The Wii Motion Plus has finally hit Nintendo’s console, and rather than Nintendo providing a game that acts as a sort of proving ground for the device, it’s EA Canada that comes out swinging first. EA’s Grand Slam Tennis has some big shoes to fill. While there have been other tennis games for the console, none seem to be able to duplicate the magic formula that makes Wii Sports’ tennis so much fun. Can Grand Slam finally wrest the crown from the Wii Sports firm grip?

Gameplay

At first, Grand Slam Tennis will seem familiar to anyone who’s ever played a game of tennis on the Wii. You’re given the standard modes that you’ve come to expect such as Exhibition, Practice and Career mode, as well as the always welcome on and offline multiplayer modes. However, what sets Grand Slam apart from other tennis games isn’t the modes, but rather the controls. The game has several options that allow you total control, which allows you to experiment and find a setting that suits you best.

It’s definitely recommended that before you start, you do experiment with the control schemes offered here, as there are various advantages and disadvantages to each one. While the WiiMotion Plus is the obvious selling point here, it’s nice to have some options for those that didn’t invest in the package straight away.

Using the Wii-mote only method of control works much the same as Wii-Sports, though with a bit more depth added to the game itself. Essentially, you only need to worry about timing your swing here, though unlike Wii Sports, if you find your player moving in the wrong direction, you can correct them by using the D-pad. Of course, if you’d rather not sacrifice any control, you can always plug in the nunchuk and take complete control over your players placement.

While the Wii MotionPlus-less options are serviceable, the game really is designed with the MotionPlus peripheral in mind. For those looking for true 1:1 motion, this is close, but not quite there yet. Again, you can play with or without the nunchuk, and using one over the other just depends on how you feel about positional accuracy. While timing does play into things as much as it did before, the motion you use while swinging is tracked more accurately, which means that the speed, timing, and angle all affect the balls trajectory, much as it would in a real tennis game. This is what makes the game a standout. It all feels very much like a real game of tennis, minus the actual running around.

There are some disadvantages to the control set-up, however. Drop-shots and Lobs are handled by using button presses, instead of motion, which is kind of disappointing. The visceral feeling of rallying back and forth is extremely satisfying, but not being able to perform two crucial shot-types takes away from the experience . The overall realistic nature of the game hits a slight bump when it comes down to it, and it’s something that will hopefully be fixed for the games next run.

Serves are also really sloppy. While rallies tend to provide something close to 1:1 motion, serves are a whole different story. The game does track movement well, but serves don’t seem to follow suit. When you’re in the process of throwing the ball up, the motions don’t track at all. Instead, it breaks down to time-based actions, that don’t flow with your movements. Again, the flow is more like Wii Sports tennis, rather than what you’d expect, considering the rest of the game emulates the sport quite well. I realize certain actions would be problematic and the translation of your movements to the movements of the player your controlling can’t be spot on for everything, but a simple serve shouldn’t be that difficult. That said, when you’re in a heated rally you won’t really care all that much, as the rest of the game plays spectacularly with a level of control that really hasn’t been seen thus far on the Wii.

One last thing that does need to be mentioned is that if you are playing with the MotionPlus, you’ll need to keep still during replays. Fidgeting around too much can cause the controls to become a lot more unstable. In essence, it’s tracking your every move, even before the first serve is made. The motion sensor can be recalibrated simply by keeping the Wii remote still for a few seconds, but you need to be aware of what you’re doing with your hands at all times.

The main mode of the game is career mode. While most tennis games will have you increasing skills through various mini-games, Grand Slam hones your skills by actually playing tennis. Sometimes you’ll be asked to participate in tennis with a twist, but you won’t see anything that remotely minigame. The twist segments are what really make the game interesting and set it apart from other titles. There are of course standard doubles games that you can participate in as warm-ups, but there’s also Aussie doubles, and King of the Court. Aussie doubles consists of 2 against 1 matches, while King of the Court has you facing off against 2 other players one at a time, with only the King able to score. These, as well as the other variations make the single player game a blast to play, and offer a bit more variety to the mode.

The one complaint about the Career mode, is that you’re really thrust into the thick of the Major tournaments quite quickly, aiming for the Grand Slam, (winning all 4 major opens in one year). That will take longer for some than others, depending on how well you grasp the controls. Once you’re finished, however, there’s not much for you to do flying solo. That said, you’re going up against some of the top tennis pros (around 23) of past and present, including Serena Williams, Pete Sampras and the always entertaining John McEnroe.


Multiplayer is by far the most preferable way to play Grand Slam, and is fun for anyone. Competing against the AI is challenging, and for some the difficulty might be a bit too steep, but adding a second person to the mix really hikes up the fun level here. Even if the person you’re competing against has no basic concept of timing, they can still do pretty well here, and with all the variations of the game available, there’s bound to be one or two that even the non-gaming crowd can have a good time with. The online is definitely the steadiest I’ve seen on the Wii so far, (from a third party perspective), and is immensely enjoyable for novices and pros.

If you’re interested in online play, there’s a couple of neat ideas here. One, you’ve likely seen before, which is the ability to use your EA Nation login so you don’t have to mess around with friend code nonsense. The other offering is country vs. country mode. Basically, the idea behind this is that each time you win, you’re not just getting points for yourself, you’re getting points for your entire country. Be warned, though, the competition is pretty stiff, so make sure you spend a good amount of time learning the nuances of the gameplay before you dive in. The only obvious weakness regarding the online mode is the ones that come with every Wii game: the system has severe limitations in comparison with other consoles. As it stands, however, this is the best online on the Wii.

For you fitness buffs out there, there’s also Get Fit, which is a tacked on mode that doesn’t really live up to its potential. Here you’ll set a goal as to how many calories you want to burn in a week or however long you choose, but it doesn’t make any sense in context with the game. Get Fit doesn’t seem to take any information about the person playing, which means it can’t really give any accurate reading on how many calories one person burns as opposed to the next. It’s a nice idea, but the execution seems to generalize the results, which isn’t all that useful if you’re looking for something that seriously tracks your fitness level.

EA Sports: Grand Slam Tennis takes a slightly different approach with its looks, and frankly some will love it, others will not. The game is slightly cartoon-ish in its presentation, with characters that are not super-realistic looking, but not obscene caricatures of themselves either. The look is casual-friendly with less focus on realism when it comes to the visuals. Stiil, the game kind of sends mixed signals when it comes to the visual style versus gameplay. This is a serious tennis game, that takes time to learn, but it sure doesn’t look that way.


In game music is solid, but not really as notable as other EA games have been in the past. You’re mostly getting ambient techno and electronic music during the menu screens, and not much else. There’s also an attempt at commentary, however, there’s very little of it, and it does become quite repetitive at times.

Overall, this is a very complete package with the one minor exception of Get Fit. The online alone is worth the price of admission, and the Career mode will provide plenty of entertainment while it lasts. It is recommended that you get the MotionPlus to really get the most out of the game, though, so if you don’t have one, keep that in mind.