Wii Sports

"Wii Sports and 3 friends, the perfect recipe for fun!"

Knowing next to nothing about the Nintendo Wii before I purchased one, I was pleasantly surprised to see a free game coming out of the box along with the console itself.
And lucky for us Wii owners, it actually turned out to be pretty good, albeit a bit simple and lacking in any form of depth.

Graphics: 6/10

The graphics are probably one of the game's only cons. Like the Eyetoy for the Playstation 2, the graphics are smooth and workable, but it is clear the developers deliberately did not put too much effort into making the game look amazing. The game runs fine on a 16:9 Widescreen TV, giving it a slight bonus (and helps during multiplayer). Also, I will give the graphics and extra point for using the console's Miis in the Baseball teams and as spectators in the Bowling game, it's a nice touch.

The characters you use in each of the 5 games (a selected Mii from the console itself or a premade Mii – but why would you do this?), actually lacks any arms. From an accessibility point of view this may make the game easier to play with Boxing, but with other games, such as Tennis, it feels odd.

Gameplay: 8/10

The heart and soul of this game lies within the gameplay, and its associated funky control system. All 5 of the games make use of the motion sensor within the Wii Remote itself, with Boxing also using a Nunchuk as the ‘second glove'. While the Wii Remote doesn't give full 1:1 motion sensors, it works fine with Tennis, for example, acting very responsively to action taken. Even though the Wii Remote will react onscreen with only a flick of the wrist, the game feels and works better acting out the motion as you would in a real sport.

The first sport in the Wii Sports line-up is Tennis. Graphically, the sport hardly pushes the console to the limit, with the spectators (excluding the first row) appearing as dots, or coloured 2D blobs. Realistically, the crowd are quiet as you and up to 3 friends, or bots (is that the right term for a game like this?), compete to win a 1, 3 or 5 set game. As expected, you use the Wii Remote as your racquet, and in my opinion it performs up to scratch. If you fling the Remote wildly, you won't get far. The game is also quite good at picking up what kind of action you want it to do, and if you swing the Wii Remote hard enough in a serve, it's possible to get a speed boost on the ball, which is a nice touch. As you only use the Wii Remote as a controller in this game, the characters move by themselves to get the ball. Personally, I am not sure if this is good or a bad thing, giving the player controller over the onscreen avatar allows for a jump in freedom, but could also make the game significantly harder to play with the increased action the player needs to take. In terms of multiplayer, I have played this game with 4 people before, and I must say it is a lot of fun! It is a very unique multiplayer experience with 4 people swinging Wii Remotes to hit the ball, and compared to multiplayer games with previous generations of gaming consoles it is very refreshing.

The second game in the line-up is Baseball. While the onscreen bat matches how you are holding the Wii Remote, and feels cool to begin with, generally I find this game frustrating, due to an imbalance in pitching. When playing alone, I began to grow suicidal at the announcer shouting “Foul Ball!” over and over, as it is quite hard to hit a ball and make it go in front of you. When the ball actually goes in a straight line, more often than not it ends up in the paws of the one of the computer-controlled fielders. In my experiences in multiplayer, (two players with 2 Wii Remotes take it in turns to bat and pitch), the pitcher has too much freedom in the type of ball they want to do (fastball, curveball, etc.), making it difficult for the batter to predict what type of ball it is, making them swing either much too early or much too late, giving way to a streak of 0 – 0 games, making the game boring in that respect. Baseball is easily the weakest in the Wii Sports collection in my opinion.

Bowling, to many people is most likely the most addictive game in the Wii Sports line-up. Gameplay consists of the player swinging the controller backward while holding the B button on the Wii Remote, and then swinging it forward and letting go of the button to release the ball, much like the real thing. By pointing the Wii Remote (or tilting it), in a different direction to the initial walk-up, spin can be put on the ball, leading to cool trick shots (used in training, or to show off to friends). Before the final shot, the ball can be aimed using the D-Pad. Overall, the game feels realistic, and in multiplayer it can feel very competitive with players racking up scores, leading to tense gaming. It's all very fun, making Bowling one of the finest games in the Wii Sports collection.

Golf, perhaps graphically the most challenging of all of the games (but hardly pushing the console to any limits), can be either very fun or very frustrating. Holding the Wii Remote like a golf club, the player has to choose an appropriate club and aim in the right direction (on harder difficulties wind is involved). The frustration comes from over or under-sensitivity from the Wii Remote as you swing the on-screen club. Swinging it too hard makes the ball curve or hook in an unwanted direction, though what may seem to be a good swing on your practice swing may turn out to be a terrible shot when you come to do the real thing. This can lead to some frustration and shout-at-your-TV moments. In multiplayer, Golf is a lot slower than the other games, and overall feels very annoying compared to the other fast-paced games (even bowling seems to move at light speed compared to golf).

Boxing, the last game in the Wii Sports collection, is perhaps one of the most interesting. Using the Wii Remote (pointed upwards) and the Nunchuk as your on-screen fists, you have to jab, lean and dodge your way to victory. Being honest, in my opinion, there is only one word to review this sport on Wii Sports: random. Most matches (especially in multiplayer) end up in flinging the controllers as fast as possible to gain victory, and no matter how hard you try to do a sideways curving punch, 9 times out of 10 it will occur randomly. Leaning to dodge attacks (by leaning in real life with the controllers in your hands), however, feels very responsive, and cool, as your character mimics your real life movement. Another random occurrence in the game is the length of matches. Some games will last 30 seconds, others will last 3 rounds and the judges will have to decide who wins. This is due to the slightly odd knockout system, where there is no player input to if your character decides to get up after their health bar is taken down (some of it regenerates if they do get up). In two player it can be very fun though (and quite tiring!).

Sound: 8/10

The game has a very smooth soundtrack, and is realistic in respects to Tennis and Golf (no crowd noise due to the nature of the sports). The menu screens have vibrant soundtracks, fitting the content admirably.
The game makes good use of the Wii Remotes speaker, for example in Tennis, the speaker lets out a realistic noise when you swing your “racquet”, overall adding to the atmosphere of the game.

Depth: 4/10
Apart from training and a fitness mode (finding your ‘fitness age' – Brain Training style), and a Pro Status mode, this game has no depth at all. I feel this game could really benefit with a career mode of sorts, or some sort of story mode? After the initial few weeks of owning the game, I only ever seem to play it when I play it with friends.

The lack of any depth leads to the game being branded by many as a tech demo, though what can you expect from a free game?

Value for money: 10/10
Wii Sports greatest feature is the fact that it is free! It's a great game to play with friends, and even though it has a lack of depth, it is a great game to pick up and play.

Overall: 8/10
For a free game, Nintendo could have packaged anything with the Wii, but I'm sure gamers worldwide are glad to have such a gem coming free with their consoles.

Reviewer's Score: 8/10, Originally Posted: 06/27/07