Sports Reviews

First off, there's not much that I can say that hasn't already been covered by the other reviewers. This is a very good tennis game, but certainly not without it's flaws.

First, the pros. The graphics are amazing and very life-like. I loved the player animations, and the real-life men in the game look uncannily similar to the players they represent. Unfortunately, the women aren't quite as well done. The various courts and stadiums are well-rendered and beautiful. Also excellent is the sound, as all the effects are excellent and sound just the way they should. The career mode is a lot of fun, but entirely too short and easy. I'll cover that in my cons. And I would be remiss if I didn't mention the gameplay, because overall it rivals Virtua Tennis as being one of the best out there.

And now, for the cons. As mentioned numerous times before, the inability to save your game while in the midst of playing a tournament is beyond frustrating. Most people don't have the time to sit and play the game for an hour or more, but if you start a tournament that's exactly what you'll have to do. The game makers attempt to remedy this by making the sets only 3 games long, but this only serves to weaken the credibility of the game. An easy way to fix this would have been to allow for the saving of tournaments in between matches, as well as including an option of 3 or 6-game sets. That way those who have the time and prefer the realism of 6 games aren't disappointed. Seems simple enough to me, why didn't MS think of this? Also, the career mode is very short and entirely too easy to achieve the coveted number one ranking. I'm no video game master by any means, but by the second day of playing I had achieved the number one ranking and "Legend" status. Piece of cake, and once finished there really is no reason to go back and keep playing. One last gripe is the numerous cut-scenes during matches. For starters, there should have been an option to turn these off entirely. After seeing the same thing countless times, it gets frustrating to have to push a button two or three times just to get to the next point. The novelty of the excitement/frustration buttons wears off after the first match, and adds virtually nothing to the game.

With all this being said, the game is not bad. Even with all the cons I listed, it's a very enjoyable experience. Definitely the best tennis the Xbox has to offer. And with the price having now dropped quite a bit, it's certainly worthy of a purchase.

I am a huge virtua tennis fan and was really excited to get Topspin. Much of what has been said i agree with. The biggest problem is with the career mode like mentioned earlier it comes to an end. You get to #1 quickly and then win all the tournaments. If you continue in that career you can play the tournaments again but they don't go into your trophy case and don't show up as a headline. This can be fixed by following a calendar. Make it realistic. Every month there are tournaments and you can decide to compete if you qualify.

The other problem is with the AI and the drop shots. You can't slug it out from the baseline with any of the pros for two long without them hitting a drop shot which is easy to read. Serves are also way too easy. Also Pete Sampras never serves less than 100mph let alone 69?!

Excellent graphics and gaming experience overall. The different surfaces really have an impact on how the ball bounces.

However, there are a few things that Top Spin 2 should improve:

- Stamina. If you run the other guy from side to side for a whole match, it has no impact on his stamina.
- Replays. You have to press the button to skip replays after each point. It gets annoying after the first hour.
- Slices: In real life, the shot is used to slow down the pace. But not here, you can hit winners with slices from all over the court.
- The safe shot should be the top spin shot, which aims high over the net.
- Hard top spun shots sometimes bounce over the opponent's head. Completely unrealistic.
- You can't miss. Over a three month period, I've hit maybe five shots long and three wide.
- Slice serves. Looks like something out of a Harry Potter book.
- Stupid AI. Serve to the outside of the box, run to the net and hit a volley to the other side. Never fails.
- Risk shots are the only way to win on a high level, but are nearly impossible to pull off.
- Volleys are to easy to hit, even from close to the baseline you can hit drive volleys that always goes over.

Top Spin is best played with a human opponent, which makes for a great time. It wears out a bit if you play against the computer.

EA Sports have done a brilliant job on the graphics but where did the game play go? I mean after watching a brilliant intro playing the game isn't much fun at all. The sound tracks are brilliant but what happened to strategy and being able to make your opponent work. This game reminds me of Barry Mcguian's Boxing that came out for the commodore 64 back in the early 80's. There's absolutely no difference in game play. This game is just about pressing the button quicker that your opponent (that's if your in two player mode). This has taken a step backwards since Knockout Kings '99, which other than the graphics is a far better game.

My advice: Don't buy!

