Customer Reviews

Top Spin 3

5 star:		(8)
4 star:		(19)
3 star:		(10)
2 star:		(11)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I have been waiting for a really great tennis game for the Wii since it came out. I have played Wii Sports Tennis many times and have found it to be loads of fun... But it wasn't very realistic. Enter, Top Spin 3... Much more realistic and much more accurate than the Wii Sports Tennis. The controls are not easy to pick up... Timing is very important in this game, much like real tennis. Body position is important too since you have to take a good back swing. I must tell you that I got quite a workout playing this game... The graphics are not the best, but I already expected that. The Wii was never designed to be able to give amazing graphics. It was designed to be interactive and fun. I have heard so much criticism about bad the graphics are compared to the Xbox, and PS3, but like I said, it's not about the graphics... In any case, they are not terrible by any means, and they don't take anything away from the game while playing. In fact, like real tennis, you have to keep your eye on the ball in order to play well, so you really don't even notice if the graphics are good or not... I found some things really interesting about the game play. I took several tennis lessons in my life, and I can remember the instructor stressing to me that I should start my back swing as soon as my opponent hits the ball and I see which side it's going to (my backhand or my forehand). The sooner you start your back swing, the better your position will be when the ball gets to you. This is very much like in Top Spin 3... Your player reacts to your back swing, and you must start it early in order to be in good position and take a good swing, and the wider and rounder the swing, the better. It also causes you to have a good follow though, which is very important in tennis. It's not like the Wii Sports, where you can just kind of jerk the controller and make the shot. I found this to be very much like real life. So, you use the nunchuck to move your player and after you start your back swing, to place your shot. You have much more control of the player and the game than you could ever have with Wii Sports. Another thing I liked is that, unlike in Top Spin 2 where you can almost predict what your computer opponent is going to do, in this game you can get into nice long rallys and wait for the right time to make your move. I do wish that you could create a player so that it would play more like you do in real life, and I'm sad that there is no online play, but the game is very much fun, and realistic. To me, there is nothing like interacting with a game. So, if you want amazing graphics and you want to sit on your butt and push buttons, then get the game for the Xbox or PS3... But, if you want to get into the game and feel like you are playing a real game, then this is for you... Once you get the hang of it, and the timing, you will find yourself loving the great passing shot you made, or the amazing volley... I hope this helps, enjoy...

As soon as I got my Wii last October, I was waiting for a good tennis game, since tennis and Wii seemed to be made for each other. Sega Superstars Tennis is just plain garbage, and then I found out the TopSpin3 was coming out for the Wii. The original date was the same day WiiFit was coming out, so they pushed the release of TopSpin3 back a month. I had heard great things about the Wii version of this game from people who had played advanced copies of it.

Finally, I picked it up the day it was released, having reserved a copy of it at a local store. Let's just say it was a different game than what I was expecting.

First, the players. As was mentioned in other reviews, there is NO Player Creator. Also, as far as oldies are concerned, there is NO Bjorn Borg or Monica Seles...Becker is the only blast from the past here (unless you count Henin). There are some made-up players, but here is a list of real players on this game:
MEN
Roger Federer
Tommy Haas
Gael Monfils
David Nabandian
Andy Roddick
Andrew Murray
James Blake
Mario Ancic
Tomas Berdych
Mark Philippoussis

WOMEN
Maria Sharapova
Svetlana Kuznetsova
Justine Henin
Nicole Vaidisova
Caroline Wozniacki
Amelie Mauresmo

Also, don't expect to find online gameplay, because it isn't there.

Gameplay itself wasn't bad, but there are a few things that make it goofy. First, you have to hold the WiiMote on the side. I don't know how that makes it feel more like a tennis racquet, but whatever. Because the controller is on its side, the "B" button is the key button that gets you into everything, and that takes a little getting used to. The stick on the Nunchuck both moves the player as well as controls the direction of the ball, so it's a little difficult running one direction and hitting to the other (for instance, running to the left and hitting to the right), but even that can get better with practice. Net Volleys are VERY difficult to execute with any consistency, so you are almost forced to stay at the baseline. Serving has a timing meter that you get to see AFTER you commit to your swing, so it takes a bit of feel to get serving down (so in other words the meter shows you WHETHER you hit a good serve, but it doesn't help you TO hit a good serve, because ou have already committed to the serve before the meter registers anything). One nice feature on the serve is that the "Z" button will automatically lollipop in a 2nd Serve for you, so you don't have to double-fault all the time until you get serving down.

There are various games to go through in a type of Career Mode. There are 11 such games, and it took me a while to figure out how to save in the middle of each of the 11 legs, but I have since learned that it can be done.

