'Grand Slam Tennis' grows up with HD sequel

— -- Forget everything you remember about EA Sports' three-year-old "Grand Slam Tennis," a cartoony tennis game for the Nintendo Wii.

That's because the publisher has put a different spin on its sequel for Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3, including a more realistic approach to the game, licensed tournaments, high-definition graphics and a lengthy career mode. It's not quite as deep as 2K Sports' "Top Spin" simulation, mind you, but not as arcade-like as its predecessor or Sega's "Virtua Tennis" offerings.

While the game is not quite an ace, you'll have fun spending time on the court in "Grand Slam Tennis 2."

The first thing you'll notice about this game is the bump up in presentation, with slick HD visuals and smooth animation from the licensed players like Rafael Nadal, Roger Federer, Pete Sampras, Maria Sharapova, Serena and Venus Williams, and cover athlete John McEnroe (complete with early '80s mini afro and headband). Each of these virtual players move like their real-life counterparts, too.

The game also houses faithfully recreated tournaments, including the Grand Slams: Australian Open, French Open, U.S. Open and Wimbledon (an EA Sports exclusive); these should "serve" as a real treat for tennis buffs.

And with the TV-like camera angles and replays, ESPN graphics, advertisements and licensed apparel (Nike, Adidas, etc.), it really does feel like you're playing a televised match.

With all the prettiness, though, the players feel soulless. Unlike many other EA Sports titles, "Grand Slam Tennis 2" needs more emotion, drama and passion in the player's faces and performances.

But EA Sports somewhat makes up for it in the smooth and responsive control. Employing a technology called "Total Racket Control," you'll be controlling your players with the dual analog sticks: the left stick is reserved for player positioning on the court while the right stick focuses on the ball's power, direction and type of shot. It takes some getting used but despite the odd lag it feels quite intuitive — and load screens will remind you of all the different ways to serve, slam, slice or use top spin. You could also go through the optional but recommended training academy — especially if you're somewhat new to tennis games. You can use buttons, if you prefer, or a combination of sticks and buttons.

While not tried for this review, the PlayStation 3 version of the game supports the PlayStation Move motion-sensing peripheral; Kinect for Xbox 360 is not supported, however.

Along with quick games of singles or doubles, including online multiplayer matches, new to the series is a 10-year career mode. After you create a character from scratch and give him or her a name, you'll step into a small tourney in Dubai and work your way up to win Grand Slams over time. Between the mini-challenges, exhibition matches and major events, there's a lot of meat here. While it can get repetitive, commentary from McEnroe and Pat Cash is accurate and convincing, though it might not be surprising to hear that McEnroe could be especially harsh about your performance.

As with a few other EA Sports' games, such as "NHL" and "Fight Night," you can mix and match today's greats with the legends in "Grand Slam Tennis 2." Björn Borg versus Novak Djokovic? Why not. There's also an "ESPN Grand Slam Classics" mode, where you can replay some of the more memorable moments over the last 30 years of tennis history, such as Borg versus McEnroe or Nadal versus Federer.

Overall, "Grand Slam Tennis 2" is a very good outing from EA Sports as it charges back into the tennis arena. It strikes a healthy balance between a realistic simulation and easy arcade game, offering intuitive analog stick control, great graphics and includes many of the famous players from today and yesterday, as well as licensed tournaments.

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Grand Slam Tennis 2

Platform: Microsoft Xbox 360, Sony PlayStation 3

Genre: Sports

Developer: Electronic Arts

Publisher: EA Sports

Web site: easports.com/grandslamtennis2

Price: $59.99

Rating: Everyone

Score: 3.0 stars (out of 4)

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Contact Saltzman at techcomments@usatoday.com.