Wii Sports offers five distinct sports
experiences, each using the Wii Remote to provide a natural,
intuitive and realistic feel. Players use their own Mii caricatures
in the game and play them against their friends' Miis for a more
personalised experience. As players improve, their Miis ' skill
levels will increase, so they can see exactly how much better
they've become.
Tennis (1-4 players): Players grab the
controller like a racket and swing – the game will register
forehands, backhands, volleys, lobs, slices, spin and power
depending on how fast the user swings and at what angle. Don’t worry
about moving around the court to get to the ball – the game
automatically moves players into position.
• Baseball (1-2 players): Players grip the Wii Remote like a bat and
swat fastballs out of the park, or fire a fastball over the plate
with a flick of their wrist. Timing and bat speed will make all the
difference between going yard and whiffing, so keep an eye on the
ball and swing for the fences. In the two-player game, one player
pitches and the other bats – all fielding and running is automatic,
so that players can focus on the action.
• Golf (1-4 players): Step up to the tee, hold the controller like a
golf club and swing naturally to smack the ball onto the green. The
harder players swing the club, the farther the ball will fly, so be
sure to take some practice swings before going for the pin. After
reaching the green, line up putts carefully, practice the stroke and
try to hole out.
• Bowling (1-4 players): Players raise the Wii Remote in their hands
just like a bowling ball, then swing their arms to roll the ball.
The speed of the swing and the angle at which they release the ball
effects the ball's spin, so it will take some time to master the
ball and knock down the pins.
• Boxing (1-2 players): Using the Nunchuk controller as one glove
and the Wii Remote as the other, players dodge, weave and punch
their opponents. Players hold their hands high to to gaurd their
faces or low to block their torsos. They punch high to hit their
opponents' faces, or punch low to get under their body gaurd for a
body blow. Swing boths arms right or left to sidestep oncoming blows
and move into position for a devestating knockout.
WiiSports is like a buffet: for a discount price, you get a taste of
everything, but the catch is that you cannot take anything home with
you. While there are five unique sports games within WiiSports, none
of them allow me to take their experiences and translate them to
actual sports. This may be asking for too much from a simple and
free pack-in title like WiiSports, but the Wii’s big innovation is
their translation of the games’ respective genres. In a majority of
the games, I do not feel immersed in the title because I do not
control the direct actions of my character.
Though these games allow me to control the arm movements, where my
character moves is done for me, as if I am the puppet. This is a
great move for both the newcomer and the core audience: it allows
simplicity to prevail, while still giving those players a challenge.
For seasoned gamers like myself, I found this to be a way to limit
my excitement. It isn’t as complete as I would have liked either. I
would be enthralled to not only be able to hit a high flyer in
Baseball, but also jab the A button to make my guy run around as
many bases as he can. To contrast this opinion, my family members
(non-gamers) found the most joy in just hitting the ball, leaving me
to see that the Wii will walk a very fine line in future titles.
The graphics in the game are inviting, which is a key reason as to
why I enjoy this game. I feel the ability to play with your own
avatar is a great way to get anyone to play. While these are
certainly not top of the line looking characters, the game at no
time means for you to take it seriously. The graphics complement the
gameplay in this way, since they, like the game, will make you
chuckle as you play. Gameplay itself is deeper then some would
think.
Many traditional gamers will soon realize that just a slight curve
in your wrist will curve your shot in Bowling, while non-gamers will
play without knowing exactly why their ball isn’t going straight.
It’s little details like this that will carry the title to hardcore
gamers’ hearts, because that target audience is used to little
things making a big difference. In addition, non-gamers will soon
realize that the game is a "simulator" and will adjust themselves
accordingly.
The other great aspect of this game is Fitness. Like Brain Age on
the DS, it allows you to do a daily check on your "fitness age"
based on how you perform the set tasks. Also like Brain Age, the
control method sometimes hampers these tasks. However, with some
practice, I can see players doing well at this, but due to lack of
variety this option feels tacked on.
