"A good way to show off a little bit of what the Wii can do."

Wii Sports, a game that comes packaged with the Wii (unless you live in Japan) is a launch title that consists of five sports simulations: tennis, baseball, bowling, golf, and boxing. This game will get you off the couch and make you move and swing the Wiimote all over the place.

Remember: listening to safety precautions is a savior; PUT ON THE WRIST-STRAP.

The game lets you use the Mii stored in your Wii. If you're going elsewhere, you can store your personalized Mii onto the Wii remote! The game is pick-up-and-play, a great party game or a good way to kill time. Once you pop in the disc and press start, you are instantly presented with seven options: the five sports, Training Mode, and Wii Fitness.

Tennis
It's a 2 on 2 tennis match, the weather's perfect, and the crowd's ready to cheer you on as you wield your almighty tennis racket. Tennis allows you to swing the Wii remote left and right as to simulate a real tennis racket. A ball will be given to you as you whack it back to your opponent. If it's your first time playing, you may be a little confused on how to add spin to the ball or how to senit straight forward; it's all about the timing. Once you get a hang of things, this game can be a great load of fun, especially with multiplayer play.You can play one round, three rounds, or five round, so if you want to play a quick round, or have a full-fledged, all-out tennis match, you have the option. It is disappointing there is very little option on courts, it's just a tech-demo, anyway.

Baseball
Batter up! You are the batter. Wield thy golden bat, and swing with confidence as the all important ball silently heads toward you. Wham! The camera quickly shifts up to a dynamic angle, showing how your powerful swing sent the ball flying out of the park.

Oh, right. You can be the pitcher too.

Baseball is a very basic simulation of the sport itself, giving you only two ways to play: be a batter or pitcher. That's right, you can't play third base, center, catcher, or whatever you wish to be that excludes pitcher and batter. The game is 2 players, so you only need 2 Wii remotes. Don't be afraid to share the Wii remote with others so you an have more than two people playing.

As a batter, you have to grip the Wii remote as if it were actually a bat (you know, with two hands), and swing as the pitcher launches a ball at you. You'll actually have to swing, so secure your wrist straps, and make sure you have enough space to swing. Again, it's all about timing. A solid hit with perfect timing will most certainly send the ball flying. A clumsy swing will either end up as a foul ball, or lob the ball forward for an easy out. Don't be embarrassed if you get 16 consecutive foul balls in a row, it happens. The game is very much dependent on the NPC Miis; they decide whether they catch a ball heading straight there way or have an error and drop the ball. So be ready to yell at an NPC if he or she drops the ball and ends up giving a packed diamond another triple.

As a pitcher, the camera shifts to the pitcher mound and faces the batter. You are the pitcher! Hooray, for you shall sling your arm forward and press a button combination to affect the ball's pitch! Pitching is very simple. Hold the Wii remote and swing it forward, the speed of your swing will affect the speed of the ball. Combinations of the A or B buttons can lead to splitters, fastballs, or curves. It may be a bit boring, and you may find your arm to be a little sore after. It is rewarding if you strikeout a batter, or fool someone with a 65 MPH splitter.

Overall, Baseball is a fun, yet lacking game. Swinging the Wii remote as a bat is a blast, and swinging the Wii forward is somewhat trying to the arm, but a great way to show off how fast you can launch a baseball. Only the option of batter or pitcher, nothing else sadly.

Bowling
Blast! Seven-ten split?! You got to be kidding me!

Nothing like a game of bowling, no? This is my favorite game in Wii Sports. It's a very well-done simulation of bowling, where you can play to a preference of if you want to curve the ball or not, or if have the ball go onto someone else's lane and you get laughed at! Your first time playing you might get some weird spins and gutter-balls all around, but once you get a hang of adjusting your spin and location, you'll be wishing you can play that well in real life.

Golf
Oh, it's a good thing I didn't hold A.. that was a terrible swing.
Golf. In this game, you grip the Wii remote and swing it as if it were a golf club. Swinging the golf club is a real pain, you'll have a hard time getting the swing you actually want. Putting is especially difficult, getting a soft putt is frustrating. You have 9 courses, each lavishly layed out with trees, sparkling rivers, distant cliffs, or open grass. Good detail.

Boxing
Difficult to get the hang of, but oh-so fun. Your nunchuk attachment is needed for this game. The Wiimote and the nunchuk play your right and left fists, respectively. Lunge your controllers forward to jab, hold the controllers up to your chest to block, and tilt left and right to dodge. It's fun, but really frustrating if you wanna play seriously. The controls are unresponsive, so you might find your Mii not punching when he or she should be. Multiplayer is fun, punches will be constantly thrown back and forth. You won't really know what's going on.

Training
Want to improve? Practice! Training adds on to Wii Sports by offering three different types of practice for each sport. Whether it's practicing your curve in bowling, or knocking a punching bag off its chain, it's still all fun and games. You can play multiplayer too, so they can be like mini games, if you want to think of it that way.

Wii Fitness
Ready to show off your skills? Wii Fitness presents you with three tests, all being from Training Mode. You'll have to do your best, otherwise your Wii Fitness Age will increase. Yup, you have a Wii Fitness Age. It adopts the concept seen in Brain Age, where 20 is the best age you can get, meaning you are in top physical shape. It's enjoyable, but don't be let down when you get an age of 72. You can easily improve.

Presentation
Despite it being a tech demo, the graphics in the game are decent. It doesn't stand out or anything, but it's no reason to whack Nintendo with the shame stick. The whole idea of Mii characters having balls for hands and having a can-like torso is cute, it may get old though. Doesn't worry me. Graphics are smooth, but trees are nicely detailed with shadow and light and water is nicely presented. I did enjoy the scenery in Golf, but it's nothing to be hyped up about. The graphics are well done, but it's not a big benefit for having the game.

The game is presented with light and easy-going music, colorful images and cute characters. It can appeal to mostly anybody.

Overall, the 5 sports in the game are well-done, but lacking. No internet or tournament play does ruin the feeling of competition, but getting a strike in bowling, hitting a home run in baseball, or serving an ace in tennis gives you a good feeling. It's a good thing this game came with the Wii, otherwise I'd rather rent this game instead. Whether it's a youngster just getting into games, or an old man hoping for a peaceful game of golf, Wii Sports is a good way to get things going for an owner of a Wii.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 01/02/07