Golf
Golf is the deepest of the five. Here, you can also play four to one Wiimote. There are 9-holes in total, but a round of 3 is an option. The gameplay is probably the most frustrating of the sports as keeping the swing within the power bar is key. Swinging any stronger and it will go left or right of where you intended it to go. The strength that you need to hit the ball at is shown on a small map on the side with a line going from your Mii to the hole. This line has dots on it to help estimate the distance relative to your power bar which has the same number of dots on it. When it comes down to it, the driving is fine, it's the putting that can be extremely frustrating. Once you are about one dot away from the hole, getting the right amount of power is difficult as the Wiimote could not register the slight movements in the wrist. Without some experience, nine times out of ten, you overshoot. Other factors to consider before you swing away are wind and the slope of the grass while putting.
Tennis
In tennis, the only movement needed is the swing. The movement on the court itself is taken care of by the game so you can focus on hitting the ball. This system works out pretty well and puts more emphasis on backhanding and fore handing, depending on your movement. You can even perform lobs by hitting upwards. To serve, you just raise the Wiimote and swing with the right timing. There are a diferent combinations of set and games you can play and the game is playable in multi-player and seems to be the most fun. The only thing is you need a lot of space in front of your TV to keep people from smashing into each other.
Boxing
To box requires both the Wiimote and the Nunchuck. Here you hold the two in either of your hands, (Wiimote in your primary hand) and start punching. There are your jabs, hooks and uppercuts, however when it comes to the hooks, it is difficult to figure out how to pull them off as most of the hooks end up as either jabs or no punch is thrown. Other than that issue, the Wiimote and Nunchuck are responsive. Putting your hands up in translate on the Wii to you putting the gloves up to block any punches and you actually need to aim your punches to get hits where you want them.
Two other modes included in the game are the training mode and the fitness test. The training mode helps you hone your skills in each of the five sports. Some are actually quite useful in getting you to learn the various intricacies of the Wii Sports. In fitness test, you participate in various challenges and are given a fitness age at the end. If it hasn't been stated earlier, the Wii can be quite a workout if you get into it enough.
Graphically, the game is mediocre at best. While not being particularly ugly, most of the environments are bland and there isn't much attention to detail. Bright, colorful and crisp is as far as one would go in describing the graphics. The Miis, a player's avatar for the Wii Console Interface are used in this game and pretty much match the look the developers were going for. Audio-wise, the effects are nothing special, although it is pretty neat that some effects, such are the swing of the tennis racket, come out of the speaker on the Wiimote. Hopefully more games continue to make this feature a part of the game.
At the end of the day, Wii Sports is a demo for the Wii that plays like a real game. The game is absolutely worth the zero dollars you paid for it (at least in North America) and in fact is much more enjoyable than the other launch games for the Wii.
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| The Core Score |
Overall
7.6 |
| Fun |
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9 |
| Gameplay |
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8 |
| Graphics |
|
6.5 |
| Audio |
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6.5 |
| Replay |
|
8 |
|
| Kid Safe Score |
| 10 Great |
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Wii Sports is an all-ages affair, all there is to it. |
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