Wii Sports - Review
High: Great game to show off the potential of Nintendo's new controller.
Low: Not a great game to show off the potential of the graphics on Nintendo's new system.
******* NOT FINISHED - DO NOT APPROVE YET: still need to edit video and capture more screen shots **********
Nintendo has created much hype with their Wii Sports collection ever since they showcased it at their E3 Conference in 2006. They were even so confident in this collection to package it for free with the US console, a first since the SNES. The previewers, however, had received the compilation of mini-sports demos with mixed reactions. Some said they were too simplistic in style and presentation. Others said they displayed exactly what the Wii has in store. No matter what you say though, Wii Sports is just plain fun. Well, for the most part. Now that we have gotten our hands on the Wii, we are going to share with you the ups and downs of Wii Sports.
Wii Sports is essentially a collection of 5 dumbed-down sports games with a seemingly basic control scheme. However, some of these games are surprisingly realistic in their motion detection and it adds a very welcoming flavor to the mix. With the tilt of the wrist you can add spin to a bowling ball or place a tennis ball out of your opponent's reach.
The 5 sports games included in this compilation are tennis, bowling, baseball, golf, and boxing.
Tennis
Perhaps the most recognizable of all of the sports games is Tennis. Nintendo has spotlighted this game in their advertisements and previews because of its simplistic look. The gameplay is almost as simple as it looks. Only the Wii Remote is used in this game and it takes the place of what would be your racket. The player only controls the swing of the character's racket and the movement around the court is done automatically by the computer.
Many worried that because of the simple controls, the game would be too easy. It is easy, but not to the point of decreasing the fun-factor. There are certain maneuvers that you can perfect to make your game better like using your front player to return the ball quickly or placing the ball in a hard to reach area on the court.
Bowling
Out of all of the games in this collection, bowling has the highest replay value. Its combination of great controls and classic feel really make it a nice game to play alone or with the friends. To toss the ball down the lane you go through the same motions you would make while bowling in real life. Seems easy, right? Well it is in concept, but the game developers really did a nice job in making the game detect subtle discrepancies in the motions of your arm movements and using those to calculate the spin of the bowling ball.
You and your friends will definitely be spending some time finding the right touch to beat each other and best your own personal scores.
Baseball
Wii Sports Baseball should be more appropriately named Wii Sports Batting Practice, because that is essentially what it is. You can play "defense" in the game, but this only includes a very limited pitching control. The real meat and enjoyment of this game comes in the form of batting. Players must time their swing just right in order to hit one out of the park. There isn't much else to this game.
Golf
The most complex game in this compilation is Wii Sports Golf. The controls are not as intuitive as the rest of the collection, and one cannot simply just pick up the controller and feel at ease with this one.
The real problem lies in how they incorporated the idea of golf. In theory, the Wiimote would make a perfect golf game, but the controls for this golf game are somewhat clunky and unresponsive.
You can take as many practice swings as you want before you actually hit the ball so that you may accurately judge distance. However, due to poor implementation, it is often times hard to mimic the same swing twice in the game.
Boxing
Boxing is the most frustrating of the 5 sports games. It is the only game that utilizes the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk attachment. You control your boxer's arms by thrusting your hands forward to punch. Again, this is another one of those games that sounds easy in concept but in the game it becomes very confusing very fast.
The problem lies in movement detection. Often times it seems as though the movements you are making are not being duplicated on the screen. After trying for a while to figure out which arm movements will be detected, the end result is a flail-fest and up-to-two frustrated users.
Other Mini-games
Wii Sports has two other sections in the game that add to the replay value: Training and Wii Fitness.
Training offers three mini-games for each sport. These mini-games can range from purely frustrating to extremely addicting.
One of the more enjoyable training games has you trying to knock down as many pins as possible. The first round you start with a 10 pin setup, then 15 pins, all the way up to a 91 pin setup on the last round. Just the scattering of 91 pins is fun to watch in and of itself.
The game also features a Wii Fitness mode in which you complete three different mini-games and the computer calculates your "Fitness Age" based on how well you do. The lower your age, the better. Sorry if there are any older folks reading this review
We still love you.
Closing Comments
Wii Sports is definitely a great game to show off to everyone who has questions on how the Wii works. To include it with their console pack in the US was, in my opinion, a smart move. It truly targets the non-gamers and is sure to put a smile on anyone's face. Wii Sports gives hope that there are even better and more feature rich sports games to be released in the future.
However, due to shallow depth of gameplay and a few clunky control issues the longevity of game sessions is going to be very lacking. Tennis and Bowling are probably the only two games you'll find yourself coming back to again and again. The others lose their amusement fairly fast. The various mini-games do add a lot to the replay value though and it's always fun to see how you can improve your game.
High: Great game to show off the potential of Nintendo's new controller.
Low: Not a great game to show off the potential of the graphics on Nintendo's new system.
