Last week I had the opportunity to demo 2K’s latest installment in the smash-hit (no pun intended) tennis franchise, Top Spin.

Right away you notice the intense level of detail and authenticity that TS4 has, from the pinpoint accuracy of the player models and movements to the stadiums and courts that the matches take place in. The presentation is amazing. With over 4000 player animations, including different ones for similar scenarios, players not only look like they do in real life, but they play that way too. For example, Pete Sampras (one of the game’s legends) plays differently than someone like Rafael Nadal, and each player can choose a pro that fits to their liking.

In addition to the player models, the development team at 2K spent an inordinate amount of time recording actual sounds and crowd reactions throughout the past year. What this means is you will hear the crowd chant “Rafa!” when Nadal scores a major point, or hear the crowd react as you play through a particularly intense back-and-forth game or match. Combine that with the broadcast style presentation and tunnel intros, TS4 looks to be one of the most polished tennis games ever.

2K also decided to try and make TS4 more accessible to the casual tennis fan and casual gamer alike. The way they did that is by simplifying the control scheme, with each face button representing a different type of shot and the shoulder buttons are used to pull off more sophisticated moves and shots. The way the idea behind the control scheme was described to me was as a fighting game; where a player can just pick it up and play or they can take the time and effort to learn every move and combo to dominate opponents.

TS4 will feature the largest tennis roster ever, with over 25 different pro’s (male and female) as well as classic players such as Pete Sampras. Players can also unlock Andre Agassi and his legendary hair if they pre-order Top Spin 4 at GameStop before it’s March 15 release date.