For all of you tennis fans out there
looking for a better and more challenging upgrade to the Wii Sports Tennis game
originally released 3 years ago, EA Sports has got the game for you. EA bursts
into the tennis arena with Grand Slam Tennis for the Wii, a much needed upgrade
that finally takes full advantage of the Wii’s incredible new Wii Motion Plus
accessory. Bringing together 23 of the best tennis stars to ever step on the
court and showcasing 12 courts from all four Grand Slam events, EA Sports has
another in a long line of successful sports franchises on their hands. Players
can choose to play as the hot-tempered John McEnroe (exclusive to Grand Slam
Tennis and sporting the excellent ‘fro), the flashy Raphael Nadal, the
powerhouse Andy Roddick, or the impressive Williams sisters. This game is rich
with content and game modes for any level player from novice user to hard-core
tennis junkies!
There are three different ways to
play Grand Slam Tennis. You can try using just the Wii-mote for swinging motion
and the computer AI will move you side to side advancing you towards the balls
location. Swinging the Wii-mote will connect with the ball and playing this way
is really about getting the timing down of ball placement. Swing early for
cross court shots, swing late for close court, trigger for drops, and A for
lobs. This option works well for beginners and will give you a basic taste for
the game, but to get the a better feel, connect the nunchuk. Doing this gives
you total control over your player moving back and forth across the court and
rushing the net for volley play all using the analog stick on the nunchuk, swing
control is still the same with the Wii-mote. I recommend starting out playing
this way for anyone who is savvy with the Wii controls. I tried playing with
just the Wii-mote after playing a few games with the nunchuk control scheme, and
the play took a downturn because the AI movement of your player across the court
isn’t always the best.
For the full experience though, you
should go out and buy the Wii Motion Plus accessory and get ready to really feel
control over your game. As soon as I connected the Wii Motion Plus, I could
feel the game becoming better, putting spin and placing the ball on the court
became a lot more concrete and I was able to get more power out of some of the
swings I was struggling with earlier. There is a definite learning curve to the Wii Motion Plus, so give yourself 20 minutes of playing on the Practice Court,
but the experience is well worth it. I found myself really swinging the Wii-mote
around my living room and getting into the game. The claim about “racket
rotation” isn’t really that drastic, but the play just becomes so much better
attaching the Wii Motion Plus. EA has done a great job with this title taking
advantage of Nintendo’s latest fun accessory.
Once you’ve got the basics of the
swing down and decided how you are going to play (seriously, use the Wii Motion
Plus), it’s time to jump into the depth that EA has given this game. Players
have the option to play alone in singles or Grand Slam mode, with up to four
friends taking advantage of the Party Mode and playing one of a dozen tennis
mini games, or internationally using the Online mode which is geared to pit
nations against each other in a battle for who plays the best tennis. With all
these options, players will keep coming back to this title.
Players can choose to play now and
have fun with singles matches or doubles matches with up to four players, using
any one of the 23 legends of tennis that Grand Slam offers. You can choose
between any of the courts available for this mode as well. For a great
multi-player experience, start in on the Tennis Party mode to pick from a dozen
different mini games that can pit players against each other in games where lobs
and drop shots score double, or winners mode where you play against the clock to
stay on the winning team. The mini-games are fun and offer a great option for
the “party” atmosphere that Wii games are supposed to appeal to. There is also
a Get Fit mode that tracks your time played and calories burned during play. This is a very basic evaluation about how much a player should be moving during
play and there really aren’t measurements involved, but it’s a nice touch to
grab on the “fitness” aspect of the Wii.
The two real hallmark modes in Grand
Slam Tennis are the Online Play and the Grand Slam mode. EA has provided an
online arena that is second to none. I experienced very little in the way of
delays or hiccups and there were plenty of challengers online to play against. Test your skills in “Ranked Matches” to get yourself a spot atop your nations’
leader board and score points for your home country. Grand Slam online also
tracks wins and losses for each country represented by the players who own the
game and it is great to go out and seek wins for your country and try and hoist
them to the top of the leader board. This aspect is something that hasn’t
really been approached yet with online rankings, and definitely adds a unique
twist to the game.
Grand Slam mode is really where EA
has made Grand Slam Tennis great. Players can create unique characters from a
collection of different faces and accessories and dress them in clothes from
Nike, Adidas, Under Armor and more. Once your player is designed, you start
your quest to become on of the best, playing your way through each of the 4
Grand Slam events around the world, the French Open, Wimbledon, the US Open and
the Australian Open. Each venue has the unique feel of playing on grass, clay
or hardcourt. The ball bounces different, the players stopping and pivots are
different, the languages of the courtside refs are different. At each venue,
your character can play through a series of exhibition matches with famous
players in order to learn their skills and capture an ability medallion. As you
progress and make better shots, your character’s skill will rise too, allowing
you to equip more than one medallion at a time. Playing this mode was really
quite fun and very challenging. You have to decide what kind of player you’re
going to be and pick skills from pros that will benefit that type of game. The
more wins you rack up, the more swag you pick up from vendors as well including
clothes, headbands, rackets and shoes.
