EA Sports: Grand Slam Tennis

Developer: EA
Format: Wii
Genre: Tennis

Anyone for tennis?



Ask anyone who has played a Wii - the most fun sport reproduced by the motion sensor magic of Nintendo's latest console is tennis - by a country mile. For some reason the act and related velocity of swinging is far easier to replicate than other sporting movements (darts, anyone?) The result is many decent tennis titles - namely Wii Tennis, Mario Power Tennis and the under-rated Sega Superstars Tennis. That's not to mention Rockstar's decent table tennis outing, Sega's Virtua Tennis games or the Top Spin range from 2k Sports.

It's fair to say that the field of tennis games is more crowded than Wimbledon on Finals day. So what can EA bring to the party that's new and fresh? Well, Wimbledon for a start - it's the only tennis title to feature the home of tennis that is the hallowed courts of SW1. In fact, the forthcoming title is home to all four Grand Slams; from the Australian Open to the French Roland Garros tournament, the holy grail of Wimbledon and the razzamatazz of the U.S. Open. What EA does well is often found in the skill required when serving up all the bells and whistles of a big sporting occasion. Just look to the likes of the FIFA and Tiger titles for games dripping in all the atmosphere of a big sporting spectacle.

But new elements aren't just what's on the screen, but also what lies in the hand. Grand Slam Tennis will be one of the first games compatible with the new Wii MotionPlus, Nintendo's latest Wii accessory that attaches to the end of the Wii Remote and, combined with the accelerometer and the sensor bar, allows for more comprehensive tracking of a player's arm position and orientation, providing players with a much greater level of precision - ideal for a tennis title!

So now with an enhanced control system that boasts the likes of top spin, slice, flat, lobs and drop shots, EA suddenly finds itself with a fighting chance of staking its claim as an essential tennis title. It also boasts a full roster of 23 well known players including the likes of Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Serena Williams, Pete Sampras, Boris Becker, Maria Sharapova and the legend that is John McEnroe. And if that wasn't enough there's what looks to be a decent online mode (incorporating singles but most importantly doubles) and a visual finish that looks like its testing the modest Wii graphics chip to its limits. All we need now is a decent theme tune - oh what's that you say? It's being composed by legendary super-producer Paul van Dyk? Need we say more. Expect Grand Slam to make a serious attempt for top seeding in June.