Grand Slam Tennis News Post

EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis Review

09:37 PM - June 12, 2009 by RaychelSnr

Under normal circumstances, tennis games wouldn't usually receive a whole lot of hype or attention from the mainstream media.

Then again, most tennis games aren’t debuting alongside a new controller technology that’s supposed to revolutionize the way gamers can interact with the industry’s leading console.

Hence the roaring hype for EA’s Grand Slam Tennis, a game that both Nintendo and EA have christened as the ushering in of a new era in motion control.

Now that the finished product is finally in our hands, it's sad to have to report that Grand Slam Tennis fails to successfully deliver the promised one-to-one motion recognition. It's also sad to report that the game also comes with a number of frustrating inconsistencies that show how the Wii MotionPlus technology is not quite the startling revolution that was initially promised.

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Member Comments

# 1 Tico Da Great @ 06/13/09 01:08 AM

I Agree With the you guys on the wii motion plus being laggy at times but overall i like it

# 2 PadresFan104 @ 06/13/09 03:33 AM

Even with it's M+ issues, it's the most fun I've ever had with a tennis video game. From a technical & features perspective, I can understand the review and score, but I don't agree with it. When I consider the whole package including the presentation, the multiplayer and the amount of pure fun that I am having getting better at the game, it's a solid 8 and early contender for my SGOTY.

# 3 jyoung @ 06/13/09 12:47 PM

I think the overall fun factor all comes down to how well you can handle the inherent flaws of the motionplus controls.

Those who can deal with the frequent missed shots will find a pretty sharp tennis game when looking past the obvious control problems, because the rest of the game (aside from the career mode) is really well-done.

Those who can't deal with the missed shots will probably just want to look for a better overall game that won't punish them for mistakes that are blatantly the control's fault.

# 4 Steelerfan2k1 @ 06/13/09 05:05 PM

This is a very fair and balanced review. I have been playing Grand Slam career mode on medium, with Motion + and the nunchuk, and I have experienced all of the frustrating things he mentions in the review. It is a shame, because the atmosphere of the game and its venues is really immersive. I am in my 5th season in the game, and my record is 10-50 - all of which are wins in doubles matches. Because of the control problems he mentions, my doubles matches are my only competitive matches. I can't even come close to winning a single player match, as I can't control my shots, and then you have numerous swings and misses, since the controller can't keep up with your movements.

I hate to admit this, but I am probably going to have to switch to playing the game on easy, just so that I can be competitive. Right now though, I can't even stay in a singles match (I usually lose 3-0, occasionally 3-1, and once in 5 seasons, I lost 3-2 to a 2 star player). I have a solid record in doubles though, simply because you don't have to move as much.

# 5 jyoung @ 06/13/09 06:31 PM

Yep, I started out on medium difficulty and went 0-10 before I finally swallowed my pride and stepped down to easy.

Problem is, once I switched to easy, I never lost a match, improving my record to something like 50-10 before I finally lost interest in the career mode due to its repetitiveness.

# 6 PlottyDawg @ 06/27/09 06:53 PM

For a first time out of the box, GST was tough to play. I initially played w/o the Nunchuk and had the computer move my dude. Big mistake - I was smoked so fast. Enter the Nunchuk, and I felt hat I had improved movement, and was able to attack balls and win a few volleys.

As I progressed in the quaint, rather "basic" career mode, I became better at the game itself, won a 1st round match (the game calls it a 3rd round match) at Wimbleton, and had Andy Murray down 4-3 on match point. He rallied and eventually beat me 7-5. Never would that happened on another tennis game.

Game play is a bit jagged, the WiiMotion Plus responds adequately at best. I've had to resort to making sure I'm ready to hit the ball. Otherwise, I'll make some wild hacks at the ball, and make no contact. The stadiums are a nice touch.

Overall, I'm glad I'm rented it. Its a good try for EA with the WiiMotion Plus. I'm not sold on this being SGOTY, since IMO Tiger 10 has that almost wrapped up. But I'd give this a solid 7 based on decent gameplay and easy to navigate menus. But how'd the heck do you hit serves hard? Riddle me that one?

# 7 jyoung @ 06/27/09 11:30 PM

Serve strength is based entirely on timing.

After you motion "up" to toss the ball, you want to make the "down" motion of your swing start when the ball is at its peak height in the air.

Do it correctly and you'll notice an extra grunting noise comes out of your player.

# 8 aukevin @ 06/30/09 09:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wEEman33


	Serve strength is based entirely on timing. After you motion "up" to toss the ball, you want to make the "down" motion of your swing start when the ball is at its peak height in the air. Do it correctly and you'll notice an extra grunting noise comes out of your player.

My serve maxes out at 89 mph with my created player when I have the gold skill. If I have poor timing it is 50 mph. I tried adding the Dunlop racket that adds a serve boost but it didn't add any speed to my serve.

My created player has 4.5 stars, but I don't think getting that 5th star will increase my serve speed, I wish it did though. I'd like to hit 95 mph.

# 9 aukevin @ 06/30/09 10:32 AM

One more thing on the serve power when it comes to Grand Slam players. I created my guy as an All-Court player, a buddy of mine created his as a offensive baseliner. His guy can serve 86 mph without any kind of skill upgrade where my guy serves at 79 with no upgrade. His bad timing serve is 68 mph where mine is 50. So it seems the type player you start your guy as determines his strength in certain areas. When me and my buddy play online I have a real hard time because his player hits really hard. My character just can't get back into position fast enough even though he has gold shoes. And I'm not talking about having to go cross court, I mean he can't make the 3 steps to the side to return a shot because the speed the ball is coming at him. I think that has to do with his offensive baseliner setting, plus his gold forehand and backhand.

From what I can tell, you can't change your character type, otherwise I'd change mine off of All-Court.

# 10 jyoung @ 07/01/09 01:43 AM

Yeah unfortunately you have to totally recreate your guy to change his player type.

And as you've mentioned, certain player types definitely have a big statistical advantage over others when it comes to things like hitting power and foot speed.

One of the few things VT 2009 does better than GST is that it lets you switch between the different created player styles whenever you want.

# 11 NathalieBayeu @ 10/10/09 07:46 PM

If you can't get beyond AI level 2 it's a sign your overall skills are just not good enough.
Nunchuk play is by far and large the most accurate and if you haven't mastered that kind of play then better review another game.
On-line play is not the best, rather the worst part, considering the enormous mistakes on-line referees make from time to time and players miraculously recovering balls like dropshops that remain 'suspended' in the air.
"6,5" is in fact nothing else but a reflection of your own poor game skills.

I hope all of the minor issues will have vanished when the next edition of this addictive FITNESS (170-220 Kcal per hour!!!) game arrives.

# 12 PhantomPain @ 10/10/09 07:55 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NathalieBayeu


	If you can't get beyond AI level 2 it's a sign your overall skills are just not good enough. Nunchuk play is by far and large the most accurate and if you haven't mastered that kind of play then better review another game. On-line play is not the best, rather the worst part, considering the enormous mistakes on-line referees make from time to time and players miraculously recovering balls like dropshops that remain 'suspended' in the air. "6,5" is in fact nothing else but a reflection of your own poor game skills. I hope all of the minor issues will have vanished when the next edition of this addictive FITNESS (170-220 Kcal per hour!!!) game arrives.

wow.

great first post

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EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis Review