This may be as close as you can get
to holding a racket and stepping onto the clay of Roland Garros with Bjorn Borg,
one of the greatest of all time at the French Open, or going against Roger
Federrer at Wimbledon.
The gameplay may be top notch,
however, this isn’t to say that this is the perfect tennis game and without any
flaws. Graphically, Grand Slam Tennis looks very good. The cartoonish
caricatures of all the famous players are great. The small touches are there as
well with older players using older style, long-necked rackets and newer players
using the big-faced Wilsons. Each players style is captured too with their
celebrations or swing styles. The arenas of each of the Grand Slams are
captured very well and the look and feel of each venue is authentic. It does
seem though that there could have been more added. The ball boys are visible
and sit at the sides of the net, but they never move; the ref is a static voice
at the top of the chair; the audience may waive their arms, but they are just
color blots with arms and no faces. With all the detail put into the characters
and the gameplay though, the player will barely be effected by these smaller
points. The vocalizations of the announcer, Pat Cash, are very limited and can
get repetitive easy. The soundtrack, done by Electronic DJ Paul van Dyke, is
quite good and keeps the energy of the game at a good level.
Capturing the spirit of world class
tennis and giving the appeal of the game to all generations and ability-levels
of players, EA has a real hit with this title. The addition of the Wii Motion
Plus to game play sincerely takes Grand Slam tennis to another level of sports
game, much the same way that the Wii Balance Board took fitness games to new
levels. If Grand Slam Tennis is any indication to the further evolution of the
revolutionary Wii, than players have a lot of fun games to look forward to. EA
does a great job jumping early into the Wii Motion Plus arena with Grand Slam
Tennis and they release a strong first title in what appears to be another great
franchise.
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Review Scoring Details for EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis |
Gameplay: 8.5
The wide range of game modes available and the depth of gameplay offered by
Grand Slam Tennis will keep players coming back whether to keep their Grand Slam
dreams alive or pick up a quick match solo or with friends. EA did a great job
making tennis accessible to a wide range of players and by offering the varying
difficulties with the different controller schemes, and gameplay will really
appeal to all players.
Graphics: 8.0
I really enjoyed the kind of “look” that EA was going for with this title,
the caricatured players, the ability to create your own character, the
renderings of the world-class arenas that you play in are all superb. The
graphics are smooth, replays are a nice touch and the game is bright and very
appealing. There are some things that can be improved upon, such as crowds,
keeping the ball boys off the court if they are just going to be static or maybe
including weather effects. These drawbacks are so minor though, most casual
players won’t even notice.
Sound: 7.5
The very repetitive in-play commentary from Pat Cash needs to be addressed
in the next edition of this franchise. There really wasn’t much unique said
about each of the 23 legends either. However, the soundtrack is very nice and
compliments the gameplay well. The sounds of the ball and racket are also great,
changing with each different surface at each venue.
Difficulty: Medium
There is a learning curve with using the Wii Motion Plus, but take the time,
it’s very worth it. Computer AI isn’t that easy to get past either, they don’t
make too many unforced errors.
Concept: 8.9
From beginning to end, I was on board with what EA was going for. Grand Slam
Tennis is the answer to motion gaming. Up until this point, if I wanted a good
motion tennis game, I would still break out Wii Sports Tennis and that’s an
original launch title! This game is fun, challenging, and packaged really well
to accompany the launch of the Wii Motion Plus. The slightly cartoonish style
and the great playing styles and mode choices put this game as easily one of the
best ever in the tennis genre.
Multiplayer: 8.0
This was one of the best online games I’ve ever played. I only had a couple
of hiccups during play, but it was easy to navigate through the menu and I was
connected with other players right away. I would like to see game length
options in online matches though, but that is minor. The Party Mode also
encourages players to really bring friends and family in to enjoy the various
mini games available. I’m not much of a mini-game fan, per se, but I enjoyed
playing these.
Overall: 8.2
EA Sports has put out another great sports franchise with Grand Slam
Tennis. This is an excellent starting point for this tennis game and will give
both hardcore tennis fans and casual gamers a great gameplay experience. There
are some weaknesses, but, this is a stellar beginning to any franchise.
