The best tennis game ever.

Surprisingly, Grand Slam Tennis is EA Sports' first foray into tennis games, but perhaps more significantly, it's the first game to make use of the new Wii Motion Plus accessory. I know a lot of people will likely buy both of these products regardless, after all, what doesn't sell better than an EA Sports game and a Wii accessory? Big question though, is the game any good and does the Motion Plus actually work? Thankfully, answer to both those questions is yes.

Now, there's only one place to start and that's the overall gameplay and how the Motion Plus affects it. I started playing the game without the Motion Plus to get a feel for how the normal controller worked and it turned out it was basically a Wii Sports tennis clone with a couple of buttons added for drop shots and lob shots. Once I had plugged in the Motion Plus it was a whole new kind of experience. Me and my family are all keen tennis players so we were all looking forward to giving the game a go and we all found the Motion Plus to provide a much more responsive and realistic experience. The remote now registers your every move so you can perfom forehands, backhands, slice shots, lob shots, drop shots, cross court shots and down the line shots just by swinging a tennis racket in the way you would do. This means that real tennis players with any kind of experience would probably get more out of the controls than those who haven't. One problem with the Motion Plus is that it can be a little bit too responsive, itching the back of your neck during a rally is very unadvisable. There are other control methods too; you can use the Wii remote on its own, the classic controller or the Wii remote on its side for a more generic experience. You can also plug the Nunchuck in to the Motion Plus or normal remote to move your player manually, but this makes the game a little more complicated then it needs to be.

Now, you would be forgive for thinking that Grand Slam Tennis would be short on features because it's meant to be all about the Motion Plus. You'd be given a pleasant surprise though bevause Grand Slam Tennis features plenty. You can play normal matches with up to 4 players, crazy Virtua Tennis style mini games, play through the World Tour with your created player and best of all you can play online. The online play works fine and it's very easy to jump into a game, best of all it's relatively lag free even on a wireless connection. You can play as some of the greatest tennis players in history including Pete Sampras and Bjorn Borg, of course you can play as all the current players too like Roger Federer, Andy Murray, Rafael Nadal and Maria Sharapova to name but a few.

As is the case with all EA Sports titles the game prides itself on authenticity and presentation. Grand Slam Tennis has all the grand slam tournaments fully licensed, including Wimbledon for the first time. The menus are done slickly, the sound affects from the umpire to the crowd create a great atmosphere and it's also the first tennis game I've known to have commentary, which is a nice touch. Visually the game is a bit like Marmite, you either love it or hate it. I actually thought it was really nice and it hides the lack of horsepower the Wii has very nicely. The stylised, cartoony look suits the Wii but the players and stadiums are still instantly recognisable and animates very well. The game also runs at 60 fps which is nice.

Overall, I really like Grand Slam Tennis and the added Motion Plus accessory seems to work just as it should. I was half buying this game just for the Motion Plus and was very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the game. Wii owners should pick up the Motion Plus no doubts and will find themselves having a lot of fun with the game too. If you're a big tennis fan, then you'll get even more out of it. It's easily the best tennis game on Wii and to be honest, I had a hell of alot more fun with this then I ever have done with Virtua Tennis or Top Spin. Basically, pick up the Grand Slam Tennis Wii Motion Plus bundle and some extra Motion Plus accessories and get ready for a great time!

By Tom Acres - Systemlink Blog

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