Wimbledon 2008

Wimbledon is undoubtedly the highlight of the global tennis calendar for everyone who isn't actually aware there IS a global tennis calendar, but quite likes shouting at the telly as the latest plucky Brit exits at the quarter-final stage.

The fact that it also provides a better reason to skive off work/revision than the Jeremy Kyle Show and Loose Women is a bonus.

Thankfully, the official Wimbledon 2008 mobile game is just as accessible for the millions of two-weeks-a-year tennis fans as it is for hardcore aficionados. Not least because the bods responsible for Wimbledon sensibly hired Gameloft to make it.

That's Gameloft, the company behind the still-great Tennis Open 2007 game, which we gave a PG Gold Award to last year.

It wasn't broke, so Gameloft hasn't fixed it - instead, the publisher has tweaked its engine, tarted up its graphics, and included the option to argue with the umpire - although sadly not by throwing your racquet at them and turning the air blue.

There are several modes to play, including an Exhibition mode for single matches of up to three sets in length, on grass, clay or synthetic courts. You can play singles or doubles as men or women - or 'gentlemen' and 'ladies' as they're known in Wimbledon vernacular.

There's also the option to play in Wimbledon itself as one of a range of made-up players (sorry, no licensed Federer, Nadal or Murray here). You simply work your way through the tournament in three-set matches.

But the meat of the game is in its Career mode, which sees you work your way up from the lowly heights of 200th in the world (note, these are unimaginable heights for most British players) by winning tournaments and training up your skills.

It's essentially the same idea as Tennis Open 2007, which itself was heavily inspired by the training mini-game structure of Virtua Tennis before it.

The fun mini-games level up your serving, power, control and speed, getting progressively harder as you improve. Meanwhile, the tournaments are a mixture of short, sharp junior competitions, and full-on Grand Slam events, which you can enter as your ranking rises.

So what about the gameplay itself? Again, Wimbledon 2008 is similar to Tennis Open 2007 in its controls. So your player has eight-way movement around the court, using the keypad.

Where the ball will land is marked with a yellow marker, which turns white when you get into position for a shot. Now, the number keys control your actual stroke - '1' hits to the back left of the court, '5' to the middle, '9' to the bottom right, and so on.

It works very well, with a double-tap resulting in a slice, while '0' hits a lob. It doesn't take long to grasp, but the fun comes (in career mode) with mastering better shots as your player's skills increase.

A nice touch is the ability to occasionally challenge the umpire's decision, pressing '0' when prompted to get a mini-replay showing whether your ball was in or out.

All in all, Wimbledon 2008 is an excellent sports game in its own right, which deserves the higher profile brought to it by the Wimbledon licence. It's a shame there aren't real players in there too, of course.

Is it worth buying this new game if you already have Tennis Open 2007? Possibly not, although it does look nicer.

But the point of branding it means more of those casual fans might download it during Wimbledon fortnight. And this game's good enough to keep their tennis interest up all year round.