Top Spin (video game)

Top Spin is a 2003 tennis video game developed by PAM Development and originally published by Microsoft Game Studios for the Xbox as part of their XSN Sports brand. Atari later published the game for the PC, while 2K Sports published it for the PlayStation 2. The game was followed by Top Spin 2, Top Spin 3 and Top Spin 4.

Top Spin
Players Anna Kournikova, Lleyton Hewitt and Pete Sampras appear on the Xbox cover art for the game.
Developer(s)PAM Development
Publisher(s)Microsoft Game Studios (Xbox)
2K Sports (PS2)
Atari (PC)
Platform(s)Xbox
PC
PS2
ReleaseXbox
  • NA: October 28, 2003[1]
  • EU: November 7, 2003
Microsoft Windows
  • EU: November 10, 2004
PlayStation 2
  • NA: September 26, 2005
  • EU: October 21, 2005
Genre(s)Sports
Mode(s)Single-player
Multiplayer

Gameplay

In Top Spin, players select from various game modes including singles matches, doubles, exhibition tournaments, a career mode or quick play matches. Top Spin features a number of professional tennis players who have licensed their likenesses to the game, a trend which continued in its sequels. It also contained fictional players as well.

The player can work their way up through the amateur ranks to the pros in tournaments all over the world. They can do this by using the various licensed players, or by creating a unique character. The game can be played via the internet with XSN Sports and Xbox Live for online matches.

Quick match

This mode contains the basic features that let the player get into a match as quickly as possible. The characters can be selected from the professional players available, or by using custom characters from the career mode option. A match can be held on the various available courts, ranging from Grand Slam venues to practice facilities.

Career mode

The career mode in Top Spin begins with a create-a-player interface which begins with, DNA type. There are many strands to choose from with each containing a different skin color and unique player traits. Create a character continues with many face and body modeling options and apparel choices. The career mode begins with an option to choose a continent that has various opportunities for a player to better their rank by training and tournaments. A player must also make "coin" in order to pay for training which increases their attributes. Coin is earned by being sponsored by one of the corporate tennis apparel icons by performing commercials and other public relations duties for them which are completed by scoring well in various exercises. Tournaments come in various types across the globe. Winning tournaments increases your world ranking, with more difficult tournaments taking much more precedence.

Top Spin also allows users to load their career player into the tournament mode (and other game modes as well).

Multiplayer

The Optimatch feature allows the user to be very specific about the match that will be played including surface type, venue and how difficult the competition will be. This multiplayer feature is also the only tennis game to allow 2 vs. 2 online ranked play via Xbox live.

Controls

The various swings include: flat, top spin, slice, and lob, with swing strength increasing with each moment the button is depressed. Jumping, stretching and diving is automatically selected. Serves are executed in similar fashion, but with the addition of an on-screen power meter started and stopped with either the top spin, flat, or slice buttons. On the box, the controller's trigger buttons place you into a "risk mode" with a similar power meter, but the outcome of the shot is determined by how close to the center of the meter the user can stop a rapidly moving bar. Another component to the "risk mode" is the In-the-Zone meter which fills as momentum is gained with won points, making future risk shots easier to hit. The player can also express their character's emotion after a point by pressing buttons to choose a positive or negative reaction.

Reception
Reception
Review scores
PublicationScore
PCPS2Xbox
EdgeN/AN/A8/10[2]
EGMN/AN/A9/10[3]
EurogamerN/AN/A8/10[4]
FamitsuN/AN/A27/40[5]
Game InformerN/A8.75/10[6]9/10[7]
GameProN/AN/A[8]
GameRevolutionN/AN/AB+[9]
GameSpotN/A7.2/10[10]9.1/10[11]
GameSpyN/A[12][13]
GameZoneN/A8.5/10[14]9/10[15]
IGNN/A7.4/10[16]9.3/10[17]
OPM (US)N/A[18]N/A
OXM (US)N/AN/A9/10[19]
PC Gamer (US)80%[20]N/AN/A
BBC SportN/AN/A90%[21]
The Times[22]N/AN/A
Aggregate score
Metacritic69/100[23]67/100[24]89/100[25]

