Before I go into the review, I must note that I'll constantly be comparing Top Spin to Virtua Tennis, which is a given since VT is the standard to which all tennis games are compared. Top Spin feels a lot like Virtua Tennis in terms of gameplay, which probably isn't all too surprising considering that Power and Magic are big fans of the Sega classic. However, what Top Spin offers is a much deeper game of tennis with a lot more variety in shots. As opposed to VT's two shot choices, the full arsenal of tennis players are available, from lob shots and slices to top spin shots and the regular shot. Simply having more shots at your disposal makes the game more strategic, and mixing up these shots is helpful to keep your opponent guessing.

However, the key additions to the tennis game are the risk shots with the power shot and the dropshot. These shots are initiated by pulling either of the triggers, upon which a rising meter pops up. If you release the marker in the center of the meter by letting go of the trigger at the right time, you'll hit a successful shot. Risk shots tend to be more powerful than regular shots, with wider angles and more speed. The catch, of course, is that they're quite difficult to pull off. If you miss the sweet spot in the center, your shot will fly out of bounds, costing you the point. These risk shots are so aptly named; every time you pull the trigger, you better hope you hit the sweet spot or you can kiss the point goodbye. The shots add a whole new level of depth and strategy to the game. Do you want to continue hitting regular shots at your opponent, who has you running all over the court, or should you take a risk at a power shot and possibly end the point right there? The decision is in your hands, and these levels of depth and strategy help make games very tense and exciting.

To help you with the risk shots is the "In the Zone (ITZ)" meter at the top of the screen. The meter fills up depending on your performance during the match: play better and it'll fill up. The more "in the zone" you are, the more forgiving the sweet spot will be. You can also pump up the crowd by letting loose emotional displays of energy by tapping the white or black buttons after a point. These are quite exciting, ranging from slamming the racket to the ground to prancing around the court after winning a point and taunting the opponent. Supposedly, showing emotions like this will help put you into the zone, although the animations in reality don't seem to affect anything except provide amusement. Still, there's a nice variety of emotions to show, and it's great to unleash fury after losing a point by slamming the racket.

All these features make the game much deeper than Virtua Tennis, and this is where the game might discourage arcade fans. Yeah, you can play the entire game by hitting the A button (safe shot), and if you choose to take this route, the game can be as arcadey as you want. However, you're not going to get very far in the career mode by playing this way, and you'll be slaughtered when you go on Live. To be sure, Top Spin is just as great a party game as Virtua Tennis in that it's easy to pick up and play, and multiplayer is a blast with friends. But those who take the time to master risk shots and the various other shots will certainly be rewarded by being able to play a much more aggressive game of tennis.

Career mode is the main mode of Top Spin, and it starts off with an awesome create-a-player where you literally mold a character to your liking. If you have the patience to dutifully go through every option and tweak every setting, you can make a character that looks practically exactly like yourself. However, while creating the physical build of your character is fantastic, I wish for more variety when it comes to other character traits such as hair or clothing. Maybe I'm spoiled by the absolutely astounding create-a-player in Tiger Woods 2004, but Top Spin seems a bit lacking to me.

This feeling continues when you actually start a career and attempt to make your player the number one player in the world. You are allowed a total of 14 stars to allocate to various skills such as serve and forehand, and you earn these stars by visiting coaches and completing training missions. These training missions consist of the standard hit-the-targets goals, and are woefully dull compared to the more creative ones in Virtua Tennis. They're also quite simple for anybody experienced in VT, so it's easy to build up your character. In your quest to be the best player in the world, you have to travel around the world, participate in tournaments, and get sponsors. That's pretty much the extent of career mode, and after getting the top spot, there's nothing else to do except play other tournaments if you want. Single player mode doesn't have a lot of depth, and so it'll certainly not be the reason why you buy this game.

Multiplayer is where Top Spin shines though, as was the case with Virtua Tennis. You can select from any number of tennis stars like Anna Kournikova and Pete Sampras or take your custom character out to the courts. Playing on Live is fantastic, although sometimes it can be difficult to find an opponent to play against. XSN Sports does help to solve the problem, and if you already have Live, XSN is free. One annoyance is that doubles games can't be played on Live unless you have two people playing at one console. What?!?! In any case, multiplayer is the real reason you'll want Top Spin, and it's a great purchase if you have friends over a lot or if you have a Live subscription. If not, you can still enjoy Top Spin, but will miss out on the main appeal of the game.

Visually, Top Spin is very attractive, with great player animations and character details. Even when you set the camera to zoom mode, the textures never get blurry and remain sharp and colorful. There's also plenty of details shown in and around the courts: skid marks are left behind when sliding around clay courts, and people stroll around the background in the playground courts. A great job done in this department.

I must say that Top Spin should only be purchased if you plan on playing multiplayer with friends a lot or have Live access. Otherwise, playing career mode becomes tedious and dull, and the game isn't very appealing. Top Spin is deep enough to reward players who put in the effort to master the game, yet those looking for a party game with friends will be able to easily have fun with it. Just like Virtua Tennis, Top Spin makes tennis fun, and it comes recommended.