TopSpin 2K25 Review

I’ve sat in a few meetings over the years with people talking about ‘onboarding’. This is primarily about getting people into the game as quickly as possible, I’ve heard people suggesting that we remove the publisher logos, save a EULA (End User License Agreement) for later, and even start the game with the opening tutorial instead of boot-up screens. The point of good onboarding is to smoothly transition a player into the game with as little stress as possible.

So, it amazes me that TopSpin 2k25 exists with some of the worst user experiences I’ve ever seen. First off, it asks the player to sign up for a publisher account. If you refuse, you are not able to start the game. The interface then requires going to a website or scanning a QR code with your phone.

When I went to the website, it was broken and it took me a day to finally create an account and get into the game. I was then greeted by an unskippable cutscene and contextless intro, playing as Roger Federer… for reasons?

It doesn’t help that TopSpin 2K25 is not a very straightforward game. With Virtua Tennis being about instant gratification, most closely comparable to Tony Hawk. TopSpin resembles the measured intent of the Skate series. Successfully returning the ball is not guaranteed by simply pressing the button and it requires a bit more effort.

The control system is timing based – as the player moves their character into a return spot a meter will appear that requires the player tap/release a button in the correct zone for their shot to go in the direction they intended. Too early or too late and there is no guarantee how fast or where the shot will end up and it will often give the opposition more time to align themselves and dictate the pace of the game. There are a variety of types of return – including a standard shot, a lob, a drop shot and a slice – and there are wind ups that require having enough time to hold the button or accurate shots that require a tap at the exact right time.

This is all very well in isolation, but when the ball is being at over 100 km/h, my mind was scrambling to get the timing right, let alone figure out the best type of shot to use. This is the mindset that must be got into – as a player I am too used to every move in a game being a heroic action. TopSpin is more about making the best of a bad situation and then seizing an opportunity when it arises.

I want to say right now that I spent about 2 hours swearing at the game. However – once the cursing, teeth gnashing and barely containing the desire to throw my controller across the room abated – a curious thing happened. I started to really enjoy the game.

Those opening hours make it hard to grapple with, but really even a half-baked shot can be heroic if it saves a loose ball and keeps the match going.

TopSpin’s campaign reflects that need for heroic moments. After creating a character the player is presented with a training session a challenge session and then a tournament. The training session is one of a number of different mini-games. The challenge is a match against another AI, but with specific goals to complete (like returning a number of volleys). The tournament takes on the premise that each match has ended in a form of a tie-breaker, and it is down to the player to end the stalemate. In these moments the tension is ratcheted up and it does a good job of conveying the back and forth of a hard fought tennis match.

As the campaign continues, it is possible to level up the character and improve specific stats that increase serving power, stamina, speed etc. There is also fatigue, dropping below 30% can result in an on-court injury, so some months it makes sense to rest and not level up.

The system is a good one, but I will say the training sessions never feel as rewarding as Virtua Tennis – it is too easy to fail them in TopSpin and not really understand what they were trying to teach. Still, attempting them results in XP regardless of success. Which sometimes feels worse – I stumbled through a mini-game, learned nothing and dolled out a pitance of XP for my effort.

Even less fun is how losing connection to the online services can result in the single player dropping out. There is no valid reason why this would happen and given the already terrible onboarding it made me painfully aware of the situation we’ve ended up in: buying a game doesn’t guarantee it will be useable in the future.

Conclusion

TopSpin is challenging in many intentional and unintentional ways – the control system is tough to master but there is a great sense of reward to even getting the ball to land where you want it. The online requirements, and some of the more befuddling systems make it much harder to get to the core of the experience.