EA Sports takes to the court in this HD sequel to Grand Slam Tennis.

Grand Slam Tennis 2 is a sequel to the Wii exclusive EA Sports Grand Slam Tennis. While the PS3 version has Move support, there is no Kinect support for the Xbox 360. It features a number of game modes, tournaments, and features to keep tennis fans busy. You can create your own tennis pro with their own strengths, weaknesses, and animations on the court, then take them through a career mode or place them in officially licensed tournaments. You can brush up on Tennis pro history by replaying famous moments, complete with their own achievements and progress bars to keep things interesting.

The Total Raquet Control scheme uses both analog sticks and no buttons. It's inspired by the Playstation Move controls and dual analog controls can be found in other EA Sports games. Instead of using the left analog stick in combination with button presses, the right analog stick is pressed down, down left, or down right to indicate the type of shot, then pressed upward to indicate the shot angle. This is technically a more accurate control scheme than the traditional button layout because you can move in one direction with the left analog stick while indicating a shot angle in another direction with the right analog stick.

I admit I'm a tennis newbie. I don't know much about the game of tennis itself, tournaments, the courts, the professional players, or even the other tennis games like Top Spin and Virtua Tennis. So the first mode I went to was training. Although I was a bit lost at the basic rules of tennis, which are apparently so common they no longer need to be explained in a game based on them, it's a useful mode for increasing accuracy and coordination. I could do without the trash talking coach, though. Unfortunately as I got more practice against the computer, it was pretty apparent that it had a lot of glaring flaws that made it easy to win against on all but the hardest skill levels. If you're planning on playing Grand Slam Tennis 2 for any length of time, you'll likely want to take it online against player opponents.

The graphics are good overall, although they have the usual EA Sports sanitization that makes it seem less like a game than a sports broadcast. The animations are a bit more stiff than I'd like to see, especially when the game is all about the tennis players. The announcers felt appropriate, but after a few games I started noticing repeated lines, not a good sign for a game you might want to play for hours.

No matter how many modes are mixed in or which way you slice it, you're still playing a lot of tournament level tennis at the end of the day, so you had better love the sport to get your moneys worth out of Grand Slam Tennis 2. If you're a tennis fan I suspect you won't be disappointed with the licensed roster and tournaments, even if the gameplay and content could use some improvement.

Grand Slam Tennis 2 brings together a solid cast of real world champions and courts with dual analog controls and a balance between arcade physics and realism.

Plenty of licensed tournaments and professional players Innovative dual analog control scheme Enough modes to keep tennis fans busy Solid multiplayer Somewhat limited animation and motion capture Tutorial could be more beginner friendly Weak computer opponent Feels a bit bland and sanitized Quote: " Grand Slam Tennis 2 brings together a solid cast of real world champions and courts with dual analog controls and a balance between arcade physics and realism." Reviewed by Matthew Emirzian | 03.02.12 | Platform Reviewed: Xbox 360