Overall, Knockout Kings 2000 is a disappointment. Although the selection of boxers has improved--like the addition of Sugar Ray Robinson and Joe Frazier, the boxing action has taken a step backwards from its predecessor, Knockout Kings. In that game, a fight could end at any moment with one good punch, and the action wasn't as frenetic--like regular boxing. Here, to make it more "exciting", the programmers simply turned it into a glorified karate punching game with loads and loads of punches being landed. The computer does not improvise any strategies, and hence all the fighters seem the same on computer mode. When it's energy is low, it covers up. When yours is low, even if the computer's is, it comes out you--and is easy to knock out every time. Better to hold off and wait for Mike Tyson Boxing from Activision which promises more realism and strategies. Hey EA Sports--where are Gerry Cooney, Jerry Quarry, Thomas Hearns, Roy Jones, Prince Naseem Hamed, George Foreman (a young and older version), Riddick Bowe, and Kid Gavilan? Put some more classic fighters in there as well!

I like this game because it's cool. I like how Al Albert, Shawn OBraty add commentaries during the fight. I also like how Mills Lane gives the fighters instruction before the bout. I highly recommend this game to future boxing fans.

Thankfully I rented High Heat, which many say is the best game out there. There is simply no competition - World Series 2K3 blows this title away in every respect.

As someone who was driven away from baseball games by the bazooka home runs and intelligence-insulting ease of Triple Play a few years back, I can honestly say that World Series 2K3 is the game we've been waiting for since Tony Larousa on SEGA. The graphics are fantastic, the gameplay is smooth, and the Franchise/stat tracking is solid. Finally there's a baseball game with the same realism of Madden.

When the only thing you'd change about a game is its use of the analog stick over the directional pad, you've got a game you can stick with. You won't be disappointed with this purchase.

This game is awsome. There are legends like Nolan Ryan, Mike Schimdt and many more. The pitching is realistic and you can play the game like you're watching it on tv.The thing I hate about this game is that when the other team gets a hit and you're fielding The guy takes so long to get it out of his glove and throw it in. But this game is way better then asb 2004 and high heat 2004. I would buy this if i was you.

the gameplay is very good. i played MVP and it's very fun. i think MVP's graphics are better and it's funner to play the actual games. but WSB 2k3's gameplay is more realistic and better. MVP has problems with enough random hits. in MVP you can't barely ever get bloop hits or line it over infielders. the outfielders and the infielders cover too much of the outfield to sneak anything in. and that's annoying. WSB has plenty of scattered hits. everything that happens in WSB happens as frequently as it does in real baseball. the graphics aren't the best but they are great in WSB, all i'll ever need. franchise mode is great. you are like a GM. you pick all your coaches and managers and a scout. they are all payed and have weaknesses and strengths and contracts. the players have salaries. you can do the draft at the beginning with snake style, random, ordered, and maybe another way. rookies and younger players have ratings that show how they will improve. your teams can have custom salaries, all the same, or random, which i think is so awesome. this game is so complete. the only potential problem is the hitting. you have a cursor that is bigger for better players. you hit with either contact(X) or power (O). and you can hit homers with both. it's just that it's can be hard to hit with the cursor. but it get's easier and i think i might really like it. plus there are other hitting options. i can't find really anything wrong with this game. it's probably going to be my favorite game ever.

its just like all the other games. I mean don't get me wrong all of them are fun too but this one's just a little more boring than tony hawk and aggressive Inline.

This game is the highly anticipated version of Dave Mirra Freestyle BMX2 for GameCube. I have played this game on both systems and find the GameCube version to be a more vivid and easier to control game. However, it is a game that needs work! Its soundtrack, although with some great hits, needs work in a variety of areas- the songs, unless you painstakingly select them, repeat over and over again meaning that if I start playing a game with one song, it will continue to play until I have selected otherwise.
Another weakness- the game has no sense of barriers (ie walls, poles, grinding rails.) Sometimes, I am able to ride through a pole, however, on other occasions, on that same pole, my rider gets knocked down. Also, and this is the worst part of the game, if you are riding and you bump into a wall, your rider immedialey gets knocked into reverse, this causes a short, but infuriating delay as your rider evetually pulls himself out of reverse.
Other times, the screen shakes uncontrolably. This makes the game extremely fustrating, as it is hard to complete the myriad of tasks- which without these problems would be a joy to complete.
With some patience, this game can be rewarding, in that it is fun when you're not dealing with the technical flaws of it. However, if I could reverse my decision in buying it, I would...had I known about the flaws, I would have waited until a newer and more thought out version came out.

