The best tennis simulation of all time
Tennis should be a relatively easy sport to make a video game of. On paper, tennis is just two players hitting a ball back and forth, but from other tennis games in the past, the simplistic undertones of the sport have made imbalanced games. Tennis games have been either too realistic (Top Spin 3) or too arcadey (Virtua Tennis 2009). Top Spin 4 strikes the perfect balance of both that creates a fluid, solid, and fun control scheme.
All the shots of tennis are mapped out to the face buttons. Lobs, topspin, flat, and slice shots are all available for ones disposal. If you tap the button you perform a safe shot that rarely misses, but you can hold the face button to create powerful but less accurate shot. Serves can be performed using the same controls as the ground strokes but can also be performed on the right analog stick for more control and power. Volleying is a great component to the game, it is neither too powerful or too weak, if you time your approaches well then you can win the point easily, but if you make a bad approach prepare to get schooled.
The game play modes are all fairly standard. You get exhibition mode, career mode, etc. both online and offline. Online is fairly smooth, but it lacks a large fan base so prepare to take a little time to find opponents to play against. There are also training modes that let you practice if you are new to the Top Spin series or want to know all the intricacies of tennis.
The main aspect of the game is of course the actual tennis game play. It all feels very real, and the pace of the game is perfect. Slower than real-life to allow more time for shot decisions, but not slow enough that it feels like a drag. This is the best tennis simulation on the market, and if you have ever played tennis, you can immediately fit into the three "styles" of tennis. Offensive, defensive, or serve/volleyer. All three have their strengths and weaknesses and none are better than the rest, but I feel like defensive style can feel a little overpowered at times if you can time power shots well.
The graphics in this game are wonderful. All of the professional players look (mostly) like their real life counter parts and their behaviors mimic them accurately at times. However, not all the serves and ground strokes look like the pro's real motions. This can be overlooked by casual tennis fans, but for gamers who want to feel fully immersed, it is a bit jarring to see Roger Federer's beautiful real life serve changed to an overused serve animation seen hundreds of time in the game.
The animation is fairly superb though, and it all runs at sixty frames per second. This creates a beautifully realistic representation of real life tennis. The locals all look and feel like the real thing. The presentation feels like what you would see on ESPN. However, there is no real commentary and the announcer can be a little irritating at times.
Loading occurs fairly often when navigating the menu but never during game play. The music used during the loading screens and menus are pretty bad to be honest. But, all of the sound effects of tennis come through clearly and accurately.
Overall this is a great sports game, every point feels unique and presents different challenges to face based on skill level and opponent type. The online can extend the replay value a little bit, but this is likely a game that you can come back to for a few hours at a time and put it away for a while. There really are not a whole lot of extras or unlockables, but the Gameplay is absolutely stellar and that alone is worth full retail price.