Wii Sports (Wii)
- Publisher:
- Nintendo
- Developer:
- Nintendo
- Release Date:
- 20.11.2006
- Number of players:
- n/a
- Type:
- Other
- Sport Type:
- Traditional
- Sport:
- Other
- Extra:
- Traditional
We play Wii Sports...
It's been a long time since a video game console launched with a pack-in game, but Nintendo has bucked the trend and thusly, everyone who buys a Nintendo Wii is getting a copy of Wii Sports. While the visuals may tend to indicate that Wii Sports is more of a tech demo than anything else... it's a load of fun to play, especially with friends.
There are five different sports that are touched in in Wii Sports: Bowling, Baseball, Golf, Tennis, and Boxing. While none of the five games are deep in terms of things like season mode, in-depth stat tracking, or even full games, most are extremely entertaining to play and it becomes very easy to have fun while looking like a complete idiot as you roll a ball, swing a bat, club or racket, or punch someone's lights out. The big difference between traditonal sports games and Wii Sports is the use of the Wii remote or Wiimote, for short. Instead of just pressing buttons and waiting for the outcome, the Wiimote detects your motions and translates them into on-screen action.
In Bowling, for example, the way you swing your arm and twist your wrist affects speed and hook. You initiate each throw by pressing the B (trigger) button on the back of the Wiimote, roll the ball, and then release the ball from your hand by releasing the B button. It's very possible to hook the ball into the pocket, much like a professional, with practice. If you put too much speed on the ball, you can leave a tough split; however, if you throw the ball too slowly, the ball may hook too much and miss the pins entirely. This is one of the best bowling simulations out there, and, honestly, is the crown jewel on this disc. The pin physics are spot on, with realistic pin action with properly thrown balls. Fans of the sport may clamor for league play, comprehensive stat tracking, and tournament play... but this is a first effort and a very good one, at that. The game does track your best score and also tracks your skill level.
Baseball is much more simplified than playing the actual game or even a standard baseball video game. You only are responsible for two actions: hitting and pitching. Once the ball is hit into play, automated fielders try to make plays on it, and a hit is assigned based on how quickly the fielder can get to it. There's no diving, no stealing, and no real strategy. What Baseball does have is a fun batting simulation and a deceptively deep pitching simulation. Batting is simple: Just hold the Wiimote like a bat, and, well... swing to hit incoming pitches. Timing is key, as is the speed of your swing. It's almost always gratifying to hit a home run, although it can be too easy at times. In terms of pitching, there are several pitches, based on your entry angle with the Wiimote. Fastballs are the most common, but breaking pitches are also possible with just the right angle on your arm motion. Games last only three innings, but that's usually enough, as you can easily get tired from all of the excess motion.
Golf is perhaps the most challenging game on the disc, as learning the nuances of the golf swing and how the Wii's sensor bar really only detects the follow-through can make for a more frustrating time than playing the real game outside. There's very little in terms of course availability, although the usual suspects, such as rough, sand, and water, are waiting to eat up your ball and leave you tough approaches to the pin. Club selection is simplified to choosing a driver, iron, wedge, or putter, so there are no longer any worries about whether to choose an 8-iron or 9-iron. This tends to remove a bit of strategy for duffers, but makes the game more accessible for everyone else.
Tennis can be fun, but unless you're playing in a wide-open room, two or more people will have difficulty playing at once. Players need room to swing their rackets and have subtleties such as angle and speed come into play via the sensor bar. Players move automatically here, like in baseball, so there's always a chance of your on-screen character not being in position through no fault of your own. Like in Baseball, though, it's fun to hit the ball and feel like you're actually doing the work. Tennis isn't very deep outside of the controls, though, and unless you're a huge fan of the sport, most players will rarely go back to this game.
Lastly, we have Boxing. When playing this game, all I could think of was Konami's MoCap Boxing, which was an arcade game that had actual gloves to wear and detected your movements to avoid punches while dealing out your own punishment. Boxing in Wii Sports also feels arcade-influenced, although the motion-sensing capability of the Wii seems a bit less accurate here possibly because of so much quick movement. In order to jab high, it feels as if you have to keep your arms above your head as you punch. Combinations are possible, and computer opponents can get a little tougher as you continue to play, but the game just feels inexact.
Aside from the five main sports, Nintendo has added a couple of modes of play for slightly different experiences. The Training mode introduces players to several nuances of each game by providing three different activities for each. Bowling Training, for instance, has minigames to test your spare pick-up ability, as well as an "obstacle course" of sorts in order to test how well you utilize hook on the ball. Baseball has a Home Run hitting contest, as well as tests for zonal hitting and rapid-fire batting practice. Each training game provides players with the chance to earn gold, silver, or bronze medals and your daily Wii message board gets an automated message from the game when such an achievement is accomplished. There's also the Wii Fitness mode. This mode of play challenges players to three random training events and then assigns a Fitness Age based on your results, similar to Brain Age. The game tracks your daily results and offers feedback via the Wii Message Board. If nothing else, this mode can get you to play once a day and see how well you do.
