Grass specialist Ben Mansill calls an ace
Geez Pong has come a long way. They said it'd never make it, you know. But they said that about Lawn Tennis in the late 1800s, too. Proof positive that starting with a simple concept and loads of headroom for polishing can be better than starting out big with little room to move.
Pong 2003 is more formally known as Top Spin for Xbox, and Nolan Bushnell would be rolling proudly in his grave, if he were dead. Through the years we've seen many a tennis game, standout favourites are Smash Tennis on Nintendo, and the mighty Sega Virtua Tennis - still the greatest game ever released for Dreamcast, and reason enough to own one. The tennis format is exceptionally well suited to console gaming, particularly multiplayer, with the latest in the genre being a nice evolutionary cut and polish job.
Virtua Tennis' great contribution to console tennis was that it was the first to really impart the 'feel' of real tennis. Top Spin, as one would rightfully expect, further refines this. The only way to really play this game well is to 'think tennis'. Then it all clicks and both your on-screen skills and gaming satisfaction kick in.
Four basic shots are available - the simple flat shot. It's virtually impossible to hit the ball out with this, but is by no means is so conservative that you can't issue punishing winners with it. Then you can play the lob. Classic and never to be abused, or you'll just invite an overhand smash in return. The last two are the trickery buttons - slice shot and top spin.
Alone, each can be employed at the right time to win points and add nice variety to the game, but are especially devastating with the special shot enhancers, which the shoulder buttons provide. Use any of your standard shots in combo with the R-shoulder and it'll gain a major whallop, but with corresponding risk of going out if your aim isn't perfect.
The L-shoulder turns a standard shot into a drop shot, or bastard shot, as is mostly the case.
Get good at using the range of shots and Top Spin rewards with magic gaming satisfaction. The default selection of mostly real players each specialise, so there's plenty of opportunity to mix up the way you play this game.
Enjoying one-off games in Exhibition mode, playing as one of the impressive list of licensed real players is a nice quickie, but a bigger dose of satisfaction comes from Career mode, and the greatest joy from multiplayer. As career you'll play around the world in minor, major and Grand Slam tourneys for cash and rankings. Playing online via Xbox Live you can compete in the XSN sports global rankings, for tougher but potentially more gratifying ranks and rewards. You can also play regular multiplayer via Live or the old fashioned way - crammed together on the lounge yelling and screaming. Unlike Virtua Tennis, multiplay displays the court side on (Pong-like!), which is more intuitive.
A sensible and oh so very tennis touch is an ITZ (In The Zone) meter, which builds in strength during a game, as you pull off risky shots and generally be a crowd pleasing champ. As the ITZ bar rises, so does your power and accuracy during the game.
Top Spin is a winner because it allows you to play your game of tennis just as you want, or need to, to beat your opponent. There's very little luck about winning. Just how gaming should be.
Issue: 137 | June, 2012