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The tennis niche has been devoid of the same quality games that we see in the case of games such as FIFA, Madden NFL or NHL. Top Spin 2, though not perfect can certainly satisfy the cravings of the tennis fans for a decent Tennis title. The original Top Spin 2 for the XBOX 360 was a great game but the transition to the PC has not been perfect.

When you will look at the game’s menu for this first time, you will know that it has been ported as you can’t use the mouse for selection. You will have to stick with the ‘W’, ‘S’, ‘D’ keys to get forward or backward, but don’t worry, you will slowly get used to it. There is an exhibition mode using which you can directly jump into a singles or a doubles match. There is 24 top professional stars to choose from including Roger Federer, Andy Roddick, Tim Henman, Maria Sharapova, Venus Williams and many others (No Rafael Nadal). For an exhibition match, you can select the players, the venue which ranges from Clay Court, hard court etc, the difficulty level and start playing. The game is slightly bit more technical than that of Virtua Tennis games. You have the four basic shots, including a safe shot which will never let the ball go out of bounds, and the other three types are slice shots, top spin shots and lob shots although they require a bit of precision and control.

As you play the game and score points, your momentum meter will fill up, lose points and it will go down. The momentum meter allows you to hit some advanced shots which will take some portion of your momentum meter. These shots are the advanced versions of your basic shots. There are also risks shots, which are quite powerful but as the name suggests, very risky. The shot has to be extremely precise otherwise the ball will always go out of bounds or hit the net. You will hardly be trying it at all while playing. The shots are played using the 4 keyboard keys along with two more keys for playing advance and risk shots. The movement of the player and the direction of the shot has to be controlled by the mouse which may seem a bit difficult to master and control. You will have to also anticipate where your opponent is going to play the shot and plan accordingly.

One of the best features of the game is its creation mode. You get to build your player from the scratch. You can customize everything including its skin color, build, hair style, hair color, face, eyes, voice etc etc. There are so many things or choices available that you can spend hours creating a player. When your player creation is complete, your player will start the game with 200k bucks. This can be spent on a wide variety of coaching practice to improve your forehand, backhand, serve, volley, power, speed, stamina, spin and lots. You will also unlock and select different types of coaches as the game progress to suit your needs and playing style. You can have a single training session  in a week. After every training session, you will get 2 stars which can be allotted to your strengths. Your money will get over quickly so you will also have to compete in tournaments which will take place simultaneously. If you do well in a tournament, you will not only win money, your ranking will improve making you eligible for those 4 grand slam events.

In the career mode, you will also receive mails from the coach or fellow players. There is also a sponsorship contract which you will have to sign. You can also spend your money on Racquets, Tops, Shorts, Shoes, Sunglasses etc. The more training you do, the more you can improve your attributes will improve allowing you to play advanced and powerful shots. The more bigger the tournament, the better the opponent will be. You will also get to play for your country if you perform well in the tournament. There is also some multipler party games which you can enjoy with your friends using a gamepad.

The graphics of the game are nice but only if you have a nice graphics card. The stadiums are beautifully modelled and contains detail which make them look similar to a real stadium. The players also resemble there real life counterparts. The animation is smooth although you may occasionally find a few glitches. The sound is excellent and seems very authentic and gives you the feeling of a real match. The gameplay of the game is a bit hard. Initially the players will be easy, but in big tournaments, players of Federar’s quality will test you. It will be difficult to control the player, anticipate other’s shot and move your own player at the same time. I have not played the game with a gamepad so can’t tell if it is better or not. There are only two angles to choose from which are “Far” and “Zoom” mode. You will play almost every time in the “Far” camera angle.

Since there are not a lot of Tennis games around, tennis lovers will enjoy playing this. The career mode the game is excellent and will keep you busy for most of the time.

Ratings

• Graphics : 4.5 / 5
• Gameplay : 3 / 5
• Sound : 4 / 5
• Overall : 3.5 / 5

There are not many titles around for Tennis apart from Top Spin 2 or Virtual Tennis. So if you are looking for some tennis action, then Top Spin 2 will satisfy that desire.

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