Top Spin
32K Sports
Xbox 360
4 stars (out of 5)
Review by Hayden Meikle
Tennis and video games have been a natural fit ever since some computer geek invented two white lines on a screen batting a white dot between them.
My feeling that tennis - along with football - is the sport that translates best to the interactive small screen has been stressed before, and Top Spin 3 only enhances that belief.
Top Spin sets the standard for tennis games and has done for about four years.
Virtual Tennis comes the closest.
The Smash Court series has a few nice touches, but has always battled in the areas of gameplay and realism.
Top Spin 3 is still a big departure from Top Spin 2 because the gaming physics have been significantly rebuilt.
Where in 2 you could simply hold down the A, X, B or Y button for as long as you like and play a perfect flat, slice, topspin or lobbed shot, in 3 you need to much more aware of your position and timing.
At first this shook me and, after I had missed the ball completely several times, I cursed the developers forcefully and colourfully for messing with one of my favourite games.
Then I gave it a chance, and once I had worked out my timing, the game started to grow on me.
After several hours playing I'm now reasonably proficient, and if I still bemoan the loss of Top Spin 2's baby-simple gameplay, it's only because in my advanced years I prefer games to be as simple as possible.
Top Spin 3 features a lot of the big names of world tennis, including Roger Federer, Maria Sharapova and that Scottish dude who's never won anything but still gets fawned over by the British press.
There are also some classic players like Bjorn Borg and Boris "Boom Boom" Becker.
You can play as a real-life star or create your own player, give him cornrows and a couple of tattoos and take him to Top Spin school to level up.
Then it's into the world tour to accept challenges, enter tournaments, unlock new gear and earn heaps of cash.
There is nothing drastically new, except for a tweaked and improved ranking system.
Top Spin 3 isn't for the casual gamer, and that's the biggest change from previous tennis titles.
Don't be put off by how difficult it is at first, though.
Beneath lies an excellent sports simulation.