The first thing I have to say about this game is that the levels are amazingly huge, and very well rendered. The game play is great and is very easy to learn, and is pretty natural. There is a wide variety of tricks, and there are modifiers, so you can pull a trick and a modifier to make an entirely new trick. The whole respect point system melds wonderfully into game play, although in higher levels it gets a little hard (which is a good thing for some gamers). And if you own both Game cube and PS2 I would recommend getting the Gamecube version because it has two extra levels (Greenville, NC & Venice, Italy). Basically, this game is great for fans or either BMX or Tony Hawk games.

After playing 989's NCAA Gamebreaker 1999 for a few years, I thought that I would venture out on the EA Sports side and see what they had. I choose this game because of the option to play in a dynasty mode. It was a year newer then my current game and I expected it to be a tad bit better then NCAA Gamebreaker 1999. I liked the dynasty mode and the announcing on this game. The rest of the game didn't strike me as anything overly good. The graphics were worse then my NCAA Gamebreaker 1999 game. I expected the game to be a lot better then what I ended up with. I am disappointed in EA Sports.

SHOOT, yeah, this is the best NCAA Football game ever, forget about Gamebreaker, this da bomb, but there is problems about the game. Yets see here, first you can not go anywhere if the defender is right behind ya. I think everybody should agree on me with this, Slow Gameplay and. Yo, ya EA people up there, make it faster. I like the custom option stuff, but come on, like there will be a team called the MISS. 2000 Blue Tigers, at least you can expand mind with this stuff. Its quite easy, but shoot, its easier for the opponent to catch the ball and the ball just bounce off your players. Those EA folk sure know how to make the refs a real pain, but you can get revenge knocking the refs crazy, So your saying why you say its a 5 star game, well, shoot it has lots of good stuff about it. I'm talking about such enchanced practice with no penalties, and options that figger your game to the bone. For me, I'm a hardcore football video game fan. Yo, EA folks what happened to decent shaped arms and hands. I give a special thanks to EA for putting this game on the shelves. This game really towers over all NCAA football games. They sure have a drunk crowd, their cheers are sorry. I never saw flat cheerleaders, the music is sorry, Hey, EA people, have more drum sounds. The crowd looks like vomit, but instead of problems, you have a good Dynasty mode, and a lot of codes. It seems that moves don't count that much when running, but its pretty cool to have refs and all kinds of people running on the field. Overall, this game rulez, and is the king of College football games, but if you are a hardcore fan, shoot, I'm talking about head bashing, badmouth taunting late hitting hardcore fan, stay way away from this game, and like all games except NFL Xtreme. The Coin toss is rigged. Listen up cause I am the King when it comes to Football videogames, This is a must buy game

It has all of the sights and sounds of college football. The real-to-life stadiums, authentic fight songs and the crowd chearing in my rear surround sound speakers make you feel like you are on the field. The create a school ability is simply awesome. And with the expanded capability of recruiting specfic players makes you feel ilke you are running a real program. Thanks to this game I almost got a divorce.

Ready to Rumble is a great Boxing game especcially for the Dreamcast.

Gameplay
The gameplay is fun...Kina Cartoony especially the characters.
The combos are sweet. 4/5

Graphics
The graphics for the Dreamcast are great....Very smooth especially Afro Thunder and Buther brown...My two favorite Boxers in the game

Sound
The sound is great. The crowd the music...It's all good...Nd' I meaaannn It's ALL GOOD! 5/5

Ready 2 Rumble also has Championship mode which is fun.
You can name your gym and buy equipment to train yourself. And title shots are cool to...But the Prize fights are for the money...

Overall The game is pretty entertaining...It's my favorite Boxing game for the Sega Dreamcast.

Get this game if you have a sega Dreamcast....It's just pure fun!

Later...

