After playing this game for a few hours I can now see why EA Sports Active came out before Grand Slam Tennis, it was to get you in peak physical fitness ready for this very realistic tennis game. Just after 30 minutes of play I was knackered and suffering from tennis elbow. So other than a sudden increase of sports related injuries without even holding a racket what else do you get?

 

 

Initially the game modes available are nothing groundbreaking, you have the basic single player option allowing you to jump straight into a game with one of the 23 pro's on offer, character customizing, online play and the tournaments. However looks are deceiving as each mode is crammed full of options. Creating a player has the usual sponsored clothing and gear selections but you also have play styles to choose from like offensive baseliner or serve and volley. The Grand Slam mode is unlike any tennis game I have played in the past. You start as an amateur player, just having a few training games and building stats. Each character has a five star rank system, as you play games this will increase. After a few games you start to get offers on games with pro players, here you can unlock attributes which you can use to fill in up to three specials, these allow you to improve your service, speed, stamina and hustle ability. Once you have finished training you then move onto warm-up games which are a mixture of singles, doubles, pro games and a few special rules games like Aussie rules where it is two versus one and you rotate around the court. Once you get through the warm-ups you will then get an invitation to the main tournaments like the Australian Open, Wimbledon and the French Open which are knockout rules so make sure you bring your best game.

 

EA have fine tuned their party play options that pop up on most of their games, offering a great selection of mini games to kill time with. All in there are five mini games to play including king of the court and tag team. There are hardly any of these mini-games that you won't want to play again, especially the Aussie rules game.

 

With the endless tournament mode bringing very addictive and plenty of other single player options you will be hard to find time online, but it is worth a look. You can play singles and doubles games with anyone in the world. The game handles online play really well with no slowdown or lag in the controls plus you are able to bypass the Nintendo friend codes and stick to the EA's sports network with a leaderboard to brag with. The only thing missing here is a headset so you can hear the grunting and cursing of your opponent.

 

 

Of course being a Wii game the controls are everything and thankfully they work a real treat. You can play with numerous settings including with the new MotionPlus. I have tried most modes of control and whilst mostly good the Wii-mote only setting relied too heavily on the computer AI to put you in the right place, the best way to play in my opinion is with the Nunchuck, Wii-mote and MotionPlus. The realism of each stroke sucks you into the game even more, with you screaming at yourself for every messed up shot and swing you miss. Depending on the timing of your swing you can hit it pretty much anywhere on court. The control is so tight that even a twist of the wrist when you swing applies top or back spin. As with the Wii controllers initial release, there is a few hours of getting used to what the game expects from you, initially causing a lot of missed swings and outs but it will eventually click and when it does you will see how good Wii MotionPlus could be.

 

Grand Slam Tennis has managed to strike a sensible balance between realism and arcade play, the graphics hold a colourful edge but each character holds a strong resemblance to their real life counterparts but with slightly exaggerated looks. There are plenty of courts to play on, each one with its own attributes like clay or grass. The slightly exaggerated look of the balls and players may put people off on first glance bit this really is the most realistic and fun tennis game on the market at the moment.

 

EA have pulled off a double ace with this top new title, being the first to use the great new MotionPlus and also nailing a great tennis title with or without this new peripheral.