If you're any kind of tennis fan, you know you want to either play as or play against Roger Federer. That's the big draw for the PS2 version of Top Spin--playing against the man who is arguably the best tennis player ever, certainly the best of this generation. But the problem is that the game itself has serious problems. Let's start with the visuals--after hearing how cool the Xbox version was I had been expecting some kind of visual breakthru. Instead I got graphics that were on par with other PS2 tennis games, like SmashCourt Tennis Pro Tournament 2. But not better. And in some ways the graphics in Top Spin were worse, much worse. There was a noticeable stutter throughout the game--when you make certain kinds of shots there would be slowdowns of the ball and the players. There is nothing worse than making a sweet cross-court shot that suddenly slows way down. I want that damned ball to whoosh across the court not float slowly thru mid-air. THen there's the audio, or rather the lack of audio. I want to be able to hear a soundtrack while I'm playing, not the dead silence of a real tennis stadium. And for heaven's sake do something to make the various grunts sound different. It's so distracting when the players on both sides of the net are making the exact same grunts, obviously voiced by the same actor. And career mode--sure the customizeable player is much better than competitors like SmashCourt but beyond that it's no better. In fact I found it more confusing--whereas SmashCourt lets you quickly select thru the various training courts and tournaments, in Top Spin you have to move a cursor into position across a map. No quick select thru a single click, you gotta use the thumbstick to move the cursor until it's right on top of the training center or tournament you want to play. Very disappointing overall. Only recommended if you're a hard core fan and you just have that tennis fantasy of beating Roger Federer.
The game as a whole is great, but like the other people have said, it does have some issues, especially if you've played the much better xbox version before. It lags here and there and the graphics aren't top notch, but ... Read Full Review
I have to say that I was very disappointed with the Ps2 version of Top Spin. I was hoping that it would turn out as one of the best tennis games for the Ps2. Instead, we get a game with major slowdown issues, very long l... Read Full Review
