 Preview By: Jared Black |
Developer: | Visual Concepts |
| Publisher: | 2K Sports | |
| Genre: | Sports | |
| ESRB: | Everyone | |
| # Of Players: | 1-4 | |
| Online Play: | Yes | |
| Accessories: | Xbox Live, HDTV 720p | |
| Estimated Release: | 03/29/2006 |
Thanks to tight feature-rich gameplay and being the first console tennis game to go online, the original Top Spin on Xbox was a surprising commercial success. Thus it's no surprise that a sequel's on the way to Xbox 360, with similar gameplay ("if it ain't broke.") and all of the upgrades one would expect in a sequel.
For starters, the create-a-player mode has been revamped in the form of "Digital Identity". This allows you to customize virtually everything about your tennis pro, including hairstyle, shirts, shoes, shorts, and different attitudes to taunt your opponents.
The career mode is called Grand Slam, which emulates multiple seasons as you coach your player through training camps, junior championships, tournaments, and finally all four Grand Slam events. You'll rise through the ranks by taking advantage of all the different shots available to you, including slices, drops, chops, lobs, and drives. Also included are risk shots (activated with the right trigger and powerful if timed properly), which should allow for as much control over the ball as ever before. And while it hasn't been officially announced just yet, online play is a certainty given the success of the original.
Naturally, the roster has been updated and now includes the following players:
- Andy Roddick
- Roger Federer
- Carlos Moya
- Tommy Haas
- James Blake
- Lleyton Hewitt
- Guillermo Coria
- Tim Henman
- Max Mirnyi
- Alex Kuznetsov
- Brendan Evans
- Venus Williams
- Maria Sharapova
- Ai Sugiyama
- Lindsay Davenport
- Anastasia Myskina
- Elena Demetieva
- Svetlana Kuznetsova
- Amelie Mauresmo
- Alicia Molik
- Angela Haynes
- Jamea Jackson
- Corina Morariu
The standard graphic upgrades are also expected, including upgraded player models, more-detailed stadiums, HD support, and a nice overall Xbox 360 sheen. 2K Sports is also promising dynamic environments, with crowds and other elements that react to how you play.
A tennis title will never compete with the likes of Madden in terms of sales, but the original Top Spin established an audience that's almost as devoted. Top Spin 2 looks to improve on the original, and will add some much-needed diversity to the glut of team-based sports titles arriving around launch time.
Posted: 2005-10-05 20:27:23PST