My preference is games that have a simple learning curve and have lasting entertainment value. This game has both. You can play well minutes after opening the box and with something like 20 characters, there are always challenges to master each character. My only criticism is of the Championship mode where you train boxers and take them through title fights. The mini-games to train the boxers are pretty weak and the whole process is somewhat tedious. Otherwise, it's a solid game.

Ready 2 Rumble is what Mike Tyson's Punchout was 13 years ago. And it has been that long since the last truely fun boxing game. Pairing today's great graphics(at least on Dreamcast)with yesterdays fun equals a great game.

The game has two modes, an Arcade mode and a Championship mode. The Arcade mode is fun when played against another "human" opponent. The 2 player game will give the user more opportunities to taunt, set up for a combo, and go all out. Most people enjoy this type of fighting, infact everyone should. The Championship mode is for the die-hard player who likes to win, win, win. Going into championship mode requires a memory cartridge, and most importantly patience. The road to gold is a long, frustrating, and often dull experience. It is true when you work your way up to Gold status, strategies have to be used. The user finds out more about fighting the computer, really it's just like real boxing(jab, cut the ring off, win by decision). While few have the patience to test their skills against the computer, the die-hard player never really gets that much better especially against a "human" opponent who fights a whole lot different from the computer.

The game has various characters, with interesting backgrounds. We have a retired 21 year old cab driver going up against the Devil himself. Each fighter have different attributes, and using them to their right potential is key. Maybe the only bad thing about the game is the music(endless). But Ready 2 Rumble wins by TKO over any other boxing games.

This is the worst game I have ever played in my life.

I really expected more from the XBox version of this game. The graphics aren't as good as they can be (players aren't easily recognizable), there is no 1on1 in street ball (according to videogames.com 1on1 was a new XBox only feature), and in transition, the gameplay is stopped (i.e when i steal the ball, the fast break isn't fast enough).

Other than that, the games is great and as realistic as can be. You absolutely have to learn to call plays on the fly (which you can do in practice mode) or the game won't be as much fun as it can be and you'll probably lose all the time. The computer reacts the same way to a play everytime so one you beat a team, it's hard to lose to that team again (sometimes I have to play a team 5 times to beat them BTY, I only play in allstar mode).

There are many modes of play, but I stick to exhibition mode because the computer is too easy to beat in street mode and I haven't reallty tried to play all the others yet. I also like the added courts in street mode (Venice beach is my fav).

In short, this game is worth having but there is room for improvement. It's a game you'll play with your friends for hours because a human opponent is much harder to beat than the computer opponent.

I rented this game yesterday, and didn't stop playing till now. It has gorgeous graphics and a variety of different modes, such as:
FRANCHISE
SEASON
PLAYOFFS
STREET
TOURNAMENT
EXHIBITION
Before renting this game I researched on NBA LIVE AND INSIDE DRIVE. After reading all the reviews I decided to rent this game. All of the rosters are updated. You can play with all nba teams including western conference, eastern conference, and legends of the past years. Such as Larry Bird, Dr. J, Magic Johnson, etc... When you are playing this game it is really realistic. You don't make every wide open shot. Sometimes you might get a little luck here and there, but overall it is a chalenging game. Also the computer is not that easy to beat, and have to try really hard. As you can see, the pros outweigh the cons.

1. BRILLIANT GRAPHICS
2. PLAYER INTRODUCTIONS AT THE BEGGINING OF EVERY GAME
3. HAS CREATE A PLAYER MODE AND SIGNING AND RELEASING PLAYERS FROM THIS TEAM TO THAT TEAM
4. HIGH FLYING DUNKS
5. GREAT COMMENTARY

1. SCOREBOARD MIGHT BE HARD TO READ AT TIMES
2. PLAYERS AND COACHES DO NOT LOOK LIKE HOW THEY DO IN REAL LIFE

Overall this is the best basketball game out there. If you want to buy a basketball game, get NBA 2K2!!!

I'm a big fan of the NBA Jam series of games, which this is a part of. However, the big difference between this game and the others in the series is that defense is nearly impossible. If either team wants to dunk, its going to happen. Even if you block a shot, the other team will likely get the rebound and dunk it anyway. Passing is so quick, that the other team can make 5 passes in 2 seconds for an easy dunk. This is the case against the computer or other players. It's just not much fun when offense is so easy and hard to stop.

