Binding: Video Game Brand: 2K Sports EAN: 0710425259128 ESRB Age Rating: Everyone Label: 2K Games Manufacturer: 2K Games Model: 710425259128 Platform: Nintendo DS Publisher: 2K Games Release Date: September 08, 2006 Sales Rank: 3787 Studio: 2K Games
Features:
Design your own digital identity - ceate realistic player models and customize them with the highest level of detail
Create your own style of tennis play with a range of shots - Slices, drops, chops, lobs and drives
Train with a coach to master shots and playing surfaces - then work your way up the rankings
Play singles or doubles matches with 16 top pros, from Anna Kournikova to Lleyton Hewitt
Go online for live matches against other tennis fans
Product Description: Top Spin 2 brings back everything that made the first Top Spin a hit -- then adds all-new features and options for a wilder pro tennis experience. Experience the pro tour in real-world venues, as one of 24 world-ranked tennis pros: Andy Roddick, Roger Federer, Guillermo Coria, Tim Henman, Max Mirnyi, Alex Kuznetsov, Brendan Evans, Venus Williams, Maria Sharapova and many more.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating:
Rating: - good fun game, not supposed to be easy
this game is very fun and the online reviews about not being able to hit the ball are so wrong. guys someone is trying to hit the ball back and make you not hit it back thats the point.
Rating: - Pretty but frustrating
I should probably have realized that since I got this game for free when I bought my DS lite, it probably wasn't a great game.
This game is somewhat entertaining for a short time, but is also extremely frustrating. Basically, you try to play tennis against various stars in the field; you mostly use the A & B keys and the left and right buttons (which means that your hand inevitably starts to cramp up from trying to hold those down together) to hit the ball. What's most frustrating is that the game doesn't always respond to you hitting the keys. It's the most irritating thing in the world as you hold down the appropriate keys to make your character swing the racket, only to see the ball bounce past as your character just stands there and doesn't move. I was quickly reduced to shouting obscenities and epithets at the screen in response to this phenomenon.
There's no variation in game play - you do the same thing (desperately trying to make your character hit the tennis ball) on every level and in every game. The graphics are very nice and some of the backgrounds are lovely. The sound is only so-so.
This game could be made significantly better if it had some kind of an optional tutorial for users to learn which keys do what and when to push those keys. As it is, you have to flip through the little manual it comes with in order to figure out how to do things, and even then, you learn the most about gameplay by hitting random buttons. Some of the mini-games in the career section are sort of geared towards this, but for a new user, it's difficult to determine how to get into those mini-games in the first place. Also, as a non-tennis player, I was confused by a lot of the descriptions: It would be useful if it told me what the difference between a slice and a safe shot is.
Overall, this game is pretty bad, but not awful. It's at least a little entertaining for a short time, and it is very pretty; however, it is incredibly frustrating.
Rating: - Great Game!!
I don't agree with the other reviewers here, at all. I think this is a GREAT game...
First, of course serves can be hard to return. I think that part is very realistic - imagine trying to return a Roddick or Federer serve in real life... talk about impossible. Part of the game is having to anticipate where the person will serve the ball. It could come down the middle, on the outside, or right at you... and even more, it can come very quickly, just like in real life.
Second, like anything else, it takes practice. I sucked at first and started to regret my purchase. However, after I got the hang of it and entered into career mode, I started improving. At first, I couldn't win a game in exhibition mode playing as Roger Federer with the difficulty level set to easy. Last night I broke a service game playing against Roger Federer with the difficulty level set to hard.
Third, the trick to this game, like anything else in life, is practice. Tennis is a hard game, it involves strategy and skill. You have to know when to come to the net, when to play at the baseline, how/when to mix up your shots (a drop shot over the net when your opponent is back along the baseline), etc., etc.
Fourth, the career mode is great. I've raised my rank to 57 and I've completed three of the four level 2 training exercises (those damn inflatable things are driving me nuts). As I mentioned, this is where you learn how to play though.
Finally, I would hate it if the company (2K Sports / Indie Built / PAM / Whoever ) made the next release easier. I want the next version to be MORE difficult. People who have reviewed this game before really learning how to play have done a disservice. Sure, the graphics could be a touch better (they can seem choppy at times), however, that doesn't really detract from the game in my opinion.
If you really like tennis, I highly recommend this game!
Rating: - Worst Game Ever
I love tennis, which was the primary reason as to why I purchased this game. I should have done some more research before throwing the money down the drain. The graphics in the game are pretty dismal. You would think that the game would have better graphics considering that most games now a day have pretty decent graphics.
The horrible graphics would have been tolerable if it wasn't for the horrible performance of the game play.The game play is unimagineably slow. It is difficult to judge when the ball will arrive and the movement of the players is extremly slow as well. This really destroys the appeal of the game.
Serves are really hard to return, its impossible to get the player to move fast enough. Also the movement of the players is very abrupt, not smooth.
Given all the games and systems out there, I would recommend staying as far away from this game as possible. If you are really dying for a tennis game I would still recommend staying away from it. Wait until something better comes our or buy another system that has a better game (Virtua Tennis is pretty decent)
I really would have to say this is one of the worst games I have ever owned/played. The graphics are horrible, the performance is weak. These two factors combined make the game a royal waste of time and money.
Rating: - Be a Tennis Pro
This game takes the game of tennis right to the palm of your hand. I've played "Virtual Tennis" for the GBA and this game is more realistic.
The Good Points:
1) Play against "real" tennis pros
2) Variety of shots easy to hit, one button for each shot. You can hit with FLAT, TOP SPIN, SLICE, LOB AND DROP SHOTS.
3) Graphics the best I've seen for a hand held game system.
4) "Create player" allows you to create a player in your own image. Train him and improve his skills and play on the world tour circuit.
5) Play head to head with only one card.
Negative Points:
1) Player movement a bit sluggish at times.
2) If you don't like tennis, this game may be repetative after a while.
- good fun game, not supposed to be easy
- Pretty but frustrating
- Be a Tennis Pro