The Xbox version of Top Spin received "generally favorable reviews", just one point short of "universal acclaim", while the PC and PlayStation 2 versions received "average" reviews, according to the review aggregation website Metacritic.[23][24][25] GameSpot said of the PS2 version that "Top Spin's big trump card is the inclusion of online play", and despite the fluid animations, the game suffers from long loading times and flat textures.[10] IGN said of the same console version, "Tennis fans, videogame or otherwise, will find quite a bit to like in the game if they never picked up the previous version, though nay-sayers will have a fair bit to complain about with disappointing graphics and, again, quite lengthy load times."[16] In Japan, where the Xbox version was ported for release on July 15, 2004,[26] Famitsu gave it a score of two sevens, one six and one seven for a total of 27 out of 40.[5]

References
  1. Justin Calvert (October 28, 2003). "Microsoft serves up Top Spin". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  2. Edge staff (January 2004). "Top Spin (Xbox)". Edge. No. 132. Future plc. p. 105.
  3. Greg Sewart; Bryan Intihar; Andrew Pfister (December 2003). "Top Spin (Xbox)". Electronic Gaming Monthly. No. 173. Ziff Davis. p. 228. Archived from the original on December 5, 2003. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  4. Ronan Jennings (November 11, 2003). "Top Spin (Xbox)". Eurogamer. Gamer Network. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  5. "Top Spin （トップスピン）". Famitsu (in Japanese). Vol. 814. Enterbrain. July 23, 2004.
  6. Matt Helgeson (November 2005). "Top Spin (PS2)". Game Informer. No. 151. GameStop. p. 161.
  7. Matt Helgeson (November 2003). "Top Spin (Xbox)". Game Informer. No. 127. GameStop. p. 167. Archived from the original on August 18, 2007. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  8. Air Hendrix (October 30, 2003). "Top Spin Review for Xbox on GamePro.com". GamePro. IDG Entertainment. Archived from the original on February 9, 2005. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  9. Ben Silverman (November 2003). "Top Spin Review (Xbox)". Game Revolution. CraveOnline. Archived from the original on April 19, 2004. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  10. Ryan Davis (October 13, 2005). "Top Spin Review (PS2)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  11. Ryan Davis (October 31, 2003). "Top Spin Review (Xbox)". GameSpot. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  12. Justin Leeper (October 7, 2005). "GameSpy: Top Spin (PS2)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Archived from the original on December 12, 2005. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  13. Raymond Padilla (November 1, 2003). "GameSpy: Top Spin (Xbox)". GameSpy. IGN Entertainment. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  14. Angelina Sandoval (October 13, 2005). "Top Spin - PS2 - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on October 5, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  15. Michael Lafferty (October 21, 2003). "Top Spin - XB - Review". GameZone. Archived from the original on February 29, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  16. Chris Roper (September 27, 2005). "Top Spin (PS2)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  17. Kaiser Hwang (October 29, 2003). "Top Spin (Xbox)". IGN. Ziff Davis. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  18. "Top Spin". Official U.S. PlayStation Magazine. No. 100. Ziff Davis. January 2006. p. 91.
  19. "Top Spin". Official Xbox Magazine. Future US. December 2003. p. 130.
  20. "Top Spin". PC Gamer. Vol. 11 no. 13. Future US. December 25, 2004. p. 109.
  21. Mike Burnett (November 20, 2003). "Top Spin game serves ace (Xbox)". BBC Sport. BBC. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  22. John McNamara (December 4, 2004). "Top Spin (PC)". The Times. News UK. Retrieved December 30, 2019.(subscription required)
  23. "Top Spin (pc: 2004): Reviews". Metacritic. CNET. Archived from the original on September 13, 2008. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
  24. "Top Spin for PlayStation 2 Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  25. "Top Spin for Xbox Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved January 14, 2018.
  26. "Top Spin （トップスピン） [Xbox]". Famitsu (in Japanese). Enterbrain. Retrieved December 30, 2019.
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