I might be one of the most excited people in the world for Top Spin to return with Top Spin 2K25, because – and I know I’m showing my age here – Top Spin and I go way back. I reviewed the original back in 2003 when I worked at Official Xbox Magazine, and gave it a well-deserved 9 out of 10 [IGN thought highly of it as well, giving it a 9.3]. It proved to be a riveting tennis sim with both real-life tennis stars to play as and an excellent create-a-player career mode that let you rise through the ranks, battling for global leaderboard supremacy against other players. But Top Spin disappeared after the fourth entry in the series back in 2011 – so long ago that there hasn’t been a new Top Spin in the 12 years I’ve worked at IGN. Thankfully, though, that retirement has ended, and Top Spin is back with 2K25. I played an hour of it and quickly found that while it lacks the top-shelf presentation its predecessors had in previous console generations, it still plays fantastically.
Top Spin 2K25 delivers a lot of tennis’s biggest stars as playable athletes: recently retired legends like Serena Williams and Roger Federer, ‘90s stars like Andre Agassi and Steffi Graf, and new top-ranked players like Carlos Alcaraz and Coco Gauff. 2K and developer Hangar 13 promise 20 real-life pros in total, and this is where I’ll levy my primary criticism of Top Spin 2K25 so far: presentation. While the build I played wasn’t final, with the April release date fast approaching, it’s unlikely too much will change between now and then in the graphics and animation department. Unfortunately, there isn’t a lot of expression in the faces of the players that I saw, which is disappointing but not a deal-breaker since, of course, you’ll button through the intermediate mini-cutscenes to get back to the action after you’ve seen them each a few times, spending the bulk of your time playing from the familiar TV-style camera view.
Top Spin 2K25 Screenshots
And that playing? Oh, it seems like it’s going to make fans of the previous Top Spin games very happy. I confess I hadn’t played any Top Spin since 4 came out, so I was rusty. I started working my way through 2K25’s tutorials – narrated by a surprisingly calm John McEnroe – before jumping into an exhibition match as Andre Agassi. It took me a couple of games to get my sea legs back underneath me – the serving mechanic in particular threw me for a loop, as you have to press the corresponding face button harder and hold it down in order to get your meter going. But once I got locked in, I didn’t drop a game after that, settling into my familiar strategy of crushing pinpoint baseline returns to either outright win the point or set my opponent up to have to deal with a big shot on the next volley.
Perhaps the reason Top Spin 2K25’s gameplay felt so familiar and comfortable is that one of the developers told me during my demo that the team went back and looked at Top Spin 4 on a programming-code level.
Perhaps the reason Top Spin 2K25’s gameplay felt so familiar and comfortable is that one of the developers told me during my demo that the team went back and looked at Top Spin 4 on a programming-code level, bringing over everything they could to the new game on the new engine. If my playtime is any indication, they did so successfully.
The real test of Top Spin 2K25’s longevity, though, will be its MyPlayer mode, where you’ll earn XP, improve your athlete’s skill points, and take on other players online to try and become the top-ranked player in the world. I didn’t get to try or even see any of that, but previous Top Spin games shined here, so hopefully that will also prove true with 2K25.
To say I was surprised by the announcement that Top Spin was coming back after all these years would be an understatement, but I couldn’t be happier about it – especially after getting the chance to play it for a little while. I can’t wait to spend even more time with it.
Top Spin 4 Developer[s] 2K Games Publisher[s] 2K Games Series Top SpinRelease date[s]NA March 15, 2011 EU March 18, 2011 Release type Console exclusive Genre[s] Sports Mode[s] Single-player GameID[s]BLES00668 [IRD], BLUS30427 [IRD], NPEB00830 Demo NPUB90542Quick linksCheck Compatibility Open Issues Search Google Wikipedia Page
Configuration
Options that deviate from RPCS3's default settings and provide the best experience with this title are listed below.
Advanced configuration
Setting Option Notes Read color buffers On Fixes broken rival's face textures.
Known Issues
There are no reported issues with this title.
Special Notes
Netplay testing
For the complete list of games tested with RPCN, please check the RPCN Compatibility List.
Game Version RPCS3 Version Connects? Create/Join lobbies? Match with others? Online features working? Requires custom servers? Notes 1.02 0.0.30-16004 Yes Yes Yes Partial Not required Despite the "Top Spin 4 server is not available at this time" message you can still go into player match and play online.
How do you get TopSpin 4 on PC?
1. Make an account with Bruker at //www.bruker.com/about-us/register.html. 2. Download TopSpin 4 from //www.bruker.com/service/support-upgrades/software- downloads/nmr.
What consoles are top spin 4 on?
Top Spin 4 is a tennis video game developed by 2K Czech and published by 2K released on the PlayStation 3, Wii, and Xbox 360 consoles. The game features licensed professional players, venues and equipment. The game was released on March 15, 2011 in America, and was released on March 18 in the PAL region.
Will TopSpin 2K25 be on PC?
A: Cross-platform multiplayer will be available in TopSpin 2K25 on PlayStation®5, PlayStation®4, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and PC across all online game modes.