And that gets me to the manual. It is of very minimal help when learning this game. For instance, Mauresmo isn't even in the manual as one of the players.

The music has been mentioned as a plus. My favorite part of that is the fact that in a few of the screens, they play the disco song that Napoleon Dynamite danced to in the movie while he was helping Pedro win the class presidency. Now if they had made Napoleon Dynamite one of the players...that would have been pure genius.

All told, this is the best tennis game out for the Wii at the moment. I have had a lot of fun playing it over the past two days, but it almost seems too easy for me. I have never lost a set. Maybe it will get more challenging, but I doubt it. The more I play this, the more it seems like a game that is going to be going for half its original cost in a few months. I am glad to own it, but I hope TopSpin4 will be a vastly improved version of this game. Until then, this will have to be my tennis fix during the long Midwest winters!

THIS IS NOT WII TENNIS. No, it is not the simple controls of wii sports tennis. This is much more realistic. True tennis fans and players will love how realistic it is (and true tennis fans and players hate how UNREALISTIC wii sports tennis is). There are a lot of unfair reviews here by people who didn't spend any time with the game. YOU CAN hit drop shots, lobs, overheads, top spin, slice, slice serves etc. You can even go for risky serves that up the speed and position. It just takes practice. The use of the nunchuck is not a problem (I wish wii sports tennis uses the nunchuck, so you could actually get into proper position). Also, I see no reason why you couldn't play left handed (someone said you can't in another review). There is no setting for lefthanded players, b/c it's not needed! Just switch hands. Some one complained about slow game play b/c of cut scenes of players after points: hit the B button and you skip them. You can even hit the B button and shake the controllers in different directions to show different emotions.

Reason for the 4 stars instead of five: no wi-fi (why was this left out!?), some retro players would be fun (Sampras, Agassi, McEnroe, Lendl, Graf, etc.), no NADAL?!, it'd be enhance play if there was an "attitude/confidence" meter or something (ie if you are getting your butt handed to you your attitude is down and you play worse, miss lines, etc... hit a winner/ace and you attitude/confidence goes up and you play better), and finally it'd be cool if there was commentators.

Short list: great game if you LOVE and PLAY TENNIS!

I carefully read a few reviews before purchasing this game, and I suggest you do so as well. First off, after some regretable language while getting used to the game, my husband and I really enjoy Top Spin 3. I think because it's not quite a "gamer's" game. If you want a tennis game where you can sit on the couch, just move your hand a little, don't have to worry too much about position, then stick with the Wii's Pez-like people version. If you want to train your brain to think about where to position the ball and your serve, how to use two remotes at once (the regular Wii-mote and the Nunchuck are necessary), to experience how tennis plays on different surfaces, compete in numerous tournaments, and run around your game room like a maniac, then Top Spin 3 is for you. We're actually using it as an indoor workout, and a way to train our brains for outdoor tennis as well. It's not quite the same as the real thing -- I mean, who uses a Nunchuck in real tennis?! But when I play for real, I now think a lot about position and strategy. No, you can't play online. No, you can't create your own player. No, you can't play left handed. That's why we're rating it a 4, so the next generation will hopefully be corrected. You can save matches you've won, which is great. And there are tons of players to choose from, so you can even be a player with different skill sets; e.g., great server or fast runner or great volleyer. I hope this review really helps you. Enjoy!

I have wanted to get a tennis game for Wii besides the wii Sports tennis.
I looked at this game and didn't buy from all the negative reviews here.
But it was on sale on black friday and i decided why not? so i got it.
IT ISN'T AS BAD AS THE NEGATIVE REVIEWS SAY. It has it's drawbacks but come on people....you aren't on the court and you can play this when it's raining outside!
Ok to go thru what others are complaining about:
1) Yes it makes you use a nunchuck and it does get in the way of your swing sometimes....but people simple answer...get a wireless nunchuck which i plan on doing for this. But with the nun chuck you have to move to the ball rather than in wii sports tennis. more realistic.
2) wasted time between points while the players throw their racquets. Press the B button and it skips it. nough said?
3) court selections are window dressing. true but very funny with the accuracy of the stadiums.
4) painfully slow and missed shots? hmmmm i don't find this true.
5) screens before play,..... don't they all do this?
6) odd way of holding the remote....where as this might be true....with the shape of the remote, holding it the way they designed it it feels more like the shape of a real racquet?
7) i cannot comment on left handed play as i'm right handed.

So, I'm glad i stopped by the site on black friday and got this on sale! I'm having alot of fun with this game while it is winter. You have to play with their pro's and you cannot play with your Mii's but then, go back to wii sports tennis, it doesn't go away if you buy this.