******* NOT FINISHED - DO NOT APPROVE YET: still need to edit video and capture more screen shots **********
Nintendo has created much hype with their Wii Sports collection ever since they showcased it at their E3 Conference in 2006. They were even so confident in this collection to package it for free with the US console, a first since the SNES. The previewers, however, had received the compilation of mini-sports demos with mixed reactions. Some said they were too simplistic in style and presentation. Others said they displayed exactly what the Wii has in store. No matter what you say though, Wii Sports is just plain fun. Well, for the most part. Now that we have gotten our hands on the Wii, we are going to share with you the ups and downs of Wii Sports.
Wii Sports is essentially a collection of 5 dumbed-down sports games with a seemingly basic control scheme. However, some of these games are surprisingly realistic in their motion detection and it adds a very welcoming flavor to the mix. With the tilt of the wrist you can add spin to a bowling ball or place a tennis ball out of your opponent's reach.
The 5 sports games included in this compilation are tennis, bowling, baseball, golf, and boxing.
Tennis
Perhaps the most recognizable of all of the sports games is Tennis. Nintendo has spotlighted this game in their advertisements and previews because of its simplistic look. The gameplay is almost as simple as it looks. Only the Wii Remote is used in this game and it takes the place of what would be your racket. The player only controls the swing of the character's racket and the movement around the court is done automatically by the computer.
Many worried that because of the simple controls, the game would be too easy. It is easy, but not to the point of decreasing the fun-factor. There are certain maneuvers that you can perfect to make your game better like using your front player to return the ball quickly or placing the ball in a hard to reach area on the court.
Bowling
Out of all of the games in this collection, bowling has the highest replay value. Its combination of great controls and classic feel really make it a nice game to play alone or with the friends. To toss the ball down the lane you go through the same motions you would make while bowling in real life. Seems easy, right? Well it is in concept, but the game developers really did a nice job in making the game detect subtle discrepancies in the motions of your arm movements and using those to calculate the spin of the bowling ball.
You and your friends will definitely be spending some time finding the right touch to beat each other and best your own personal scores.
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Baseball
Wii Sports Baseball should be more appropriately named Wii Sports Batting Practice, because that is essentially what it is. You can play "defense" in the game, but this only includes a very limited pitching control. The real meat and enjoyment of this game comes in the form of batting. Players must time their swing just right in order to hit one out of the park. There isn't much else to this game.
Golf
The most complex game in this compilation is Wii Sports Golf. The controls are not as intuitive as the rest of the collection, and one cannot simply just pick up the controller and feel at ease with this one.
The real problem lies in how they incorporated the idea of golf. In theory, the Wiimote would make a perfect golf game, but the controls for this golf game are somewhat clunky and unresponsive.
You can take as many practice swings as you want before you actually hit the ball so that you may accurately judge distance. However, due to poor implementation, it is often times hard to mimic the same swing twice in the game.
Boxing
Boxing is the most frustrating of the 5 sports games. It is the only game that utilizes the Wii Remote and the Nunchuk attachment. You control your boxer's arms by thrusting your hands forward to punch. Again, this is another one of those games that sounds easy in concept but in the game it becomes very confusing very fast.
The problem lies in movement detection. Often times it seems as though the movements you are making are not being duplicated on the screen. After trying for a while to figure out which arm movements will be detected, the end result is a flail-fest and up-to-two frustrated users.
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Other Mini-games
Wii Sports has two other sections in the game that add to the replay value: Training and Wii Fitness.
Training offers three mini-games for each sport. These mini-games can range from purely frustrating to extremely addicting.
One of the more enjoyable training games has you trying to knock down as many pins as possible. The first round you start with a 10 pin setup, then 15 pins, all the way up to a 91 pin setup on the last round. Just the scattering of 91 pins is fun to watch in and of itself.
The game also features a Wii Fitness mode in which you complete three different mini-games and the computer calculates your "Fitness Age" based on how well you do. The lower your age, the better. Sorry if there are any older folks reading this review
We still love you.Closing Comments
Wii Sports is definitely a great game to show off to everyone who has questions on how the Wii works. To include it with their console pack in the US was, in my opinion, a smart move. It truly targets the non-gamers and is sure to put a smile on anyone's face. Wii Sports gives hope that there are even better and more feature rich sports games to be released in the future.
However, due to shallow depth of gameplay and a few clunky control issues the longevity of game sessions is going to be very lacking. Tennis and Bowling are probably the only two games you'll find yourself coming back to again and again. The others lose their amusement fairly fast. The various mini-games do add a lot to the replay value though and it's always fun to see how you can improve your game.
Scores:
Graphics: 65
Audio: 65
Gameplay: 87
Replay: 85
Overall: 86
Graphics: 65
Audio: 65
Gameplay: 87
Replay: 85
Overall: 86
