Training is the key to success
The training games are crucial to your progression as they’ll provide you with points that can be used to top up your player’s attributes, such as speed. By choosing where to assign these points you’ll be able to nurture your player and decide his strengths; from a hard hitting powerhouse, to a speedy back court player, the choice is yours. The variations of these quirky training games help the game remain fresh, and prevent training from becoming repetitive. There’s nothing worse than repeating the same training routines over and over again, just play Fight Night and you’ll see what I mean. The only way to train in Top Spin 2 is by earning money to pay for this luxury, via the career mode.
The career mode has far more direction than the previous Top Spin and, each week you’ll be able to participate in one match, a special event, and one training session. You can choose which order you would like to play these events, but initially you’ll be raking up the stats in the training mode until you need to earn money.
By entering regional tournaments at unglamorous locations, such as the local park, you’ll gain money allowing you to take part in further training, which gives you the skills to be able to progress through the career mode, all the way to green pastures of Wimbledon
It’s by winning or placing highly in these tournaments that you’ll climb up the rankings, and unlock special events, which include private and exhibition matches. In fact you’ll be playing so many matches; the career mode never seems to end. It never seems a chore though; Top Spin 2 remains as addictive as the first.
A welcome addition to the series is the ability to simulate your matches, or even bypass complete tournaments. One of the worst things about the first Top Spin game was playing matches against players that you could beat with your hands tied behind your back. You no longer need to play these matches; you can let the game do the work for you.