Grand Slam Tennis Review

EA's first foray on the Wii hardcourt is the Richie Tenenbaum of tennis games. Like the volatile child phenom from The Royal Tenenbaums, Grand Slam Tennis shows moments of brilliance, but inconsistent gameplay leads to mild frustration, which eventually boils into on-court temper tantrums and full-blown meltdowns.

The disgruntlement stems from the game's sporadic controls. The concept is simple: As you mimic forehands and backhands with the Wii remote, the game reads the speed and timing of your swing and the controller's angle to determine the shot's pace and the type of spin. Depending on the angle, you can hit a flat groundstroke, slice the ball, or use topspin. Your swing almost always results in contact, but how and where you hit the ball is a game of chance. Swinging early frequently drives the ball cross-court, but I never found a sweet spot for driving a passing shot down the sideline or using the intended English.

The Wii MotionPlus-enhanced control also presents its share of problems. While it mimics your racket moves well when you start a match, it suffers unpredictable disruptions over time, resulting in your player holding the racket awkwardly away from his or her body between shots and swinging a backhand when your ideal shot is obviously a forehand. When you're fighting for every point against legends like Pete Sampras, rage is hard to avoid. We tried several remotes on multiple systems, and the problem always arose during extended play sessions.  

With the standard control scheme, players have no control over movement once the ball is in play, which creates another level of frustration. Players have trouble setting up for a shot, often over-pursuing, which forces you to adjust on the fly just to get the racket on the ball. Plugging in the nunchuk gives you control, but you might strangle yourself with the cord while trying to serve the ball, and hitting groundstrokes with a cord attached is awkward.

The Grand Slam Tennis career mode is short, featuring only the four major tournaments, but EA extends the experience with exhibition matches and minigames to give your created player more chances to improve. Players earn skill stars by hitting winners, so even if you lose a few matches early in your career you can still upgrade your player. By defeating a pro like Pete Sampras, you can unlock his special ability and add it to your repertoire. This creative approach to character development works quite well, encouraging you to gamble on big shots in hopes of upgrading faster. Players can also take on friends online, track burned calories with fitness challenges, or enjoy the dozen Tennis Party ­minigames.

While the Grand Slam Tennis controls don't have the chops to hang with the likes of Federer or Sharapova, the game is a definite upgrade for casual gamers who want a deeper tennis experience than Wii Sports.