Nintendo Wii Game and Accessory Reviews

Grand Slam Tennis

At the launch of Wii MotionPlus, EA Sports came out swinging (literally). But can EA Sports go two for two?

Grand Slam Tennis is the second MotionPlus-supported game to come out of EA Sports. Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 was a huge success, creating one of the most realistic golf simulators across any platform. Although Grand Slam Tennis definitely delivers a very realistic game of tennis, it's far from perfect. Based solely on the time of the review, you can imagine the amount of wrestling I've done with the title. At times, I would have easily given the game an A, yet other times a C+ would have been generous. I'll get into why further into the review.

Grand Slam Tennis sports a less realistic graphic style, going for a more approachable look and feel. Very similar to Xbox 360 avatars, they are mainly cell shaded, with over-exaggerated features. Creating your tennis pro is quite enjoyable, and you can achieve some pretty decent likeness without the crazy realistic feature modifications that you see in other EA games (I'm looking at you, Tiger). I found making your "avatar" in Grand Slam Tennis to be much more enjoyable than creating your golfer in Tiger Woods. The game also sports various unlockable sponsor clothing and accessories, so you can sport your favorite brands while smashing forehand volleys.

The character selection is also pretty decent. They've decided to not only put in today's hottest players like Roger Federer and Rafael Nadal, but also players from yester-year like Pat Cash and John McEnroe, allowing older players to relate to their favorite tennis pro. Pat Cash also serves as the game's "color" commentary - which I turned off after the first 10 minutes. Although Grand Slam Tennis may be the first in the obvious franchise to come, having more than 10 sayings for your commentary is a must. There's only so many times you can listen to Cash say "Wow, he made that look easy - Almost as though it's a video game!" before you start throwing your controller at the screen in frustration.

Wimbledon winner Roger Federer is available for play in the game.

The single player game is pretty solid, providing a bit of spice to an otherwise repetitive sport. Instead of just climbing the ladder at Wimbledon, you play a series of exhibition matches before the tournament begins. These exhibition games serve not only as a warm up, but also as a way for your character to achieve power-ups by defeating pros. They also threw several fun tennis variations into the mix to keep things fresh. Such as King of the Court; a three player game where there is a "King" who never leaves the court and the other two players take turns trying to score a point against him. If one does, that player becomes King and the other two attempt to knock him out. These variants also serve as the game's multiplayer party aspect.

If you and your friends are bored of straight-up tennis, there are many tennis party games for you to enjoy. Like the aforementioned King of the Court, there are many party variants to keep interest alive. From King of the Court, to Aussie Doubles (2 against 1) there is always something to keep the party going. While local multiplayer is great, it's the online multiplayer where this game shines. The game has a really solid online offering, allowing you to go head-to-head against other members of the world in ranked or unranked matches. They also have a country ranking, where you and your fellow countrymen fight for global supremacy. If you win a ranked match, points get added to both your score, and your country's score. Although this is rather trivial, it really adds a sense of comradary as you fight for your country to become number one.

Venus Williams takes on a ball the size of a casaba melon.

Although the service is pretty solid, it doesn't come without flaws. Lag is a huge factor in online games. While most matches appear to be lag-free, you will occasionally get paired up with a laggy player making the game very difficult. It may have looked like the ball sailed past your opponent, however as you relax and pump your fist in victory, the server catches up and you realize that your opponent just smashing it back into your face. Not cool.

I've also experienced some really odd calls being made online as well, where the ball is clearly 2-3 inches out of bounds, no call was made. I can only chalk that up to lag as well, despite rarely seeing any slow down in play when that happens. All in all, if you can look past the few times that will occur, its still a very enjoyable online experience. One that has even taken me away from Tiger Woods PGA Tour 10 lately.

