and the little touches (which always make a game special to me) such as dust rising when you slide into a shot on the clay courts, scuff marks on the courts etc just round things off perfectly. Different score announcers for different countries sound good - though some of them do sound like Stephen Hawkings.
But where the game really shines is online. Match-ups are always easy to find and upto now i have only had 3 instances were the game has lagged to make it unplayable (all 3 times against the same opponent - in the same 30 minute session). Voice comms work perfectly with both opponents praising each others shots (NICE etc) and the occassional swear word coming through when you do an unforced error........ but the real beauty is in the introduction of XSN tournaments. Easy to set up, full stats taken for every game within the tournament --- you can see just why MS made this their no1 priority at this years E3. at the mo we have a 32 player tournament taking place and then two 16 player leagues due in the next few weeks --- the community spirit this embodies makes me thinks that TopSpin will be 'spinning' in many peoples drives for quite some time to come
camps
so onwards and upwards as they say...
TopSpin Tennis is the best tennis game released on console upto now - it takes the accolade from Smash Court Tennis (aka Anna K Tennis) and both Virtua Tennis releases. The depth of play is immense with a perfect variety of groundstrokes available via the fascia buttons on the Xbox pad with 2 new additions being placed on the shoulder triggers. These new additions are Risk Shots - one is a powerful Risk Shot (right trigger) whilst the other is a cheeky 'ball just over the net' lob shot (left trigger).
Graphically and Sonically this game absolutely pisses on any other game in the genre - its nearest competitor looks wise is Virtua Tennis 2 (which it just beats imo). the animation on the players is spot on and the little touches (which always make a game special to me) such as dust rising when you slide into a shot on the clay courts, scuff marks on the courts etc just round things off perfectly. Different score announcers for different countries sound good - though some of them do sound like Stephen Hawkings.
But where the game really shines is online. Match-ups are always easy to find and upto now i have only had 3 instances were the game has lagged to make it unplayable (all 3 times against the same opponent - in the same 30 minute session). Voice comms work perfectly with both opponents praising each others shots (NICE etc) and the occassional swear word coming through when you do an unforced error........ but the real beauty is in the introduction of XSN tournaments. Easy to set up, full stats taken for every game within the tournament --- you can see just why MS made this their no1 priority at this years E3. at the mo we have a 32 player tournament taking place and then two 16 player leagues due in the next few weeks --- the community spirit this embodies makes me thinks that TopSpin will be 'spinning' in many peoples drives for quite some time to come
camps
). 
), but I think it manages it.
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