Game: Top Spin 3
Publisher: 2K Sports
Developer: PAM Entertainment
Multiplayer: Yes (4)
Online Multiplayer: No
Tennis has arguably been one of the key selling points of the Nintendo Wii. Wii Sports Tennis was originally developed as a demonstration of the Wii's capability, but it convinced many people to fork out the cash for a shiny new Wii. 2K Sports and PAM Entertainment have stepped up to the base line with the 3rd version of Top Spin to try and serve up some serious tennis action.
Graphics: 6.5
The graphics are not bad. There are some reasonable animations of pro players and although the faces are not photo realistic (as you would expect on Wii) they do an adequate job.
The stadiums are recognisable, although the crowd close-ups in the larger venues are crude, blocky animations and you might be forgiven for thinking you were playing an old Commodore 64 game. Granted you won't be looking at the crowd that often but when you do you'll be sure to have a laugh.
The menus are flashy with some nice animations in the background. If you were expecting a mind blowing intro movie (or any intro movie) then you will have to look elsewhere.
Sound: 5.5
The sound is generally poor. There is some pumping music during the menu selection screen (although this seemed to loop through just 2 songs which got annoying after a while).
The crowd noise in the larger stadiums is ok, but is lacking in intensity. There are limited sneaker squeaks and player 'noises', even Sharapova's trademark 'aaaaaaaaaaaawahh' grunt is sadly absent. The umpire tends to sound slightly robotic (think Robocop) and he appears to be the only umpire voice available. Enough said.
Gameplay: 6.5
Top Spin 3 offers 16 licensed players; there are 10 current male and 5 current female pros plus 1 legend (Boris Becker), and there are 10 'original' characters. (The PS3 version has a larger selection of players). Aussies will note that while Mark Philippoussis gets a game, Lleyton Hewitt is a notable absentee. So like it or not, you won't be hearing his trademark 'C'mon!!' Other big name player that are missing include Nadal, (although he does appear on the PS3 version), Djokovic, Safin, the Williams sisters and Ivanovic. In fact the Wii version of Top Spin 3 is quite different to the XBOX360 and PS3 versions including (but not limited to) lack of player customisation, career mode and online multiplayer modes.
The venues look realistic. The Australian Open is there as are the French and U.S. Opens, but Wimbledon is missing, replaced with Dublin, which will obviously annoy the Brits but please the Irish.
Unlike Wii Sports Tennis, it is not a game that you can just pickup and play. The controls do take a bit of getting used to. First up, you hold the Wii remote in a sideways grip similar to holding a real tennis racquet, which is interesting. You will also need to plug in the nunchuk, which is used to determine the type of serve, moving the player around court and angling your shots.
The manual serving takes a little getting used to, initially feeling sluggish with the Wii remote action not really reflecting what the player is doing on screen. This results in a short and sharp downward motion of the remote, rather than a fluid tennis motion. While this still requires timing, it doesn't accurately feel like serving.
Top Spin 3 allows you to control moving the player around the court and you can also angle your shots, which was something that was missing from Wii Sports Tennis. This adds some depth to the game. You can even put spin on the ball when returning shots. Once you get the hang of it you will settle into some nice rallies which is where the game picks up. The timing of your shots is very forgiving and you don't have to perform a perfect forehand or back hand in order to return the ball. In fact you can move the remote any which way and your player will still play a shot. This is disappointing as a higher degree of accuracy and realism would be expected from a more serious tennis game such as this.
The menus in the game (although there aren't many of them) can be sometimes annoying with one having you drag and drop player's profiles when selecting a player.
The multiplayer 'Party Mode' is ok, although it's not really a party mode compared to other Wii games. It is simply a multiplayer mode with some gimmicks. Collect keys to satisfy certain conditions while playing singles or doubles with friends or play off against four players to try to be the undefeated 'invincible man'.
There is a 'React' mode included that allows you to move the Wii remote and nunchuck around to get the player to do something after winning or losing a shot. This seems to have been tacked on as an afterthought and the movements rarely seem to translate to the onscreen player's physical reaction.
Something just seems to be missing from this game; the ball boys and line judges don't move around the court and the crowd sounds 'forced'. The players are a bit robotic and don't respond as fast as you would expect. 'Serve and volley' moves almost appeared to be impossible due to the sluggish player movement and players don't seem to dive for shots either. That said there is still some fun to be had once the rallies get going, especially when you are playing against a friend.
Difficulty: 6
The game is relatively easy to pick up, but manual serving (you can just press a button to do an auto serve) takes some time to get used to. Moving the player and aiming shots gets easier once you are used to playing tennis with the nunchuck attached.
The online instructions accessible from the main menu are a welcome feature but they are pretty basic. On screen instructions are available during the game itself and can also be switched on or off which is helpful.
Value: 5.5:
This is really where the game falls down. The 'Party Mode' options are not something that would keep you coming back for more, unlike the clever mini games available in Sega Superstars Tennis. The Wii version has far less features than the XBOX360 or PS3 versions including fewer players, no career mode, no player customisation and no online multiplayer gaming.
Overall: 6.0
In short, Top Spin 3 will offer tennis fans the ability to play as some of their favourite tennis players in some of the well known international stadiums. The graphics are good, the controls are adequate and more depth is added by the control you have over player movement and the direction of your shots. It is not a bad game; it is not an awesome game; it is a reasonable game. Considering the Wii comes with a free (albeit simpler and cutesy) tennis game, Top Spin 3 really needed something more than just 'reasonable' to establish itself as a serious tennis game on the Wii. While not serving up a double fault, it falls short of the net in many respects. Tennis fans will probably enjoy this game but others might not get as much out of it.
Review by Schrekdog + Wrecker
Submitted by MrWii
3 days ago
130
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