DEVELOPER: PAM Development

PUBLISHER: 2K Sports

SYSTEM: Microsoft Xbox 360

PRICE: $59.99

ESRB RATING: Everyone

REVIEW RATING: 4 stars (out of 5)

Most professional sports stay in the limelight for several months out of the year, but it takes well-known tournaments such as Wimbledon or the U.S. Open for most U.S. sports fans to suddenly regain their interest in tennis. Over the years, 2K Sports has made tennis accessible to all with their easy-to-use control scheme, but "Top Spin 3" plays much more like a simulation than past versions.

Changes such as having to control each player's inertia as well as the timing of their swing make this game extremely realistic, if not somewhat frustrating. In previous iterations, the player held the swing button and approached the ball, and the game responded by automatically swinging. "Top Spin 3" forces the player to take their speed and movement into consideration at all times while also releasing the swing button just as the ball approaches the player. Releasing one of the swing buttons too early or too late will miss the shot

One of my main gripes is the fact that any movement in the wrong direction while running toward the ball will pause the player just enough to miss the shot. This makes it very difficult to approach the ball from one side with the intention of hitting it to the opposite side of the opponent's court. However, once the new control scheme is mastered, the game flows along very smoothly, and players will find that luck takes a backseat to skill.

After creating a character and mastering career mode, it's time to take you're A game online. Here, budding tennis titans can participate in single matches and tournaments. Experience points are awarded for winning matches, which can be used to customize your player's skills.

Some fans of the series will not like the challenging control scheme found in "Top Spin 3," but those who do will find the game fun and challenging.

Conversation Lacking in 'Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit'

DEVELOPER: Dimps

PUBLISHER: Atari

SYSTEM: Sony PlayStation 3

PRICE: $49.99

ESRB RATING: Teen

REVIEW RATING: 3.5 stars (out of 5)

"Dragon Ball Z" is a peculiar animated TV series that is known for presenting longwinded soliloquies in the middle of world-crushing battles. Believe me, I would never be able to tolerate the show if it didn't display epic struggles during every episode. So it comes as a great surprise that the developers of "Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit" have left out so much of the story that I actually crave longer cut scenes.

With each character uttering only a few lines before each match during Z Chronicles, or story mode, only a true fan would be able to follow the storyline. This is very disappointing because the game looks even better than the animated series! As a result, anyone new to the series will be immediately lost, with little motivation to ultimately finish the story mode.

Sadly, customizing each character with various ability-enhancing capsules has been eliminated in favor of "drama pieces." These are mini-cut scenes that appear during battle, offering bonuses like extra attack power or increased defense. Unfortunately, they are randomly activated in every mode except for Z Chronicles, which makes them unreliable. In addition, they cannot be skipped, so players are forced to stop fighting when they appear.

Combat has changed dramatically since the "DBZ: Budokai Tenkaichi" series. Newcomers will be content with using standard fast attacks and defense, but veteran fighters will want to make use of advanced new moves, like the cool evade technique that teleports the defender directly behind the attacker. Unfortunately, many of the impressive-looking combos from past iterations didn't make the cut.

Oddly enough, none of my adult friends are interested in playing DBZ, so I am thrilled to finally have an online mode. Even though online game play is limited to single matches (no World Tournaments), it is fast and furious with hardly any lag.

With "Dragon Ball Z: Burst Limit," the series has lost some important features, but the online mode almost makes up for it.

REVIEW SCORING SYSTEM

5 stars = Must Have

4 stars = Pretty Good

3 stars = Above Average

2 stars = Bargain Bin

1 star = Don't Bother

To find out more about Jeb Haught and read features by other Creators Syndicate writers and cartoonists, visit the Creators Syndicate website at www.creators.com.

COPYRIGHT 2008 CREATORS SYNDICATE INC.