PALGN writes: "Last year's Top Spin 2 DS received mostly negative criticism. The game's framerate was simply too low, which made it almost unplayable. Top Spin 3 is a major improvement, players move around smoothly and the action often gets very frantic. That said, there are a few things that will deter newcomers to the series.
Top Spin 3 is essentially a buffed-up version of its predecessor. Aside from an improved frame rate, there's a stronger Career mode, a wider selection of mini-games, and the usual quick play options. On court the controls feel tight and responsive, with each action and shoulder button representing a different type of shot. At any time during a match players can also tap the touch screen to perform a boost manoeuvre, which makes their character's running speed increase. Unfortunately, the mechanic feels out of place for a realistic tennis game, and the only practical way to utilise it is to press the touch screen with your greasy thumb, not appealing for those of us that suffer OCD.
Career mode acts as the main meat of the game, and has players try to improve their rank amongst the world's top tennis stars. You'll begin by creating a character with a few standard customisation options including serve styles, skin tones, and outfit and racket designs. From here, you have to improve your skill levels by completing mini-games. These vary from Serve Sniper which requires players to hit coloured-markers on the court, to Robot Trap where you have to run over switches and trap robots. Each mini-game also has three difficulty levels, but a majority will need to be unlocked by improving your rank, preventing you from maximising your skills prematurely."
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…
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.