Grand Slam Tennis v. Virtua Tennis ?09!!
Throughout the history of tennis there have been some amazing rivalries: Sampras vs. Agassi, Connors vs. Borg, McEnroe vs Borg & Connors, Wimbledon vs. US Open, Nadal vs. Feder, Serena vs. Venus, Kournikova vs. jealous girlfriends. You catch my drift. Well, thanks to the Wii and Wii Motion Plus, you can add another pair to that list: Virtua Tennis vs. Grand Slam Tennis.
Grand Slam Tennis is EA’s offering to the match up, and it was also the first out the gate. One of the main differences, and easily the most noticeable, between GST & VT09 is the look. EA has gone with a slightly less realistic look, it’s a bit more casual looking. The style fits the game though, and it does look and run great. GST features a robust career mode, online play, an excellent list of past and present pros (including Johnny Mac!). The biggest ace it has up its sleeve has got to be the feature where it’s title is derived: The Grand Slam. Yup, you can attempt to collect the same grand slam that has eluded almost every tennis pro ever. EA Sports’ Grand Slam Tennis is out now for the Wii, and if you are from the other side of the pond it even comes bundled with Wii Motion Plus.
Virtua Tennis 2009 is Sega’s game that is hoping to prove that the series will remain the tennis champ. The developers have taken a more realistic approach to the design, and it looks beautiful. One of the things that differentiates the title from GST is that it allows learners to ease into it. You can start off using just the wiimote (sans WMP), then gradually build your skills until you are ready to go one-to-one using WMP. Virtua Tennis 2009 also offers a robust cast of pros, the career mode should keep you busy for a while, and if that’s not enough then take your game online to take on players around the globe.
Wii owners have a tough decision ahead of them as both of these titles look great. The one shining star could be the fact that GST may come with WMP in your area, and that VT09 is $39.99. So, get both. Yeah, I know that’s asking a lot. The game I’ll be going for is Grand Slam Tennis. I don’t know why, I just like the look of it a bit more. If you still need help in deciding which game you think suits you best, check out the videos of each game below. Trust me, you’ll enjoy them.