Top Spin 3

Virtua Tennis fans need not apply; this is tennis done more accurately...for better or worse. The game may not serve up an ace, but it makes for a solid set.

As you might have predicted, this is not for fans of pick-up-and-play titles and neither is it necessarily for fans of other tennis games, but for those with the determination and dexterity of an actual tennis player, it offers plenty.

Top Spin 3 really won't be to everyone's tastes, and Virtua Tennis fans needn't bother.

The game is also limited by what is missing. There is no Wimbledon, no Williams sisters and no Ana Ivanovic, and although Roddick and Murray might draw some interest from the US and UK, they don’t have the same effect at this end of the world. And there is also the fact that it’s a sport sim.

The learning curve is steep, but those who enjoy a challenge might just end up embracing the greater level of realistic gameplay that only Top Spin 3 can offer.

The most realistic tennis simulation ever made. With realism also comes hard work with challenging training, difficult gameplay and especially a very lengthy career mode. [Aug 2008]

Why would anyone make a game with not one but two sets of crippled controls? [Aug 2008, p.102]

Hardcore tennis fans may enjoy the practice and repetition necessary to master the game, but most gamers will be frustrated by the tedious process of acquiring that expertise. [Sept 2008, p.80]

It's a bit of an awkward comparison, but I see shades of "Ninja Gaiden" here: It's unassailably gratifying when the mechanics finally click and you start slicing and volleying your way to victory, but at the same time, it's prohibitive to folks who don't want to spend hours in the school of hard knocks, pursuing what should be a relatively uncomplicated act of learning the game's basic rules and logic.