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Developed by Indie Built and PAM, and Published by 2K Sports; Top Spin 2 is the sequel to the hit Xbox game which released in 2003. In this iteration, players will be able to play against the top male and female tennis players in the world. This includes favorites Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, and Maria Sharapova. Or you can create your own unique tennis superstar. When the original Top Spin was released, it set the bar for tennis games. It featured accessible yet deep controls, and refined gameplay that was extremely addictive. So, how does Top Spin 2 follow up to the original? Let’s find out.

Developed by Indie Built and PAM, and Published by 2K Sports; Top Spin 2 is the sequel to the hit Xbox game which released in 2003. In this iteration, players will be able to play against the top male and female tennis players in the world. This includes favorites Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, and Maria Sharapova. Or you can create your own unique tennis superstar. When the original Top Spin was released, it set the bar for tennis games. It featured accessible yet deep controls, and refined gameplay that was extremely addictive. So, how does Top Spin 2 follow up to the original? Let’s find out.

Player Creator

Before you start on the path to becoming a tennis star, you will have to create a player using an incredibly extensive player creator. Almost everything about your custom player can be altered. DNA, skin tones, face, body type, hair and voice can all be changed to your liking. With enough time and patience, you can create an eerily similar representation of yourself if you choose to do so. Also, keep in mind that the player you create here will be used for online ranked games. After putting the finishing touches on your custom character you will choose 3 natural talents to start your career with.

Career

This is where players will undoubtedly spend a good portion of their time playing. You begin your career ranked 200th, and your goal is to become the best in the world. Your tennis career will span 5 seasons. During this time, you can train your player to earn stars or enter tournaments to improve your rank and earn coin.

Stars are what determine and shape your character’s abilities. Throughout each week of the season you can choose to train your character. Training sessions cost coin, and consist of different mini games which focus on attributes, techniques, and skills. The nice thing about training is that even if you fail, you will at least get 1 star out of it. During the course of training, you can earn a maximum of 60 stars to distribute into areas like speed, stamina, reflexes, focus, service, forehand, backhand, volley, power, precision, and spins.

Also, there are different types of stars, such as bronze, silver, and gold. Bronze stars form the basic abilities and skills of whatever area you choose to place them in. After competing in tournaments you can earn silver stars which take the place of the bronze stars. And eventually the silver stars will be turned into gold stars which will give your character the necessary increase in skills to remain competitive.

Coaches play an important role in training. Each coach has a different specialty which in turn can earn you some extra stars in their area of expertise. Once you have reached a coach maximum training level in a certain area, you can fire him/her and hire a new coach to earn more stars. Also, throughout the game coaches will be able to train you how to use different shot techniques at no cost. These include basic and risk shots, and once your training is complete you can learn advanced shots. Advanced shots can be learned once a pro invites you to train.

All this training comes at a cost though, and that is where Top Spin 2’s currency system comes into play. Your player starts the game with a set amount of coin so you can train before entering some tournaments. The early training sessions will eat up a good portion of your coin, so you will eventually have to enter tournaments to earn more.

Competing in tournaments will increase your characters rank and earn you some coin. Some tournaments are available at any rank, but others require that your character achieve a certain rank before entering. So you will have to start out in the minor tournaments and work on increasing your world rank before entering any major events. In addition to tournaments there are special events, which based on your rank , will allow you to earn some special rewards or extra coin.

The career is actually very lengthy and features many tournaments and options to advance your characters rank and abilities. But the long career will probably become tedious after you endure the long load times. I am not sure if it is due to poor programming, but the load times are frequent and long. Also, another gripe I had with the career mode is that the training can become somewhat difficult. I actually found myself earning just 1 star in some of the sessions, which made me have to train more. This in turn forfeited any tournaments that were scheduled that week. There is a fine line between training and competing in tournaments, especially if you want to keep your character at the top of his game.

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