Grand Slam Tennis Review

BY Mazamil Majeed | POSTED: 28 July 2009

This Wii motion plus game is a clear champion.



The console developing giants, Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo, are now trying to make the controller more of an item in a game rather then a console accessory. They want to make the controller more interactive, by using motion sensors and capturing the action of gamer on screen. The Nintendo Wii was a unique idea when it was unveiled in E3 2005. Nintendo were always innovators of new technology and the motion sensor Wii remote and nunchuck is one of their latest discoveries. To lessen the gap between motion sensitivity and action on screen, Nintendo announced the Wii Motion plus and EA’s GRAND SLAM TENNIS is one of the first games to use it.



Grand Slam tennis is one of first tennis games from EA Sports, Gamers who have played tennis on Wii sports may be familiar with the concept. This game is much mature than Wii sports and includes all the official game like the Australian open, French Open, and Wimbledon. The game has a total of 23 players, some are retired legends and some current legends including current world No. 1 Roger Federer. The USP of the game is real time shot sensing due to the Wii Motion plus accessory.

First things first, the Wii motion plus woks and works very well. Before you play the main game, a tutorial is necessary. The game can get difficult at time, and the tutorial teaches how to play different shots using the A and B buttons and different swings. There is a huge difference playing the game without the Motion plus accessory. Shots feel weak and tend to go off grid most of the time. Difficulty can be increased by playing with the nuncuck style. But, be warned, this is extremely difficult. This motion plus system has its share of problems. If the controls are problematic the remote can be put still for 2-3 seconds and the motion plus will restart itself. This happens quite often, especially when there is less charge on the batteries.

There is both a single player campaign and a multiplayer mode in the game. The single player campaign includes a Grand slam career mode, exhibition matches and party games. The career mode is the meat of the game including the French, Australian, and US open and Wimbledon. A season consists of all four matches as well pretournament challenges. These challenges include an exhibition match, which rewards skills and rating if you win it, a skill match, which is a doubles game and a match with a legend.



All matches can be played once. If lost, there can only be tried again next season. The career mode is played with a created player, starting from scratch to make a name in tennis history.

Multiplayer mode is online and offline. Offline games are party games, where there are double matches and a game where the player with the most points at the end of two minutes wins. It is fun, if the opposing player is the same level as you are. Online play is the one that gamer mostly look forward to. All the same matched can be played online without any hassles or lags. EA has added a robust online system that will please fans. Once a match is over, you or the other player can add each other as friends, It is a simple click. The simplicity is usually garnered for families who are just starting the Wii experience.

The Wii isn’t a system for visuals. It translates it graphics with art and simplicity, Grand slam is no exception. The players are made to look like cartoon with a slighter bigger head than body, It looks very nice and fluid. The same goes for the audio. It is nothing fancy. Good commentary and sounds like you are watching live tennis.



Anyone who owes a Wii should play Grand slam tennis for pure fun. It is not the best wii game out there but it is incredibly fluid and an overall good sports game. The Motion plus makes all the difference in the world. You owe it to yourself to try it.