I left talking about the gameplay mechanics for last so you wouldn't get the wrong impression about the game. While you can play the game without the Wii MotionPlus accessory, to really get the most out of the game, you need to be using MotionPlus. For the most part, the shot-making capability while using Wii MotionPlus is a thing of beauty. Putting spins, dropping shots, and lobbing to the far corner feels unebelievably awesome.

Andy Roddick and Andy Murray compete in Tide-approved clean white.

However, one time out of ten, the controller just doesn't "get" what you're trying to do. While winding up for a forehand smash across the court, the game thinks you're wanting to hit a backhand and does so accordingly, causing your shot to sail about 80 feet out of bounds. To make matters worse, when it wigs out, you can see it ahead of time on serve returns. Your character lines up for the return already in his back hand position while you're desperately thrusting the remote around trying to get him to move his racket to the right.

You pause to calibrate the Wii MotionPlus, to no avail. You try and overcompensate for the swing, to no avail. There is little that you can really do but pray your backhand serve return doesn't sail out of bounds. I tried figuring this as a drawback to MotionPlus, or just broken control code, but I couldn't come up with an answer. It appears the same thing occurs to a much lesser extent in Wii Sports Resort while playing table tennis, however I found just holding the Wii Remote still will bring your paddle back to center. Not so with Grand Slam Tennis.

Great shot. MotionPlus has an unbelievable shot making capability.

Serving up more. There's plenty of replay value with a solid online component.

Challenging. There are plenty of difficulty choices to work through, both ing single player and online.

Open courts. The great aesthetics to the game are accessible.

Glitch in your swing. The swing mechanic can be buggy at times.

Shaky connection. Lag has the potential to ruin online matches.

Ugly shot. Very repetitive announcer you'll want to turn of shortly after purchase.

Check the stagger cam. Odd clipping behavior during replays.

At the end of the day, I can't ignore the control issues and the somewhat glitchy online behavior. If you're one that can look past the rough edges though, you are sure to find hours of enjoyment. I'm really looking forward to where EA Sports takes this franchise in the future.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game

With Atari backing the long-awaited return of the original Ghostbusters, will busting make you feel good?

Ghostbusters are a highlight of the late 80s. The original movies are considered staples amongst pop culture "essentials." Eventually, their relevance faded to nostalgia, which fuels their return to glory... surprisingly in video game form.

The game is filled with star power, with a script written by Dan Aykroyd and Harold Ramis, and voice talents of many original characters solidifying this as a genuine experience. That capitalizes on the first noticeable trait of the game; it is completely true to the source material. Egon is brainy, Peter is witty; all the characters feel like they should (minus Tully, notably absent, as Rick Moranis remained uninvolved in the game).

The original Ghostbusters make their stellar return, as do their personalities.

The hole Tully leaves in the team gives an opening for the game to fill. Players control an unnamed, silent recruit; a trainee Ghostbuster. Practically every corner is turned by the recruit first, and all experimental, and highly dangerous, equipment goes to them. Billy Murray's character, Peter Venkman, often chides you as "rookie," and "caddy,"  emphasizing that character interaction like this proves to be both smart and funny. Players feel like part of the team while listening to the actual Ghostbusters loathe their misfortunes.

Although, this is no movie. As a video game, the basic controls use the Wii Remote to point the blast stream and the joystick on the Nunchuk to control your character. The d-pad flips between different beams, while A and B use different functions of the beams. The combination of different beams makes for a bright spot in the gameplay, and handling the blast stream and boson darts feels intuitive and fun.

Don't cross the streams while trying to tackle this re-animated T-Rex.

Ghosts are essentially worn-down using different beams, slammed into walls and ceilings using the Remote's motion control, and then guided into a trap thrown using a swinging motion with the Nunchuk. Ghosts will inhabit inanimate objects and people, leave unseen traps, and sticky messes all over levels. Oftentimes, the PKE Meter is the Ghostbuster recruit's saving grace, showing hidden elements and guiding players to puzzle solutions.

