Overview- Critic & User
Reviews - Videos &
Screenshots
News- Codes
& FAQs - Gameplay
Controls - Similar
Games
Answers
Bundles
Critic & User Reviews
IGN Review of Top Spin 2
The GBA is no stranger to tennis titles. The system's seen amazing conversions of such titles as Mario Tennis just recently, as well as classic GBA Gems like SEGA's own Virtua Tennis. Fans of the court can once again dive into the age-old art of tennis on GBA, as 2K Games' Top Spin 2 has hit store shelves. We recently reviewed the DS version, which proved to have solid gameplay that was horrendously downplayed due to terrible frame rate and, dare we say it again, load times. While the GBA version of Top Spin 2 is a far better choice, the gameplay again has some minor flaws, making this trip to the courts frustrating at times, though still relatively entertaining. It may not be the best tennis title on the system, but Top Spin 2 manages to trump its DS big brother in the gameplay category; something that GBA fans can be proud of.
While the DS and GBA Top Spin titles aren't technically the same game, they share a ton of assets and design choices. For starters, the presentation elements are almost identical, as game menus, match options and create-a-player aspects share a similar design. There are a few small differences, such as the smaller amount of actual customization for the GBA player creation, as well as a lack of modeled players during the character select screens, but the overall feel is essentially the same. As expected, the GBA version is missing the detail and depth of its DS relative, though it still stacks up fairly well. 16 of the top pros in the world are at your disposal, covering the best players in both the men's and women's divisions. A few things become annoying straight away, however, as there are no inter-gender matches allowed, and character attributes can't be viewed unless you're playing career mode. What's the point of having varying degrees of play style if gamers can't tell the difference between the pros?
As far as options go, Top Spin 2 GBA squeezes a fair amount of content into the tiny package. Before entering into a match, players can adjust the amount of games to a set, the amount of sets to a match, whether or not the Deuce rule should be incorporated, whether or not tiebreakers are included and the difficulty of the computer adversaries. Once the match is set up, the match venue is selected. There are 10 places to play overall, each featuring different surfaces to play on, such as clay, hard or grass. Now that the rules, location and players are all set up, it's time for the action to begin.
The GBA version may have as much in common with the DS and 360 versions as possible, but there are still a few differences both good and bad. For starters, all the main controls are assigned to the A and B buttons, using the L and R as shift keys. Skill shots are pulled off by pressing L and either face button simultaneously, as the R trigger is used to turn both A and B into two alternate basic shots. Using this formula, every stroke from the DS and 360 versions can be pulled off. Players can drop shot, lob, slice or smash just like the larger versions, and it actually works pretty well.
At the same time, Top Spin 2 deals with some serious timing issues. Players will have to adjust to the odd timing or die trying, as the game's flow requires a human player to hit their stroke button almost instantly after their opponent hits the ball. There's literally no time to move into position, so anyone used to the original timing will find their character watching the ball bounce by their feet time and time again. While there's a bit of control after the hit animation begins, players will have to anticipate where the shot is being placed pretty far in advance, and the frustration of having no swing delivered even when mashing the desired button over and over is a huge letdown. If the shot timing was fixed, this would have been a must have tennis title. Instead, it's simply mediocre, offering a great mix of tennis strategy with perfectionist controls that we assure you will frustrate you to no end on more than one occasion.
If players can get past the demanding (and often-times frustrating) controls, they'll find a surprisingly fleshed out career mode to dabble in. The formula is pretty much the same as console versions, which are exactly like they were back in the Virtua Tennis days. Players travel around the globe via an overworld map, training or participating in tournaments at their own pace. Each battle will allow the opportunity for players to "Rank Up," with the overall goal of becoming the #1 position in the world. As training is completed, attribute points will be awarded and can be used in any position. Rather than forcing players to increase certain areas of their game, full customization is allowed; a huge positive side for career mode.
In fact, aside from the plaguing issues with shot timing, the game is actually quite solid. Career mode is fleshed out more than expected, the gameplay holds a solid frame rate at all times, which is more than we can say for the DS version, and the overall tennis experience is commendable. Career matches actually mix up the gameplay as well, offering scenarios to complete as well as classic matches. It was a breath of fresh air the first time we encountered it, as we joined our match already in progress with our player behind two games in a set. These situational challenges as well as the classic training games involved in career mode really add depth to the one-player experience. Remember the "Serve Sniper" game? It's in here. Tic-Tac-Toe with a tennis court? Back again. Top Spin 2 may not include all the classic training courses for fans of the series, but the ones that made the cut are there for obvious reasons. It isn't a perfect one-player escapade by any means, but the sheer amount of depth in the career mode will definitely help to cushion the frustrating learning curve with a break from monotonous gameplay and should keep most tennis fans busy for a few solid hours at the least.
