09tarheel

User Score
8.0

Presentation - 7.0
Gameplay - 8.5
Value - 8.0

In 2006 when Wii Sports was released alongside the Wii, Wii Sports’ tennis was one of the standout events. The motion controls made Wii Tennis and easily accessible game for anyone, but in a way also created the most realistic tennis game yet with.  Wii versions of multiplatform tennis titles like Sega Superstar Tennis, and Topspin 3 tried to capitalize on the popularity of Wii Sports’ tennis with limited success.  With Grand Slam Tennis, EA has released a tennis game that finally has more control depth than Wii Sports’ Tennis, as long as you are willing to put in the work.

                The game can be controlled with any combination of the Wii Remote in addition to the motion plus and nunchuck.  If you are willing to put in the time to get use to the controls the ideal configuration is using both the nunchuck and Wii MotionPlus attachments.  If you play just using the Wii Remote the game plays very similarly to Wii Sports tennis.  The direction of the ball is determined in large part by timing and your character will move to the ball automatically.  The automatic movement works well for the most part but if you have a slower character, they might move to the ball in a way that you end up having to hit a forehand when you expected a backhand or vice versa.  Adding the nunchuck allows you to manually move your character with the control stick, which works well with some practice.  However; the chord attached to the nunchuck can rarely become an annoyance when you are trying to swing.

                While it is possible to play without the Wii MotionPlus accessory the game really shines when you add it into the mix.  With MotionPlus added in, the direction you swing the Wii Remote determines where the ball will go.  Swing broadly across your body to hit it crosscourt, or a narrow swing beside you to send the ball down the line. Lobs and drop shots are handled with button presses instead of motions.  To hit topspin or backspin you twist the Wii Remote clockwise or counter clockwise as expected.  Getting a hang of the controls with the added precision takes some getting used to, but after an hour or so of practice the added precision feels great.  That said the controls aren’t always reliable.  There is no requirement to synchronize the Wii MotionPlus between points, but if you don’t do it occasionally in the middle of a rally it will malfunction and you won’t be able to control where the ball goes.  Another problem with the extra sensitivity is that occasionally the MotionPlus mistakes drawing back to hit a forehand as a backhand swing, even when being careful not to make a forceful movement.  This can be very frustrating when you swing and completely miss the ball.

                The single player Career mode starts off with having you design a player to compete with.  The create a player mode has an acceptable level of physical customization options and a nice amount of licensed merchandise ranging for Adidas shoes to Babolat racquets.  After creating your player you begin the career mode.  The career mode has you play the slams in the order they take place in the actual professional Tennis season.  At each Grand Slam tournament you will start by playing an exhibition match against an EA created player.  You will then have a chance to play a match against one of three of the twenty three pro players included in the game.  By beating a pro player in this match you win their most obvious skill, for example beat Andy Roddick and you will be able to assign your player a blistering fast serve. The next event has you playing one of the mini games included which can be fun, especially in multiplayer mode.  If you have won all of the events so far, you will have opportunity to win another pro’s ability, if not you move on to playing the slam.  The game has the slams filled with 32 players instead of the 128 in real life, so you will need to win five consecutive matches to see your character hold up the trophy.  Then you do the same, thing at the French Open, then Wimbledon, and the US Open….Then you start the year over doing the same thing again. 

                Besides the career mode there are a few other modes in the game including; a quick play mode which is exactly what is sounds, a Tennis Party mode that lets you play the mini games with up to four people.  Also included is the Get Fit mode which tracks the number of calories you have burned playing the game, as well as allows you to set goals for yourself on a calendar.  This is a nice little addition, but without the game asking for your weight and height, the accuracy is highly questionable.

                Grand Slam Tennis also boasts a very enjoyable online mode.  Like other EA online Wii games, it utilizes EA’s servers instead of Nintendo’s making the process much smoother than the typical online Wii game.  Online you can play either singles matches, or go online with a partner to compete in doubles.  You can view your progress by checking out the individuals board, or see how your country is doing in the rankings.  By winning a match the country you select when you first go online will win the same amount of points as you do as an individual, adding greater incentive to do your best in ranked matches. You are also able to add people you have recently played as friends and send them messages through EA Messenger.

                Just like the single player mode however; the online mode is not without its flaws.  First off, you are not able to play the mini-games online which is a strange omission for games that were designed for multiple players.  Also besides the usual lag, there are some other annoyances you will run into online.  Occasionally, even after seemingly winning the point, the point will actually be awarded to your opponent.  In my experience the most frequent and frustrating problem comes when a player is serving.  For some reason when returning a serve, even when your return is clearly in, play stops and the server is given the point.  This can be extremely aggravating in a close match on break point.  These problems are by no means deal breakers but they do dampen the enjoyment of the online mode somewhat.

                Sound wise there is not a lot to speak of.  The players that grunt in real life do in the game as well.  The ball hitting the racket sound can come from the Wii Remote speaker.  Tennis commentator Pat Cash lends his voice to the game, and does a good job with his lines.  His comments usually come at an appropriate time during a match, but they lack variety and after a couple of hours playing you will probably be tired of hearing him say the same thing.  The music in the game also lacks variety and borders between being forgettable and slightly annoying.

                Visually the game’s character models have an interesting art style that works well for the game and captures the athletes’ likeness in a cartoon manner, and character animation is fairly smooth.  The courts’ surfaces also look fairly nice, especially the grass courts at Wimbledon.  However; the crowd in the game looks awful, they look like cardboard cutouts in the stands instead of people.  The only animation they have is a stiff clapping motion, something you would expect in a 16 bit era game.

                Despite a number of flaws Grand Slam Tennis is a good start to what will hopefully become another EA Sports franchise.  The satisfaction of hitting a clean down the line winner with the precision of MotionPlus is extremely rewarding. If you been looking for a tennis game with more depth than Wii Sports, and haven’t been impressed with previous tennis games on Wii, Grand Slam Tennis could very well be the game for you.