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Kirsten reviews
Microsoft 
- Price: £39.99
- Players: 1-online
- Dolby Digital 5.1 sound: Yes
- Xbox Live content: Yes
Well, there’s not much good going on with this game! Not much to explain about the basic game – it’s tennis! In Top Spin, you create a little guy/girl to play tennis and compete in various tournaments to gain money to get better and buy more stuff for your create a player.
The create-a-player is actually quite good with lots of different facial aspects to change and theres some erm… lovely hair styles! Basically you can change whatever you want but it isn’t guaranteed to be how you imagined it – I couldnt work out how to get a perfect nose, it looked more like Sarah Michelle Gellar and her weird conkey nose – but hey! I do have to admit the graphics on this game are a big step up from the rest of the tennis games on the market – Wow the players actually look how they’re meant to so it will get a bonus point for graphics.
The offline game is actually quite good. Basically you’re the worst tennis player alive and get better by playing – woo-hoo what an original concept(!), but playing through the tournaments you gain experience and cash, competing against various ability competitiors – you win, you progress.
Different buttons for forehand, backhand and slice and some well dodgy system to work out if you can pull off your “risk” shot – a bar goes up and down and you have to press it at the right time to get you fancy shot that in a lot of cases cannot be returned and it does impress the audience – so not just your plain old boring tennis – there is a hint of excitement, brief but still there!
If you’re planning on taking this baby online then… DON’T unless your great! The online side of the game is pretty pointless – you can play against one other person which is a bit boring for a chat or argument and unless you’re good at the game and have a pretty swanky player already you will get aced out of the game – I think you’d have more chance winning a wrestling match with the Terminator!
So, if you like tennis then play, my pretties, but if you just want yet another online game or fancied playing your mates at tennis then don’t bother unless you only have one friend! Oh, and online THERE’S NO MUSIC! which is real annoying when the guy your playing against has no microphone plugged in – ooooh beaten by 3 clear sets without a sound – yawn. i’d rather stay in bed personally!
SOUND EFFECTS AND MUSIC
PLAYABILITY
ENJOYMENT
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Reviewer of movies, videogames and music since 1994. Aortic valve operation survivor from the same year. Running DVDfever.co.uk since 2000. Nobel Peace Prize winner 2021.