Grand Slam Tennis

For the Grand Slam in tennis, see Grand Slam (tennis).

File:Grand Slam Tennis Wii Box Art.jpg
Developer(s)	EA Canada
Publisher(s)	EA Sports
Platform(s)	Wii, PlayStation 3, Xbox 360
Release	Wii UK: June 12, 2009 INT: June 26, 2009 PlayStation 3, Xbox 360 TBA
Genre(s)	Sports
Mode(s)	Single Player, Multiplayer

Grand Slam Tennis is a tennis video game, developed by EA Canada, and was initially released for the Wii on June 8, 2009. Versions for the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 was to be released Autumn 2009, However, they have been "delayed indefinitely".

Currently, details on the PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360 versions are minimal, but some features for the Wii version include online play, Wii MotionPlus functionality, pick up and play, a Grand Slam career mode, and all four Grand Slam locations, including Wimbledon. The Wii version was also the first title in Europe to be bundled with the Wii MotionPlus.

Features

Total Racket Control: Swing the racket like a Grand Slam champion by performing real life tennis strokes as your actions are seen virtually

Pick Up and Play: If you can swing a racket, you can start playing at any Grand Slam venue as your own created player or as one of the many licensed current stars and legends

Grand Slam Career: For added depth and complexity, take your created player on the journey to win the four Grand Slams. Only a select group of pros have completed the elusive Grand Slam and now for the first time, gamers can take up the same challenge

Venues: Users can play all four Grand Slams. Authentic stadiums and venues are recognizable as the real grounds

Wii MotionPlus: The game is compatible with Wii MotionPlus, taking the authentic one-to-one motion to a new level. Spin your racket and control your in-game player with exact precision

Shot Types: Highly responsive system detects a variety of shots

Challenges: In your quest to win each Grand Slam, conquer the various challenges to accumulate more skills for your created player

Online: Connect with other players online for new opponents and challenges. More details to come!

Player Styles: Licensed pros play true to their actual playing styles, including all-court, defensive baseliner, offensive baseliner, and serve and volley

Players

Grand Slam Tennis features 23 total players, including 11 retired legends and 12 of today's top players.

• Current Male Players: Roger Federer, Rafael Nadal, Andy Murray, Novak Djokovic, Andy Roddick, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Lleyton Hewitt and Kei Nishikori.
• Current Female Players: Serena Williams, Venus Williams, Ana Ivanovic and Maria Sharapova.
• Retired Male Legends: Pete Sampras, Björn Borg, John McEnroe, Boris Becker, Stefan Edberg, Pat Cash, and Michael Stich
• Retired Female Legends: Martina Navratilova, Chris Evert, Justine Henin and Lindsay Davenport

Grand Slam Tennis also includes a "Create-A-Player" mode. In the "Create-A-Player" mode, players can create their own unique player for use in all modes of the game. The player can customize their created player with branded clothing, racquet styles, accessories and physical appearance. Up to nine players can be created at any one time.

Venues

Grand Slam Tennis offers 12 different authentic stadiums from all four Grand Slam venues to play in, and is the first video game since Top Spin 2 to feature a licensed Wimbledon.

• Australian Open: Rod Laver Arena, Hisense Arena and Court 15.
• French Open: Court Philippe Chatrier, Court Suzanne Lenglen and Court No. 12.
• Wimbledon Championships: Centre Court, Court No. 1 and Court No. 3.
• U.S. Open: Arthur Ashe Stadium, Louis Armstrong Stadium and Court 9.

Modes

The game has numerous modes of play:

Play Now: This mode allows players to enter either a singles or doubles match. This mode is available for both single and multiplayer forms of play.The player is able to select their venue,and to choose settings such as set length, amount of sets, difficulty and the option of a tie-break.

Grand Slam: This mode allows players to embark on a career with their created player.The career involves traveling to each of the four Grand Slam tournaments and attempt to achieve the Grand Slam by winning every tournament. Each tournament begins with a warm-up match against a fellow fictional rookie of average ability. The player can then challenge a legend or current player to a match in an attempt to learn the players special ability, eg. Rafael Nadal's forehand topspin, or Björn Borg's fitness. If the player is successful with their challenge,they may equip that special ability for use in future matches. The player can equip only one ability to start with, however as the player increases in skill, they will be able to equip multiple abilities at one time. Then the player will take part in a party style mini-game form of tennis along with fictional players, before starting the tournament. Every tournament starts at the round of 32 stage (round 3).

Party Mode:Party Mode is a collection of mini-games that are each a slightly altered form of tennis, with slight rule changes. They are:

• Tag Team: 2 on 2 with players rotating and taking turns hitting the ball.
• Aussie Doubles: 2 on 1 and the players rotate after each set.
• Stop, Drop and Lob: use the drop shot and lob winners for double points.
• Champs vs Chumps: time based game, take turns swinging, win the rally to become a champ.
• King of the Court: beat the king to become king, only the king earns points.
• Net-masters: Net shots are worth double points.
• Triplets: Similar to Aussie doubles where (2 on 1) but the players do not rotate around.

Online:

Multiplayer

The game has been praised by critics for its addictive online gameplay. No friend codes are needed to play online however an EA account is required if you want to play the full online experience. Online consists of ranked or unranked matches where you can play anyone around the world. Ranked earns the player points when they beat someone and these points decide what overall ranking you are in the world. Unranked matches are friendly and don't earn any points for the players online profile. It is good for people who are preparing to hit the leaderboards. When players win ranked matches they do not only win points for them selves but also for their country. There is a national leaderboard which shows which country has the best players.

Reception

Grand Slam Tennis has generally received average to positive reviews, with a Metacritic average of 78%. Official Nintendo Magazine UK gave it 90%, IGN and Gametrailers both listed an 8.5/10, while GameSpot was lower with a 6/10. Eurogamer dubbed it “beautifully intuitive”, and IT Reviews called it a “surprisingly strong tennis game and an interesting evolution of the Wii controller too”.

External links

• Grand Slam Tennis