Grand Slam Tennis for Wii

EA almost completely nails it

You're likely to go through a few different emotions when playing EA's MotionPlus-enabled Grand Slam Tennis for Wii. Initially it's one of amazement. You're able to swing the Wii Remote and position your shots more or less where you want by the stroke alone. Swing up to down or down to up and you'll hit the ball with slice or top spin, just like you would in real life. It feels just as it should, which is pretty much all we wanted from EA's debut Wii title, and its first MotionPlus game. But then that great first impression falls away quite dramatically.

The official license for each of the four grand slams is great. Wimbledon, the Australian, French and US Opens are all here. Each competition features the show courts that will be familiar from TV coverage, as well as minor courts that house the games between the lesser-known players. Having them all here is a big coup for EA and it gives the game an authenticity missing from the likes of Virtua Tennis and Top Spin.

There's a great player roster too, covering male and female players past and present. Current favourites Nadal, Federer and Murray are all here, as are the likes of the Williams sisters, and they're joined by retired greats such as McEnroe, Henin and Sampras. The entire game is presented in an almost cartoon-like style, with players having exaggerated features while retaining what makes them recognisable. This no doubt helped EA produce an attractive game on the Wii, a console that would have struggled with highly detailed player and court models.

All this is great and shows that EA has put a lot of care and attention into its Wii offering - the fact that Grand Slam Tennis is launching on Wii ahead of other platforms is testament to this too. Things aren't all rosy though, as some extended time on court reveals a few unfortunate flaws that will start to niggle and grate the more you play. Chief among these are a few control issues, but a fairly rudimentary career mode doesn't help either.

The odd control issue hurts the game though

When it works the MotionPlus controls are excellent, as we've described above. The problem is that controlling your character with the Nunchuck at the same time as swinging the Remote isn't as easy as it appears, and you'll likely get quite frustrated. Trying to focus on the correct swing type and simultaneously get your player into the right position on court is something for expert players only. As a result, the best option for many will be to let the game handle player movement, as is the case in Nintendo's Wii Sports Tennis.