Game Revolution writes: "Would it be strange if I told you that your fellow RPG-loving, rhythm-thumping reviewer also follows tennis? I'm not hardcore or anything, but enough so that I was floored when Rafael Nadal ended Roger Federer's five-year reign as the king of Wimbledon in an epic match that went into a fifth-set tiebreak and hailed as one of the best finals ever. It was jam-packed with unbelievable slices, crowd-gasping mistakes, aggressive near- or on-the-line winners, and just plain ridiculous shots from ridiculous angles with ridiculous precision. Fans who began the match rooting for their favorites ended up roaring, cheering, and gasping over every point because they were getting their money's worth.
Top Spin 3 tries to serve up an experience as close to that as possible by putting a realistic spin on the usual pick-up-and-play approach on tennis, or what I like to call "Life-sized Pong". Like the Virtua Tennis series, it forces players to pay attention to the timing of the swing, the placement of the ball, and the variety of shots without getting so overly technical that it bogs down the action. Its no-frills, no-nonsense style safely fits within its simulation scheme. However, it doesn't capture the spirit of tennis as thoroughly as it could have."
+ Tennis in its most fundamental form
+ Solid swing mechanics
+ Realistic graphics and fluid animations
+ Approachable by anyone
- Lackluster audience
- Attribute cap
- Incomplete character roster
- Where\'s Wimbledon?
OPM: Thousands of Brits will be inspired to pick up a racket this week on the back of Andy Murray’s success at Wimbledon – but in this heat, and given our hand-eye co-co-ordination, we’ll be sticking to the virtual type. Looking to fill your week with some ace-smashing antics? Then join us in revisiting PlayStation’s finest tennis efforts…
Not really, most of those games were available on multiple platforms.
Just so happens that the PS magazine wrote the article so makes sense it would be 'Playstation's greatest games' :)
Gamepyre writes: "When Virtua Tennis 2009 first came out I was very excited about the game; I was so excited that I actually went and got it on release day.
Virtua Tennis 3 has been one of my favorite PSP games, and I could not wait to see what the 2009 Xbox 360 version of the game brought to the table. After playing the game, I was very disappointed in Virtua Tennis 2009; not because it was a bad game per say, but because it wasn't anything new from the previous release."
Another week and another episode of Distributed Failure is here for your listening pleasure. This week's "What They've Been Playing" features discussion on Top Spin 3, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood, Fight Night Round 4, Battlefield 1943, Final Fantasy IV: The After Years, and much more! They follow that up with some gaming news including the latest update on EGM, the addition of prizes to 1 vs. 100, and the announcement of a new Mechwarrior game.
