Reviews

Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Genre: Sports
Release Date: Nov 19, 2006
Players: 1-4


Introduction
Not only is Wii Sports a perfect example of what the Nintendo Wiis motion-sensitive controls is all about, but the game is also set at a price for North American region Wii buyers that everyone in that region can't resist: Free (bundled with the Wii).

Gameplay
Wii Sports is a collection of five sports games each using intuitive motion-sensitive controls that are simple enough for just about anyone to just pick up and play. Those games are Baseball, Bowling, Boxing, Golf, and Tennis. Each of the games controls as if you're playing the actual game with you holding the Wii Remote (and Nunchuck for Boxing) to each of the sports respectable positions. There are options in the game for both right and left handed players, so you don't have to change the way that you play each of the games as you may do in the real game.

Before playing a game in Wii Sports you can select a character that you've created in the Mii Channel. The Mii Channel is where you can create a virtual you or anyone else that you choose to make. When you use a Mii in Wii Sports the game will save that Miis skill level and high scores. The cool thing about having many Miis in your Mii Channel is that those Miis will make a cameo appearance in Wii Sports: in Bowling, some of your Miis will be hanging out in the background; in Baseball, random Miis will make up your team. As you become a better player, your Miis skill level will rise (or fall if you lose your edge) and your opponents will become harder.

The gameplay in Baseball, and when you're the batter, is the same as when you're actually playing the real game. You hold your Wii Remote as if you're holding a bat, and use eye coordination and speed to hit the ball. The harder you swing your Wii Remote the farther the ball may travel depending on the pitchers throw.

When you're the pitcher you hold the Wii Remote as if it's a ball and mimic an actual pitchers actions minus throwing the Wii Remote of course. Before pitching you have the option to change the direction where you're going to throw the ball. You can throw either a curve ball, fastball, screwball, or splitter. Unlike in the real game this virtual version of Baseball has three innings. If one player scores more than five runs over his opponent there's a mercy rule where the game ends.

Multiplayer in Baseball is really fun. It's best when the batter is standing right in front of the television and the pitcher standing far away from the batter. The pitcher can hide his/her controller away from the batters view to hide any secret movements, such as which throw the pitcher is going to use and what direction the pitcher is going to throw the ball.

Bowling is the best sports game in Wii Sports. I expect seniors or people who can't lift a bowling ball to really enjoy this virtual version of bowling. Control wise you hold the Wii Remote as if it's a bowling ball. You can change the position of your character and the direction that you're going to throw the ball. When you're ready to throw the ball, hold down the B button, while holding down the B button swing your arm behind you, and then swing the Wii Remote forward, and when you're ready to let go of the bowling ball, simply let go of the B button.

If you take too long to let go of the bowling ball (B button) you'll get a creeper, If you move you're Wii Remote really fast and let go of your bowling ball (B button) really fast your bowling ball won't go straight and may go into the gutter.

Next up is Boxing: the only game in Wii Sports that will make you exhausted to the point where you may need to take a break in between each round. Boxing is also the only game in Wii Sports where you have to use both the Wii Nunchuck and Wii Remote in order to play the game. The Wii Nunchuck acts as your left hand and the Wii Remote acts as your right hand. To punch you simply punch as you would in real life by moving your hands in a swift manner forward. To block a punch in the face you hold up your hands up and block your face. To block other punches such as to the side you simply move slightly to the right or left depending on where your opponent is aiming. If you would like a visual tutorial on how to box in this game, watch a Rocky movie.

To win a match you'll have to be fast by throwing many punches and moving side to side often. As you win matches your opponent will become stronger and you'll need to move side to side even more and throw even more punches to knock 'em out. There are three one minute rounds. The first player to be knocked out wins, and if no one is knocked out by the end of the third round, the winner will be declared by judge's decision that is based on total punches received and blocked.

Boxing is my least favorite sport title in Wii sports because there's not much moves in the game to be really fun. However, multiplayer can be somewhat fun and it's really fun to watch grandpa knock out buff boy.

Golf is the hardest game to master in Wii Sports. In every other game someone who has never played Wii Sports is able to beat someone who has. In Golf, however, you will need to practice how the swing system works to get the hang of it. Once you master the swing Golf can be really fun. The harder that you swing your club the farther that your ball will travel, and if you swing too hard, your golf ball will split away from the direction that you were aiming. Also, you'll need to change the direction that you swing your club in accordance with the direction and speed of the wind (if any) which varies from course to course to keep the game fresh. If you're lucky, there will be no wind on your course.

There are four modes in Golf: 3 Hole easy, 3 Hole Intermediate, 3 Hole Hard, and 9 Hole. The 9 Hole game is made up of all of the courses from the Easy, Intermediate, and Hard modes. Multiplayer Golf is best played with other people who knows how to swing but can also be fun with new players if they don't care about winning.

Last but certainly not least is Tennis: The most exciting multiplayer game in Wii Sports! Playing tennis with other players is a blast and is easy to just pick up and win a high skilled player. To serve a ball you lift your Wii Remote in the air and swing forward to send the ball to your opponents. To hit the tennis ball and aim where you want the tennis ball to go, you simply swing the Wii Remote fast to direct the ball towards the left, or swing the Wii Remote soft to direct the ball towards the right, or swing the Wii Remote in-between to direct the ball towards the middle.

In addition to all of the games in Wii Sports, there's also two other modes in the game. The first of which is Training Mode. There's three training modes for each of the games: Baseball: Hitting Home Runs, Swing Control, Batting Practice; Bowling: Picking Up Spares, Power Throws, Spin Control; Boxing: Working the Bag, Dodging, Throwing Punches; Golf: Putting, Hitting the Green, Target Practice; Tennis: Returning Balls, Timing Your Swing, Target Practice.

The best Training Mode is the Power Throw mode in Bowling. You start the Power Throw training session by knocking down as many pins as you can using only one throw. The first round starts you off with a standard 10 pin set. You then move on to other rounds that has more pins that you have to knock down, and in the final round, you'll have to knock down a whopping 91 pins!

The second mode is Wii Fitness. You can only play this option once per day per Mii. Wii Fitness features three random training modes (events) where you'll be measured on Balance, Speed, and Stamina of which will determine your age (from 20 to 80) based on how well you've played.

Graphics & Sound
There's nothing flashy in Wii Sports in both the graphics and sound department but the game has some major style via Miis. The game runs in 60 frames per second running in 16:9 widescreen progressive-scan mode. You will hear pins dropping, ball hitting, and crowd reactions to your plays all starting out with a sporty theme song when choosing which game to play.