TopSpin 2K25 is a hugely satisfying return for an ace tennis series

23.04.2024 - 08:57 / videogameschronicle.com / Chris Scullion / John Macenroe

Although its relationship with video games goes all the way back to Pong, tennis has seemingly always been a tricky sport to properly nail in digital form.

While there have clearly been successes over the years – the Virtua Tennis and Mario Tennis series being the obvious examples – the history of the medium is littered with attempts that struggled to recreate the feel of playing tennis.

One series that pulled it off with aplomb was 2K’s TopSpin. While its last entry—2011’s Xbox 360 and PS3 title TopSpin 4—was met with widespread critical acclaim, it was the last we’d see of the franchise. That finally changes now, because after a 13-year gap, TopSpin is back. While it has a few performance and progression issues, when it comes to the actual gameplay on the court, it’s a spectacular return to form.

The game revolves around its new stroke mechanic, which brings up an accuracy gauge similar to the one in the NBA 2K series (but is thankfully more forgiving). While the face buttons perform different types of strokes, players can give themselves more control over them with a combination of timing and button press duration.

Tapping the button performs a control shot, which is lacking in power but gives you a better chance of hitting the ball close to the lines. Holding it down until a power gauge fills gives you a power shot, which reduces the angles you can hit but adds plenty of extra oomph to the hit. Then there’s a middle ground where you can hold the button for a little while.

This combines with the accuracy gauge to determine how effective the hit is. The gauge moves at different speeds depending on the complexity of the stroke, so it’s a great system because it’s easy to learn quite quickly but certainly not to the extent that you can hit perfect shots every time without fail.

It all works very well and makes logical sense too. If you’re standing behind the baseline, the gauge moves slowly because you usually have plenty of time to prepare your stroke, but when you have to hit an awkward shot under pressure, the gauge will fill quicker, meaning your chances of hitting it accurately are reduced in a realistic manner.

The stroke mechanic is taught to the player in a tutorial mode partly narrated by John McEnroe, who frankly sounds like he’s never encountered a microphone before. Halfway through the lessons, he disappears and is replaced by a nameless lady narrator instead, and she does a better job.

It’s all irrelevant, though, because the important thing is that it does a great job of teaching players how to hit the ball properly, and once the tutorial is done it takes around 30-60 minutes to get a proper feel for it, after which it all clicks and its value as a flexible control system becomes clear.

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