TopSpin 2K25

The foundation of the game is strong, drawing from the two-generations-old TopSpin 4. However, the lack of content, weak career mode, and mandatory "Virtual Currency" detract from the overall experience. While it's exciting to see TopSpin make a comeback, it falls short of expectations.

If what you're looking for is to play tennis, TopSpin 2K25 is the best way to do it in 2024. If you want something more or to play casually, the presence of microtransactions and the limited variety of professional players (which is not the case for the stadiums!) do not justify the price to pay.

A well constructed tennis game that takes practise to get the hang of, with neat role-playing style player upgrades and a season-based structure that helps prevent monotony.

TopSpin 2K25 is a decent return to form for the franchise, especially when you stick to the more casual side of things.

What players get out of TopSpin 2K25 will depend both on their love of tennis as a sport and their tolerance for the presence of sports game-style microtransactions. The core here is certainly solid, however, and with so few tennis games competing in the market right now, it's good to see a reappearance from one of the genre's past greats.

It is clearly a well-made version of tennis as a game and is at its very best during nerve-wracking matches where it really captures how well tennis actually works with its controls.

TopSpin 2K25 deserved a few more refinements, be it on the technical side of things or in the roster. But it has a solid gameplay foundation, and it can be exciting both on and off the court. While hamstrung by a couple of minor shortcomings, there’s more than enough here to give us hope for the future of the TopSpin franchise.

On the court, TopSpin 2K25 is brilliant. It's realistic, satisfying, and feels great to play, especially as you get to grips with the timing needed for every shot type. It's just a shame that such good tennis gameplay is housed in such bland modes that have you grind for very little sense of progression.

Regarding tennis games, Top Spin 2K25 is still the king. However, selling it as a completely new title, even though it’s a glorified remaster of the remarkable Top Spin 4, is an absolute travesty. Top Spin 2K25’s gameplay is currently the best in the market, but its outdated graphics, lacklustre choice of players, and pretty simplistic career mode really damage the experience.

Can we make sports games fun, full and enjoyable to play again instead of superficial games that exploit players, please?

Hangar 13 did not try to fix TopSpin with this latest entry, but perhaps they should have. With less-than-desirable graphics, a lacking on-release pro player pool, and hard-to-tune difficulty settings which made picking up the game harder than it needed to be, the game is left with much to be desired. Despite that, the bones of TopSpin 2K25 are good, and hopefully, they will be built upon in future games.

The Top Spin franchise is back and what the game does well is presenting you nice tennis gameplay. Indeed, you play a delightful game of tennis in this game, which you learn through excellent tutorials. The career mode is also a pleasure to play through, but so much for the good news. Less good news is that visually it looks questionable, especially the tennis players and outside of career mode the game is not that engaging. Online you can also get started, of course, but there, as always with 2K Sports games, you have the VC ruining the fun.

While it took its time getting its hooks into me, once TopSpin 2K25 grabbed me, I grew to understand the appeal of this more technical tennis experience. It’s not for every fan of tennis games, but I know there are players who are going to love it, and I eventually had a really good time. That good time was fleeting, though, thanks to its repetition and lack of content. TopSpin 2K25 is only recommended for players who plan to put a lot of hours into competing online.

TopSpin 2K25 should have been much more and not just a minimal visual update of the fourth game that also, and as it could not be otherwise with current 2K, bases its approach on online play and earning coins to buy things we don't need.

Honestly, I can’t think of a single moment I was having fun playing Top Spin 2K25 even when I was winning. Every victory felt hollow in the face of awkward controls, mindless gameplay—that somehow finds a way to be overindulgent—and outdated visuals. I know I implied that Mario Tennis prioritizes fun over technicality, but after replaying it during this review, not only is it incredibly fun, but there really is a surprising amount of nuance to not just the N64 version but newer versions like Mario Tennis Aces.