Truthfully, I've never been a fan of Tennis games. The back and forth gameplay of racquet and ball doesn't quite have the same intensity of playing on the court. Tennis games of late have ramped up complexity to add in topspin and slices to play, but in a digital world it all looks and feels the same. However, that doesn't mean I won't jump on a game of Wii Sports Tennis at a casual party with friends. It just means that the reality of Tennis is harder to capture than basketball, football, baseball and hockey. While games like the upcoming Virtua Tennis for the Kinect aim to add in the novelty of playing hands free, thumbstick tennis play has never been perfected.

With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised when I started playing Top Spin 4 for the Xbox 360. Instead of diving into a quick singles match or creating my player for career mode, I decided to begin with the basics - gameplay. That's what creating an immersive game is going to come down to. In the past, tennis games have tried to be overly complex in order to compensate for lack of entertainment. When you're just running back and forth on screen, with no real control over the ball and your swing, the controls would end up being overkill. That's not the case in Top Spin 4. This is the first time I've been wholeheartedly invested in a tennis game, and that has a lot to do with the fluid controls showcased in the in-depth tutorial.

The Top Spin Academy introduces you to an extensive tutorial on game controls as well as tennis strategies. More importantly, it gives gamers the chance to play at varying skill levels without feeling overwhelmed with thousands of controls. The tutorial begins with Academy head coach Neil Ralley. He introduces you to regular shots and directing how you return the ball. The left thumbstick controls the ball direction as well as your running so the overlap does take some getting used. Gamers will have to turn on a dime if they want to return the ball in the opposite direction. Although this may feel difficult at first, it gives you the feel of how quick tennis players must react. There is less than a split second between getting to the ball and deciding where to send it back to so you have to be ready to do both at once. Gamers have access to flat, lob, top and slice shots.

There are two types of skill shots: power shots and control shots. Power shots are executed by holding down one of the action buttons. A power meter will show up at the bottom half of your screen and you must release it just before the ball comes to your area of the court. Control shots, by contrast, are executed with quick button taps.

The tutorial really gives you a comprehensive sense of tennis dynamics. For instance, the automatic ball machine won't send a ball to you unless you return to the middle of the court. Subconsciously, you'll start to incorporate that into your strategy so that you are not always running from one side of the court to the next.

Everyone loves a good tournament. King of the Court gives gamers a chance to setup tournaments of up to four players, in competitions that go up to best out of 20. There's also online multiplayer, where you can play both singles and doubles matches.

Probably your most enjoyment will come out of playing the career mode. Unlike more competitive sports games, this career mode is open to everyone from the casual gamer to the sporting fanatic. You really get a chance to build up your character through the ranks and eventually play against 25 professional athletes. That's the great thing about Top Spin 4 is that you have access to some of the greatest tennis players around. Living legends Andre Agassi and Boris Becker are in the game as well as Serena Williams, Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Caroline Wozniacki and Pete Sampras. Although some of the faces don't have the realism you would find in NBA 2K11, the talent pool is still impressive and the athletes play true to form. You'll never feel like the AI is cheating you or that it's too easy and that is thanks to the well architected progression scheme of career mode.

My only gripe with the game is the crowd. Although several pro-arenas are featured in the game, the crowd still comes off as lackluster in the close-ups. Several times you'll see several characters performing the same motion. This would be fine, but most of the time they are clapping and their hands never touch. It's a little disorientating.

Top Spin 4 is a terrific tennis game that will surely bring fans back to this sports game that has been neglected for years on the console.

Final Score: B+