This game has any thing you want from a game like this: it has stunning graphics, nifty moves like insane fadaways,increadable dunks, sweet dishes and fun create a player mode. If one word could describe this game I would use the word INSANE. So if you like games like nfl blitz and and nba jam this game is for you! And even if you dont have enough mula, earn some you wont regret it or if you have to, beg momy and dady for some greens.

This is about the best basketball game for Nintendo 64 (I think). You can do every thing in it. Creat players, make a hot spot for your player, do insane dunks and insane shots. Make your player look crazy, have him be a team mascot, make him have an afro, make him look like shaq, kobe and much more! You can change your player so that he can be short, tall, fat, skinny, good at 3's bad at 3's good/bad at dunks and so much more. I like this game because it is fast paced not like some other games. This is a fast pace game if your are winning by 10 you most likely won't be winning by far for long. This game is also a 2 on 2 game (which I like), because it is a lot easyer to find who you are. The only bad thing (this is not that bad it is sort of cool) is that if you are the shortest that you can get (5'8") you can pack (block) someone who is 6'9"!

Great Thing: I can be Huddersfield (Division 3 in England).
Bad Thing: I can't control all 11 players on the pitch at the same time, with a single controller. No one can.
Electronic Arts need to have all the good things about FIFA without the extremely complex gameplay. How can you dribble the ball with player A, make a run into the box with player B, dodge a tackle from player X, send a perfect cross into the box to player B, and bury the ball into the back of the net past the goalie with player B? I don't see why I just can't hit a "cross" button and if player B is where he should be, I score like 30% of the time, kinda like real life. So what if the score is 6-5? That is fun, and sports games are fun with 4 people playing at the same time. Can't do that here, unless you have mental telepathy with your teammate.
If you are a video game junkie and want to "master" an intricate game via thumb gymnastics in one player mode, this is your game. There is no better looking soccer game, period. However, if you are impatient, and/or don't care that much for soccer, this is a tough sell. I for one am waiting for FIFA 2005 to look just like 2004 but play like FIFA 1998.

Fifa 2004 is a quality simulation, but that's exactly what it is, a simulation. With every sport simulation game comes good and bad points. I will say that Fifa 2004 is the most realistic soccer simulation that I've played thus far.

Good Points:
1. BEAUTIFUL GRAPHICS - the graphics are amazing and fluid. There is hardly any lag in the game, except sometimes when the game speed increases on a worldclass level.

2. ABOVE AVERAGE REALISM IN GAMEPLAY - the game really attempts to simulate a soccer game, from formations to using player attributes to your advantage. It's very similar to playing an actual match because you can't just continuously press the shot button to score. The game forces you to control and work the ball, and to take advantage of space by using lobs, and wingplay.

3. CAREER MODE - the career mode is fantastic. It enables you to select a league team and transform it into what you want, through the use of transfer markets and weekly training. This transformation takes place over the course of 5 years, so you can literally take a below average team and take them all the way to a cup final!

Bad Points:
1. FREE KICKS - this is the single most horrible feature of the game. Whether it's layoff and shoot or direct, it's nearly impossible to consistently get a shot on goal. I really like that they made it more difficult to execute free kicks because it is difficult to properly place a free kick in a real match, but it shouldn't be nearly impossible.

2. BORDERLINE CHEATING FROM AI - the game AI is very competetive when played on higher skill levels, sometimes unrealistically competetive. It's quite amusing sometimes actually, but the computer goes on these sprees where everything you do is countered and made advantageous to your opponent. I really like the relentless pressure that the computer puts on your team, but there is a difference between pressure and cheating. For example, if the computer plays a through pass to a striker in a good position to score, they will disallow your defender from interfering by creating a temporary 'field' around the striker. AND THERE'S NOTHING YOU CAN DO ABOUT IT!! Haa ha ha!

Overall, this is a simulation game so we can't expect it to mirror real life exactly, but it's the closest thing you can get! The good definitely outweighs the bad, so if you love the game of football/soccer then buy this game!

i have had for 3 days and it is amazing! i'm really bad at it but i don't care! i can't beat arsnal so i play my brother mostly. i would reccomnd this game for any one who likes football (soccer).