It's a game people.

This game is terrible. I rented this at the local blockbuster where they had several copies just sitting on the shelf. I decided to try renting before splurging to buy. Glad I did. There are many deficiencies with how this game is designed, as listed below:

1) It forces you to use the nunchuck which is an utter nuisance while trying to swing the racquet during play. I was forced to just use wrist movements with my right hand, while trying to point the player using the joystick with my left hand. Did the game programmers even play once on this game before they released it?

2) Like other sports games (tiger woods golf for example) on the wii, this game focuses more on the players than the game. You see the losing players throw and toss their racquets after every game with curses and frowns on their faces. This gets old real fast and is a real annoyance because I wanted to just focus on tennis and not the player attitudes. No way to turn off the player attitudes either. This makes it even more discouraging to play. The Wii Sports Tennis gets this absolutely right with no such nonsense frills.

3) The tennis court selections are nothing more than just surface color schemes. They add little value to game play.

4) The game play is painfully slow, with the swings and pointer movements taking longer to register in the game, so you land up losing all the time due to missed shots.

5) You have to deal with 6 different copyright notice screens and software company logos every time the game starts up on the Wii. This is a real nuisance.

6) The odd way of holding the remote makes it even more annoying. Why couldn't they have just designed it so the game could be played using the motion sensor and standard remote grips, instead of forcing a bizarre remote grip and nunchuck usage for Tennis?

All in all I have decided to skip this much hyped POS game and go back to Wii Sports for now. It is such a joy just to play tennis on Wii sports after experiencing this ridiculous Top Spin 3 nonsense. I wasted $5.99 to rent this.

I bought several Wii games for individual sports after having much fun with Wii Sports. I have not tried the Virtua Tennis game, which might be better. Topspin 3 is a great game in my opinion because it challenges me, and it gives me a really good workout. Believe it or not. Looks like you could sit on a couch and lift your arm up just enough to serve, and wave the wand back and forth without much effort. However if you actually play as if you are playing tennis, it is realistic enough to be a challenge. Forget the nunchuk, it's not that big a nuisance. If you keep the wand facing the net between shots the system picks up on nuances of your "racquet" placement, swing, and even footwork. I can place shots just like in a real game. There is even a lob shot which I can place right in the corner to give the opponent fits while trying to make a high back hand shot, which is a problem for so many players. Except Roger Federer. He can get that shot. Beating Federer was very difficult, and certainly in real life he would wipe the court with my sweaty backside. But this is fantasy world, and he was not an easy win. I find that playing a match against the good players that come with this game is very strenuous, both physically and mentally. My only gripe about the game is that the players do not include Rafael Nadal, my favorite player for the last five years.

Don't think about comparing this game with WiiTennis (that one that comes with the sports bundle). TopSpin3 was supposed to be more like a PS3 game with higher quality graphics and gameplay.
I've been playing it for a month or so. Overall it's been really fun but sometimes it's a bit hard to 'get into' the game. There's no skill level option, what made my wife hate it after the second day, and the training/tutorial session is nothing more than instructions that you can find in the manual.
There's a lack of freeplay like training, doubles and online challenges.
Soundtrack are a bit annoying too but not a big deal.

Sometimes I think people expect entirely to much from a product. I wanted to buy this game months ago but after reading the majority of the bad reviews I hesitated. When the price dropped, I decided to go ahead and fork over the money. Some reviews stated that the game was complicated and having to use the remote and chuck was to much and that it was very cumbersome. After a week of playing the game, I did not get that. I thought when I bought the game if the chord got in the way, I would by a wireless one but as of yet it hasn't. I bought this game for my wife who is a tennis freak and she loves it. But also my 8 year old daughter was up in playing herself in 5 minutes. Even she has no problem playing this "complicated" game. Both were used to the wii sports tennis, but it didn't take either of them long and now they love Top Spin. I have had the game 3 weeks and so far I have no problems whatsoever.

I was not sure if i should buy this game after i saw all of the one star reviews. I bought it anyway, and it sure wouldn't get one star! It is extremely fun and realistic. Some bad reviews said that using the nunchuck was a real nuisance. Wrong. It is actually not that hard, and I didnt think the controlls were akward at all. The player attitudes arent that annoying. You can even skip them if you want. Although the surfaces arent that differant, it is still interesting. They also have different lighting, which makes them differant. You can actually move where you want, and controll where the ball goes. With wii sports you couldn't do that. Some people didn't like that, but I think that is because they aren't that big fans of tennis. it is nice and realistic too.
Don't listen to the one star reviews! buy this game! (the player selections are cool, too)