Developed specifically for the Wii, EA SPORTS Grand Slam Tennis delivers the deepest and richest tennis experience ever developed for the platform with real life tennis strokes letting anyone quickly pick up a racket and use every shot type and inch of the court. It is the exclusive home of Wimbledon and includes all four Grand Slams: the Australian Open, Roland Garros, the U.S. Open and Wimbledon. The player line-up features some of the greatest and most accomplished ever including John McEnroe in his exclusive video game debut. Joining Mac is an impressive roster of current and legendary men's and women's players who collectively own 135 Grand Slam singles titles, making this the most accomplished group of players ever assembled for a tennis video game.
ReadmoreTechnical Details
- Hone your skills on the practice courts with controllable ball machines at every venue.
- Utilize Nintendo MotionPlus to hit a variety of shots such as top spin, slice, flat, lobs and drop shots.
- Create your own player then set off to conquer the various skill and legends challenges to accumulate skills and try to win all four Grand Slam titles.
- A dozen party games can be played, using seven core Tennis Academy style games with group friendly scoring and presentation.
- Play against new opponents online. Every win contributes to your country on the Battle of the Nations leader board.
I really enjoy playing GST. I have read a lot of negative reviews on the internet, but i wont be joining them. I play Grand Slam Tennis without the MotionPlus adapter and maybe that is why i enjoy it so much. I havent played the game with the adapter so I dont know how hard it can be, but without, its very enjoyable. I won only my second Grand Slam event (French Open) and currently have won 22 and lost 1. My current win streak is 17. I say to all those people who think it is too hard, dont play with the motion plus and just enjoy the game.......
I wanted very much to like this game as I've been looking for a quality tennis game for the Wii. However, as much as I want to like this game, I just can't give it a passing grade. Hitting the ball is easy enough for either the forehand or backhand. The major problem with this game is that the computer "constantly" positions your player in the wrong position. For example, your opponent hits a cross court shot to your forehand, and yet the computer will run your player to the wrong side of the ball forcing you to try to switch to a backhand shot, which of course there isn't enough time to do that. This is constantly occuring where you should be hitting an "obvious" forehand, or backhand, and yet the game positions your player incorrectly on the wrong side of the ball and you simply miss the swing. This is the biggest flaw with this game. With all the potential it has, when you loose point after point in a match because you swing a forehand, but the computer has your player backwards, it quickly becomes an effort in frustration. The game also seems sluggish with reading the Wii remote with the motion plus adapter. Sometimes you have to start your swing earlier than what the graphics on the screen would make you think. The customization of your player is adequate, but for a [...] game, it really should have offered more options for customizing your character. The face, head appearance, etc. is pretty limited. The sounds and action in the game can be pretty exciting, but the constant missing of shots due to the computer positioning problem of your player kills this game for me. (Another thing I found odd and a bit annoying is the "extreme" and constant access of the CD by the Wii console. The CD has non-stop seeking going on during all aspects of this game.) The Wii games don't get any more costly than this one, but the end result is you're left with the feeling that you bought a game out of the [...] bin at Walmart. ......
This review is strictly going to address online play as many other reviewers discussed the game in general. Pros: Grand Slam Tennis online is much more challenging than playing against the computer. If you've mastered the single player modes, online play will drastically increase this game's replayability. When playing singles (I haven't played doubles as you need two players on the same Wii in order to do so), you can either play in ranked or unranked matches. For unranked matches, Grand Slam Tennis pairs you up with an opponent and you play. For ranked matches, the game works on a point, tier, and rank system. You will initially start out in the lowest tier with zero points and the lowest ranking possible. You earn points by beating other players, moving up in rank and moving into higher tiers. Depending on your opponent's ranking, points awarded or taken away will vary based on your opponent's ranking (gain more points by beating a high ranking opponent, but lose less if you lose). Grand Slam Tennis will do its best to match you up against opponents in your tier. This setup is great because it helps ensure that your opponent will be of similar skill and experience. This tactic doesn't always occur when there aren't that many people online and you can't be matched with a player in your tier. As you earn more points, you will lower your ranking and move into higher tiers. Rankings can be viewed on the Wii (it would be nice if you could also do this on the internet at EA.com) based on your individual tier or the overall top 100 players. You can either take a real life player into the online arena (many of your opponents use Nadal) or bring your created player from the Grand Slam mode. Cons: First of all, lag is a huge problem. This becomes an issue when a play seemingly should be over, but that isn't always the case. If the ball bounces more than once, play doesn't automatically stop and your opponent can still return the ball. Another lag issue occurs when the ball freezes in mid-air, allowing your opponent to reach the ball and return an otherwise unreturnable shot. There have been plenty of shots that should be winners and hit the back fence/wall, only to have the ball disappear and reappear in front of my opponent's raquet as he/she returns the shot. The lag issues don't stop with your opponent. The line judges and referees also are a victim of lag, delaying calls that are made instantly in single player. All of these issues take some getting used to. In other words, don't assume a point will be awarded and play will stop because many times, that isn't the case. In some matches, lag is either hardly noticiable or non-existant. But in others, the lag is horrible. The one positive about this is that the level of lag stays consistent throughout the match, so there won't be any suprises late in the match. Limited options are another issue. Single player matches will consist of a single set to three games. There is no way to add more games per set or more sets per match. An in game text messanger is included in the game, but it is hardly usable. You can't text opponents during a match and every opponent that I have played appears offline immediately after the match. This has to be a glitch since I have ended up playing some opponents again when looking for a new match. The only instance I have seen when the messanger worked was when I received a message from someone after a match. My last main concern is with cheating. Now all of my cheating complaints could be related to lag, but I somehow don't believe so. In one match where I was playing the number 50th ranked person, every one of my first serves (save one) were faults. My opponent never moved, almost as if he/she knew it was going to be a fault. The only time my serve didn't result in a fault was the one time I got an ace (again, opponent never moved) or when I served up a slow easy shot. Never before while playing have I seen that many faults, and it never happened with that frequency in other matches. In another match against a top 50 opponent, after returning a serve, play would abruptly stop and a point would automatically go to my opponent, even when my return shot landed right in the middle of the court. This has happened during other matches both for and against me (which is unfortunate either way since I don't want cheap points), but the frequency in which this occurred in this particular match strongly suggests cheating. After a match, you can use the messanger to report cheaters to EA, but there is no way to tell if anything actually happens based on your report. Conclusion: Overall, this game is still fun online. Despite all of its flaws, I still find myself turning on my Wii to play Grand Slam Tennis online. The challege is much greater than in the single player game and really extends the replay value. However, the game can gets frustrating as lag sets in. Even the most lag free matches don't flow as smooth as they do in single player. I definitely will be looking for next year's version in high hopes that EA fixes these issues. If EA can accomplish this, I'll be playing Grand Slam Tennis for years to come. ......
EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis had potential to be a really great Motion Plus title for the Wii, but the controls and motion tracking leave a lot to be desired. For starters, it's not really a true 1:1 experience, as all of the hype and demonstration videos would have you think. Serving in the game is as far from 1:1 as you can get without taking out motion controls all together. The rest of the controls do an okay job at pretending to be 1:1, but they just aren't that convincing. By far the biggest drawback of this game is that the controls can be extremely finicky, especially for somebody who is trying to just pick up the game and have fun. I play tennis and personally found the controls to be VERY frustrating at times, as you are forced to play and move the way the game wants you to; not with your own style, movements, or even posture. There are tips and tricks posted all over the Net which all claim to be the miracle solution to fixing this game's control issues. While some of them DO improve the reliability of the motion controls, the fact that you have to baby the controls at all just goes to show how flawed this game really is. If this game was truly as great as some people say it is, you wouldn't need to calibrate your WM+ controller between every point, or use any number of other tricks to get the game working properly. You should be able to pick up the controller, knowing which side was the racket face, and play tennis without having to micromanage your movements to prevent throwing the controls out of whack. The simple fact is that you cannot do that. You must train yourself to play the way the game wants you to play. While doing this may reward players with a more enjoyable experience in the long run, I feel it should be enjoyable from the time you pick up your virtual racket and start playing. Wii Sports Resort did a much better job at managing calibration issues and anyone who plays that game first will see the obvious differences when trying this one out. Overall, this reminds me of the first Tiger Woods golf game that was released for the Wii. The controls could be better and motion could be tracked more accurately, while also being forgiving enough to not ruin your game every time you make a unexpected movement. While there may be a high level of precision that you can achieve once mastering the controls, I'm not sure how many people will be willing to bother with it. Hopefully, future installments will improve as the Tiger Woods franchise has. Until then, I think most people are either going to like this or be very disappointed.......
First of all, I love this game. Sure it takes time to master the swings and the plays, but I had fun doing so. It makes you feel like you are actually hitting the shots. With practice you can learn how to hit the ball right and play different types of shots like topspin, slice, flat etc. To time the shots is extremely important and if not timed correctly, the ball will most likely land out of play or you won't connect at all. Also the speed of the ball varies with the surface of the court, as in real life. Most reviews have already stated how good this game is, so I will list some frustrations and shortcomings. The practice mode sucks. You can practice with a ball machine, but it is no where as good as when playing against an opponent. This mode needs to be more elaborate and challenging. The motion sensor messes up a lot. When I lose a point, it is because my player does not swing (to hit the ball) at all (although I have done so), or has swung already (most likely because I made a tiny inadverdant movement of my arm and did not mean for him to swing). Also the player is too slow to recover. If the onscreen player swings inadvertently it takes him/her time to recover and swing again and by the time he/she does so, it is too late. At the net, the volleys the player hits are for the most part so weak and unsubstantial that it is almost painful to see him/her struggle. Sure if the opponent hits right back and you and the your player connects, there is no problem. But if the opponent hits it to either side of you, and even if you have planned or this, there is only a 50% chance that you player will play an effective shot. Playing with the nunchuck is harder and I have not mastered that yet. Without the nuncheck, your player will automatically start moving towards the ball and you have to do is make sure he/she is in the right position to hit the ball by using the arrows on the wii mote (this can be tricky though), but if the nuncheck is connected, your player will not move unless you use the nunchick to move him/her. With the nunchuck, the player does seen to move faster. You can create a player and win abilities from other players (if you defeat them in grand slam mode). These are supposed to help you when you play against and opponent and you can choose two abilities at a time that you wish your player to possess eg. forehand and strong serve. But I really did not see any difference even if I chose other abilities eg. my serve was the same even if I chose something else besides the strong serve as my ability. Overall, great and addictive game except for the above issues. I think the next one will have some improvents, especially in regards to the practice mode. And btw, where is Andre Aggasi?......
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