I was not at all happy with this game. I think EA went too far to the "simulation" side of things with this release. The Bruise Control checking option is really clunky -- after playing for two hours I had only managed to nail three players. The new graphics/reactions are cool enough (players now crumple against the boards and flop to the ice, as opposed to splatting directly to the ice as in 2003), and it's alot harder for a shot from the point to actually make it through a pack of bodies in from of the net.

The controls are horribly convoluted as well. There's no way you'd be able to play this game with all it's moves/options without using a 10-button controller of some sort. I have such controllers, but really don't enjoy using all 13-buttons to get things to work properly. I definitely miss the 2003 set-up that permitted the use of, really, only 6 buttons to get everything done.

The new create a player option is really lame, too. You can no longer personalize each face, for example, by choosing various eye shapes/color, hairstyles, noses, etc. Instead, you're presented with predetermined faces... so the possible variations are pretty slim.

The Bruise Control is by far the biggest disappointment for me personally. I did not at all find 2004 fun... I bought it the day it was released, played it for three days (had to give it a chance), and then proceeded to pack it back in the box and tossed it on the bookshelf where it's sat ever since... gathering dust.

It would have been far better if EA had not tinkered with the controls and simply updated the graphics and animations. 2003 wasn't perfect, but I could play three or four seasons and still enjoy every game. With 2004, I didn't enjoy the game at all and never even bothered getting to the Franchise or Season modes (both of which got blasted pretty hard on EA's website forums).

I'm going to have to check out another NHL title in order to get my fix this winter. Or just keep playing NHL 2003, I guess. Either way, I'll be more hesitant to buy the next EA NHL title when it comes out next year. I'll definitely wait to read some reviews before dropping the dough for it.

First off, I've been playing the EA NHL franchise since 93-94 and every few years the game gets a facelift. This year, you can see the mesh of the jerseys and the skating engine was improved. Another monster improvement was the lack of ability to skate through defenders with the puck. This means passing is very important, as it is in real life.

There are some bugs where defensemen (and goalies) knock the puck into their own nets, but overall the game plays well though it takes time to get proficient at it. The game scores are moderate (especially if you try and play it like a real game. If your scoring is spread around you might have 2 - 4 20 goal guys and maybe only 1 or 2 80-100 point players. Goalies are not likely to get more than 8-10 shut outs but your save percentage can get pretty high (around 0.930).

Dynasty mode. This is the best part of the game. The fact you can either take your favorite team or build your own (however which ever team is displaced from the NHL to accomodate you, their banners are still in your rink). You can do a complete fantasy draft and then start simming/playing games. Win now or win later by trading experience for potential, set your ticket prices, buy upgrades for your team, etc... The sad part is, you can't extend contracts until their last year (and then they usually want a big increase). Salary is based on stats, not performance, so if you have a really fast skater sitting 'in the minors' he'll want big league money....Hint: sign and trade for a young guy, especially if you don't need him right now.

The computer trades frequently though the dialog box you see does not have enough information. You have to go and manually look at the trade by proposing it yourself. The create a player feature, to me, was upgraded. Visually you are limited though now if you want a Wayne Gretzky - he's gonna cost ya. A lot of money.

The announcing team got a facelift with Craig Johnson becoming the new color guy. It sounded a bit stilted but at least he sounded intelligent.

I'll buy 05 when it comes out. I think the game went in the right direction this year from 03.

Although I've only played the demo, I am amazed at how realistic the game is. It's like a dream come true. I've always said the players had too much control of the puck and that they need fights along the boards. And if the Dynasty mode comes anywhere near what I expect, I'll be impressed. I've been on wishlists posting for great franchise modes since 1999 when I started playing my first Football Sim. And this is almost as good as it can get. (Also, for those hardcore simmers, check out Eastside Hockey Manager: Franchise Edition coming out soon....it's bound to be a GREAT game!)
For any hardcore hockey player/fan, this game is a must have! It's a little hard to get started but once you play 4-5 games you start getting the hang of it.

Unfortunately, for those who have never really played or watched hockey, this game will probably be frustrating.

One negative is that there are too many controls...With my 6- button gamepad, I can't do half of the commands...
So I'd recommend getting the PS2 or XBox version before the PC.

I haven't "bought" a game since I don't even remember but I'm getting this one as soon as my paycheck comes in...It's too bad my studies are gonna suffer :(