The PKE Meter also scans elements of the game like characters, ghosts, and otherworldly tools and devices. Each scan is added to Tobin's Spirit Guide, a journal filled with notes and comments that add to the lore and mythology of the Ghostbusters universe. Fans will have plenty of reading to do, but many of the comments tips for destroying different spirit types are worth it for all players. Art pages are the main collectibles of the game, often found by destroying objects and searching in every nook and cranny of the levels, in a more feeble attempt to ramp up the replay value.

The PKE Meter plays an important role in the game's progression.

The game progresses through different environments, many intimately familiar to fans of the series, such as the Sedgwick Hotel and the New York City Library. It starts out easy on players with Slimer escaping and needing capturing, and leads to ultimate fan-service when gamers get to knock the Stay Puft Marshmallow Man off the side of a building soon thereafter, splattering him all over downtown New York.

Most of the levels are maze-like, with simple drag n' drop puzzles splicing up the ghost-infested rooms. More often than not, your blast stream is used for destruction rather than busting. Most everything in the levels except the walls (oddly enough, all of the walls are blast stream-resistant) are destructible. To top it off, a point system awards reckless players with money for their destructive habits. While players may get used to spending extra time to disintegrate everything in sight, it never really gets old.

Slimer is back, and making a mess for fans to clean up.

What does get old is the ghost-catching gameplay. The game is paced out by adding new beam and PKE functions every few levels, but the core mechanics tire out through the middle of the game. Zapping and trapping becomes such second nature that the unique and fun moments of the game are typically the least interactive, the cut-scenes. Still, most of that is owed to the charming cast.

A lot can be said for the graphics, however. While far from being the best on the system, the game excels at presentation. Each bit of the game oozes catchy style and well-toned colors. Spirits are wonderfully designed, and the music is well composed.  Playing through the game is a great experience, just from a presentation standpoint.

Bouncy colors don't brighten the monstrous spirits you'll find, only your beams will.

Lastly, players don't have to bust those ghosts alone. Local two-player co-op is available, which adds another recruit to the mix during ghost hunts.  Money earned is stacked up at the end of levels, where players find competition in seeing who caused the most monetary destruction.  This lends the destructive nature of the game a boost in fun. Depending on who you play with, the story may take a hit, if your friend doesn't care for listening to the cut-scenes (it doesn't help that Venkman is barely audible).  Regardless, past missions are always available later in the firehouse, as well as a few options in difficulty. Really, nothing special is truly added in the multiplayer experience, though.  A few unique multiplayer levels or modes would be welcome, but it's all campaign-based.

Stylish. The presentation of the game is among the best you'll find on the Wii, with a good layer of polish added

Fan-tastic. Fans of the Ghostbusters movies will be pleased with the game's loyal mythology.

Well scripted. Loyalty goes a long way, as the game feels intimately familiar and fits in perfectly with Ghostbusters canon. The writing and pacing of the story is well executed.

Well said. The voice acting, for the most part, is enjoyable and fairly well done.

Bill Murray, you disappoint. Not everyone knows how to talk. Bill Murray is quiet, he mumbles, and ultimately sounds like he wasn't "in" his role, hugely detrimental to the experience.

Gameplay drags on a bit. Busting only feels good for a while, and then it gets repetitive.

Abrupt. Without the spoilers, the game sort of drops players off a bit more quickly than expected.  This leaves a bad taste for any gamer.

Weak co-op. While campaign multiplayer is available, it is fun for a limited time.  The game could have easily handled more multiplayer modes, like a race-the-clock ghost capturing contest, unique multiplayer levels, or more awards for causing destruction.

Ghostbusters: The Video Game certainly isn't a bad game. In fact, it is fun, and the story is charming enough for series fans to enjoy. Of course, the best part of the game usually doesn't happen while you're grinding through some of the levels, but while listening to the actual Ghostbusters lament their messy situations. It may not be worth full retail price to hear just that, but it's an experience that will not fully disappoint.