The Biasphere

Tusserte (gaming profile)

Joined: Fri Feb 18, 2005 11:00 pm EST
42 Game Reviews

Considering that this game comes free with a Wii, I'll include a lot of the features about the Wii in this review as well.

As you obviously know, the Wii controller relies mostly on movement from the player. Wii Sports shows the player just how crazy their Wii experience is going to get.

The game comes with six main games. Before playing them, you will have to create a 'Mii' (a little customizable character that you make in a separate program). As a rule, I like to make my friends' Miis look exactly like them. Once your Mii is set up, you're ready to start playing.

In baseball (up to two players), a pitcher and a batter switch off for three innings and the winner is determined by how many home runs were scored. The pitcher throws the baseball by swinging his arm and can put different spins on it by holding different buttons down at the same time. Although I'm not sure how the programmers could've done it, I was a little disappointed that the entire fielding aspect of the game is handled by the AI, and the players have no control over errors/amazing plays or how many bases the batters can get.

In bowling (up to four players), the player plays a regular, ten frame game of bowling. You can move your position from left to right, angle your release, and then put spin on the ball by flicking your wrist.

Boxing (up to two players) is the only sport that will require the nunchuck attachment for your controller. Once it's plugged in, the player(s) can jab with either the controller or the nunchuck to make the character punch. Different swings are recognizable by your character when he swings, so you can plan a series of uppercuts, hooks, and jabs; or just go crazy and spaz out. You can also block by putting the two parts of the controller close together (which is why the hook is good to counter) or even dodge by moving them both around from side to side or back and forth. Whether or not your character gets up after being knocked down is kind of random.

In golf (up to four players), the players swing the controller like a golf club to hit the ball. You can choose different clubs (driver, iron, wedge, and putter), to take advantage of the course/wind and ultimately achieve the lowest score. There's a total of nine courses; three easy, three medium, and three hard. You can play them separately or in succession (which takes very long and gets boring). The problem with golf is that the courses are easy to memorize (the wind speed doesn't even change!) and get boring very quickly.

In tennis (up to four players), you can choose player slots (you can control more than one person if you want) and play a doubles match against either two players, two computers, or a player and a computer. Your character automatically lines you up to the shot, so you have to aim by either timing when you hit it &emdash; like hitting in baseball &emdash; or putting spin on the ball (flicking your wrist when you hit). Matches can be set to best of one, three, or five games (with normal tennis scoring: love, fifteen, thirty, forty, and possibly deuce/advantage point).

If playing these full mini-games gets boring, you can do special 'training' mini-games &emdash; variations of the sports including things like picking up spares from different arrangements of bowling pins, long-lasting tennis rallies, and more &emdash; or take a test that will measure 'how old you are' physically depending on how well you do at the tasks (which you can practice by playing the mini-games). Something seems wrong with these measurements, though, because it labeled me a 23 year-old and my friend a 70-something year-old!

You will find these games easier if you are good at the actual sports they're based on, but if you play too much of the virtual sport, you might develop bad habits when it comes to doing the real deal.

In a way, these games are actually a great form of exercise, and a great way to have fun at a party! Get your Wii today!

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