Common Sense Note
Parents need to know that the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions of this game will be challenging to younger players. The control scheme is quite unlike those of previous tennis games, requiring precise timing, nimble control stick manipulation, and constant awareness of your character's fatigue level. Indeed, it can prove tricky even for older, seasoned tennis video game players. Also be aware that, while the game is free of potentially offensive content, Top Spin 3 supports online play. Common Sense Media does not recommend online play for children under age 12.
Families can talk about tennis. How faithfully does the game recreate the sport? Do the athletes featured in the game look and move like their real-world counterparts? Did you learn anything new about tennis while playing? Video game tennis is often considered a solo sport, but you can play with a partner. Do you prefer playing alone or with a teammate? If you have the Wii version, do you like the motion sensitive controls that require you to mimic a real tennis swing, or do you think you would have more control using a traditional game pad?
Common Sense Review
Reviewed By: Chad Sapieha
TOP SPIN 3 delivers many of the same features seen in Top Spin 2. Players can create a male or female character and take him or her through a multi-year career mode, upgrading skills such as forehand and serve while amassing an enormous wardrobe of clothing and equipment. Alternatively, you can play exhibition matches and one-off tournaments assuming the role of or going up against current and classic tennis stars, from Boris Becker to Maria Sharapova. Up to four players can play locally on one television, while individuals can enter ongoing tournaments online. New and more complex controls up game realism a notch, and a comprehensive tennis school tutorial helps teach amateurs a little more about the game's strategy.
Unlike previous Top Spin games, which incorporated video game conventions like power meters and employed relatively simple controls for making a variety of shots, Top Spin 3 brings a less intuitive interface that takes longer to master, but, in the end, provides a greater degree of control. Rather than simply holding down a button and watching players carry out amazing shots, you must now press an action button the moment the ball leaves your opponent's racquet, move to the ideal return location, then release the button the instant the ball touches down for its first bounce. Making things even trickier, power shots can be carried out if players press a shoulder button at the same time. But be careful; if your timing for a power shot is off even by a split second you'll almost certainly send the ball either into the net or out of bounds. Add to this a new stamina feature, which shows your player's heartrate between rallies -- the higher it climbs, the more likely unforced errors become -- and you have one extremely challenging game of tennis. It would have been nice had the game's makers incorporated an easier difficulty setting that allowed for more traditional controls, but, taken as is, it's a remarkably realistic recreation of tennis mechanics.
On the subject of realism, Top Spin 3 sports the best visuals of any tennis game to date. The players are photo realistic and animate splendidly. Don't be surprised if people walk into your living room and think for a moment that they're watching a televised match as opposed to a video game -- especially if you happen to be playing a match featuring one of the 20 beautifully rendered real-world players featured in the game. The attention to detail is marvelous. As matches progress you'll watch your players start to sweat, see their clothes grow dirtier, and marvel as their skin gets burned by the afternoon sun. Simply put, Top Spin 3's graphics are state of the art.
Virtua Tennis 3 offers a similarly realistic, though less complicated, tennis experience. For a tennis game the whole family can appreciate, try Nintendo's Wii Sports.
Platform Notes
Nintendo DS
The simplest version of the game, the DS edition of Top Spin 3 feels much more like traditional tennis video game, complete with one tap swings and meters to gauge power. It, too, offers a lengthy career mode, create-a-player functionality, mini-games, and wireless multiplayer.
Nintendo Wii
This version of the game is quite different from the PS3 and Xbox 360 editions. It has a dissimilar career mode, a selection of exclusive, multi-player party games, and makes use of Nintendo’s motion-sensitive controllers, tasking players to swing the remote much as they would a real tennis racquet. The only problem is that the wire that connects the nunchuk attachment (which is used to control your player’s movement across the court) to the remote isn’t long enough to facilitate full swings.
PlayStation 3
Nearly identical to the Xbox 360 version, save the addition of Rafael Nadal as a game character.
Xbox 360
This is the version of the game reviewed above.
| Content | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| CS | adults | kids | ||
Sexual ContentFemale tennis players wear short skirts and dresses, but they are no more revealing than those donned by real life tennis stars. |
 |
 |
||
Violence |
|
|
||
Language |
|
|
||
Message |
|
|
||
Social BehaviorPromotes friendly, competitive play amongst up to four players. |
 |
 |
||
CommercialismAds and logos for countless sporting brands, including Nike, Adidas, and Ellesse, can be seen in almost every frame of the game. Part of the rewards system focuses on shopping for branded apparel and equipment. Several real-world tennis stars endorse and appear in the game. |
 |
|
||
Drug/Alcohol/Tobacco |
|
|
||
Educational ValueThis isn't a simple press-a-button-to-hit-a-shot kind of tennis game. Like it or not, players will be forced to learn about the strategies involved in real tennis. |
|
|
||