©2006-04-20, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved
While the DS and GBA Top Spin titles aren't technically the same game, they share a ton of assets and design choices. For starters, the presentation elements are almost identical, as game menus, match options and create-a-player aspects share a similar design. There are a few small differences, such as the smaller amount of actual customization for the GBA player creation, as well as a lack of modeled players during the character select screens, but the overall feel is essentially the same. As expected, the GBA version is missing the detail and depth of its DS relative, though it still stacks up fairly well. 16 of the top pros in the world are at your disposal, covering the best players in both the men's and women's divisions. A few things become annoying straight away, however, as there are no inter-gender matches allowed, and character attributes can't be viewed unless you're playing career mode. What's the point of having varying degrees of play style if gamers can't tell the difference between the pros?
As far as options go, Top Spin 2 GBA squeezes a fair amount of content into the tiny package. Before entering into a match, players can adjust the amount of games to a set, the amount of sets to a match, whether or not the Deuce rule should be incorporated, whether or not tiebreakers are included and the difficulty of the computer adversaries. Once the match is set up, the match venue is selected. There are 10 places to play overall, each featuring different surfaces to play on, such as clay, hard or grass. Now that the rules, location and players are all set up, it's time for the action to begin.
The GBA version may have as much in common with the DS and 360 versions as possible, but there are still a few differences both good and bad. For starters, all the main controls are assigned to the A and B buttons, using the L and R as shift keys. Skill shots are pulled off by pressing L and either face button simultaneously, as the R trigger is used to turn both A and B into two alternate basic shots. Using this formula, every stroke from the DS and 360 versions can be pulled off. Players can drop shot, lob, slice or smash just like the larger versions, and it actually works pretty well.
At the same time, Top Spin 2 deals with some serious timing issues. Players will have to adjust to the odd timing or die trying, as the game's flow requires a human player to hit their stroke button almost instantly after their opponent hits the ball. There's literally no time to move into position, so anyone used to the original timing will find their character watching the ball bounce by their feet time and time again. While there's a bit of control after the hit animation begins, players will have to anticipate where the shot is being placed pretty far in advance, and the frustration of having no swing delivered even when mashing the desired button over and over is a huge letdown. If the shot timing was fixed, this would have been a must have tennis title. Instead, it's simply mediocre, offering a great mix of tennis strategy with perfectionist controls that we assure you will frustrate you to no end on more than one occasion.
If players can get past the demanding (and often-times frustrating) controls, they'll find a surprisingly fleshed out career mode to dabble in. The formula is pretty much the same as console versions, which are exactly like they were back in the Virtua Tennis days. Players travel around the globe via an overworld map, training or participating in tournaments at their own pace. Each battle will allow the opportunity for players to "Rank Up," with the overall goal of becoming the #1 position in the world. As training is completed, attribute points will be awarded and can be used in any position. Rather than forcing players to increase certain areas of their game, full customization is allowed; a huge positive side for career mode.
In fact, aside from the plaguing issues with shot timing, the game is actually quite solid. Career mode is fleshed out more than expected, the gameplay holds a solid frame rate at all times, which is more than we can say for the DS version, and the overall tennis experience is commendable. Career matches actually mix up the gameplay as well, offering scenarios to complete as well as classic matches. It was a breath of fresh air the first time we encountered it, as we joined our match already in progress with our player behind two games in a set. These situational challenges as well as the classic training games involved in career mode really add depth to the one-player experience. Remember the "Serve Sniper" game? It's in here. Tic-Tac-Toe with a tennis court? Back again. Top Spin 2 may not include all the classic training courses for fans of the series, but the ones that made the cut are there for obvious reasons. It isn't a perfect one-player escapade by any means, but the sheer amount of depth in the career mode will definitely help to cushion the frustrating learning curve with a break from monotonous gameplay and should keep most tennis fans busy for a few solid hours at the least.
©2006-04-20, IGN Entertainment, Inc. All Rights Reserved