A real step forward in multiple ways.
EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis is the first what I would call "real attempt" at making a full scale tennis game on the Wii (tied with Virtua Tennis of course). Seeing that I haven't played (and probably won't play) Virtua Tennis 2009, I can't comment on which is the definitive Wii tennis game. I can tell you however, that Grand Slam Tennis is a wonderful package with a lot to offer to any fan of either the Wii or tennis.
Since Grand Slam Tennis makes use of the new Wii Motion Plus attatchment, the first thing you'll notice is that how you swing the wiimote actually changes where the ball goes! You can now do cross court, down the line, and inside out shots with just a different flick of the wrist, and it usually responds in the appropriate way. You still have to hold down buttons to do a lob or drop shot, but you can change it up between slices, flat shots, and top spin shots in a similar way to controlling where the ball goes. Basically, you control everything about your shot based on wrist movement, wrist rotation, and 2 buttons, which makes it a pretty authentic tennis experience. Also, thankfully, EA put in support for nunchuk use, meaning that you can stop relying on your player to go where he should (like in Wii Sports) and actually do it yourself, which results in it being done right.
The character roster is also something to be looked at, because it not only contains the greats of today (Federer, Nadal, Djokovic, Murray), but also "legend" characters such as McEnroe and Sampras. You can also create your own characters and earn them abilities by playing through career mode, but the lack of true customization of your characters playstyle like what was involved in Top Spin 3 is a bit dissapointing. The career mode is also fairly small compared to the Top Spin games, because you only play at the 4 Grand Slam tournaments instead of playing throughout an entire calendar year. It's not really a bad thing though, because the game's focus is obviously on it being more of a party game, rather than a character building or simulation game.
The party aspect of Grand Slam Tennis is made even more apparent by the inclusion of an entire party mode of the game, where you play weird variants of tennis that range from Aussie Doubles to King of the Court. This is a fun way to spice things up every now and then, and is even included in the career mode at some points to break the monotony of it.
The game is certainly not perfect, but Grand Slam Tennis is an excellent step for both Wii games and tennis games, taking motion control to the next level and putting it to a game that is both accessible to new gamers and deep enough for the "hardcore" crowd, as well as a game any fan of tennis can enjoy. Occasionaly wonky controls and the slight lack of character customization are all that really hold this game back, so I hope to see another game in this series that addresses those issues.
