Review | Grand Slam Tennis 2

Rejoice virtual tennis fans, for your video gaming fix is now complete with the arrival of Grand Slam Tennis 2 on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. Originally released on Wii, EA’s volley at the over-crowded Tennis sim comes complete with all four major Grand Slam tournaments, new control methods and a host of legendary players.

Shifting the tone completely from the light Wii original, Grand Slam Tennis 2 focuses on the nuances and subtly of the graceful game and produces what is the best entry in the genre so far, if only by a nose.

To begin with the game is simply damn pretty to look at. The presentation, in association with ESPN, is very TV like, indeed while paying as or against the more established players, there are moments that are almost indistinguishable from actual Grand Slam play.

The elite players, including Nadal, Federer, Borg, Sharapova and the Williams sisters are instantly recognizable, not only in their appearance but in their play style. The first time you encounter a Williams sister (if the difficulty is anything but easy) and expect to get blasted off the court.

Probably the best and most interesting addition to Grand Slam Tennis 2 and the genre is the EA Total Racket Control which takes concepts from other EA sports titles, most notably Fifa, and attempts to translate the fluid ease of the tennis greats to the otherwise clumsy 360 and PS3 controllers.

Different shot and serve variations are controlled through the right analog stick, providing gamers the opportunity to somewhat mimic real tennis with back-and-forward momentum and timing become crucial to owning the opposition.

The Total Racket Control aspect does take time to get used to and only the truly skillful will actually find themselves being able to master it and take on players who just rely on the more simplistic arcade style controls. These arcade controls are very similar to what you would find in Virtua Tennis or Top Spin, but feel slightly more balanced and natural in Grand Slam 2.

Another similar aspect to the other tennis titles is the career mode, where tournaments are entered, attributes and gained and players are created. It’s an easy concept to grasp for any fan of Top Spin 4 especially but it doesn’t have the depth that that title has, despite the inclusion of all four Grand Slams.

The career mode soon becomes pretty stale as your travel across ten years worth of play, but only play at a handful of arenas outside of the major championships. Sure you can also take part in training sessions that boost stats, but there are only limited opportunities to do so each season.

Grand Slam Tennis 2 also introduces the concept of Grand Slam Classic moments, where players get the opportunity to recreate legendary matches from Grand Slam history or even rewrite past results. These 25 moments are drawn from the full spectrum of the four major tournaments and are a step up in difficulty compared to the rest of the relatively easy career mode offerings.

The game not only features playable legends but has two of the most memorable players of all time on commentary. And while John McEnroe and Pat Cash provide some light relief and actual helpful tips during the early stages of the game, they soon will start to grate as the commentary continuously cycles through the same bits of dialogue.

McEnroe must also be singled out for his overall commitment for the game. Not only does vintage John appear on the cover and commentate, he also runs the training academy and takes part in the Grand Slam events as well. One can only hope he got paid extra for the amount of work his virtual counterpart does, you half expect to see him running the merchandise store in his free time.

Grand Slam Tennis 2 is an gradual improvement in the tennis genre for gamers. While not heads and shoulders above the other, competing games, it does feature Wimbledon and also provides the most bang for you buck in terms of look, feel and content. With the added bonus of PlayStation Move support, Grand Slam Tennis 2 is quite simply pretty ace.  [7.5]