Visually, Wii Sports is much like the games on the disc: the graphics are simple and yet deceptively good. The characters are Miis-- which are simplistic characters that are either pre-made or made by console players. It's possible on the Wii to create your own Mii in your likeness. The creation choices are a bit sparse, but most players can do a decent job of creating themselves to see in the game. Aside from the characters, the visuals do the job for the most part. Bowling takes place in a standard bowling alley, complete with other Miis bowling on other lanes. Baseball takes place on a generic baseball diamond, although the crowd is a bunch colored dots. Golf showcases decent grass and water effects. All in all, you won't be overly impressed with the visuals, but you won't scoff at them, either.
In terms of sound, Wii Sports makes use of your speaker outputs as well as the internal speaker on each Wiimote. Through the speaker outputs, you'll hear decent music, as well as vocal cues and commentary and incidental sound effects... all encoded in Dolby Pro Logic II. Once you roll that ball or swing that bat, you can hear the audio cue through the speaker on the Wiimote. Perhaps the most impressive use of this feature is during the Tennis game, in which you can hear the ball impact the racket strongly through the speaker.
Wii Sports may not have the depth required to make it a regular play, such as in games like Madden NFL 07 or The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess; however, it does have the ability to make you go back for short periods and try to best your top scores or take down a friend or family member. Of perhaps greater importance is that Wii Sports is highly accessible for anyone who wants to play, regardless of experience with video games. It's a great starting point for the Wii, as Nintendo wants overall accessibility for the masses and Wii Sports has this in spades. The fact that Nintendo is packing in such a fun game only adds to the game's value. This is not a throwaway item; in fact, it stands as one of the best launch titles available.
Top Game Moment: Although Bowling is my personal favorite game, nothing was cooler than hitting my first home run in Baseball. I stood there and admired it, like Barry Bonds and without the steroids. Awesome.
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| Swing, batta batta batta... SWING! | No more used bowling shoes, thanks to Wii Sports |
There are five different sports that are touched in in Wii Sports: Bowling, Baseball, Golf, Tennis, and Boxing. While none of the five games are deep in terms of things like season mode, in-depth stat tracking, or even full games, most are extremely entertaining to play and it becomes very easy to have fun while looking like a complete idiot as you roll a ball, swing a bat, club or racket, or punch someone's lights out. The big difference between traditonal sports games and Wii Sports is the use of the Wii remote or Wiimote, for short. Instead of just pressing buttons and waiting for the outcome, the Wiimote detects your motions and translates them into on-screen action.
In Bowling, for example, the way you swing your arm and twist your wrist affects speed and hook. You initiate each throw by pressing the B (trigger) button on the back of the Wiimote, roll the ball, and then release the ball from your hand by releasing the B button. It's very possible to hook the ball into the pocket, much like a professional, with practice. If you put too much speed on the ball, you can leave a tough split; however, if you throw the ball too slowly, the ball may hook too much and miss the pins entirely. This is one of the best bowling simulations out there, and, honestly, is the crown jewel on this disc. The pin physics are spot on, with realistic pin action with properly thrown balls. Fans of the sport may clamor for league play, comprehensive stat tracking, and tournament play... but this is a first effort and a very good one, at that. The game does track your best score and also tracks your skill level.
Baseball is much more simplified than playing the actual game or even a standard baseball video game. You only are responsible for two actions: hitting and pitching. Once the ball is hit into play, automated fielders try to make plays on it, and a hit is assigned based on how quickly the fielder can get to it. There's no diving, no stealing, and no real strategy. What Baseball does have is a fun batting simulation and a deceptively deep pitching simulation. Batting is simple: Just hold the Wiimote like a bat, and, well... swing to hit incoming pitches. Timing is key, as is the speed of your swing. It's almost always gratifying to hit a home run, although it can be too easy at times. In terms of pitching, there are several pitches, based on your entry angle with the Wiimote. Fastballs are the most common, but breaking pitches are also possible with just the right angle on your arm motion. Games last only three innings, but that's usually enough, as you can easily get tired from all of the excess motion.
Golf is perhaps the most challenging game on the disc, as learning the nuances of the golf swing and how the Wii's sensor bar really only detects the follow-through can make for a more frustrating time than playing the real game outside. There's very little in terms of course availability, although the usual suspects, such as rough, sand, and water, are waiting to eat up your ball and leave you tough approaches to the pin. Club selection is simplified to choosing a driver, iron, wedge, or putter, so there are no longer any worries about whether to choose an 8-iron or 9-iron. This tends to remove a bit of strategy for duffers, but makes the game more accessible for everyone else.
Tennis can be fun, but unless you're playing in a wide-open room, two or more people will have difficulty playing at once. Players need room to swing their rackets and have subtleties such as angle and speed come into play via the sensor bar. Players move automatically here, like in baseball, so there's always a chance of your on-screen character not being in position through no fault of your own. Like in Baseball, though, it's fun to hit the ball and feel like you're actually doing the work. Tennis isn't very deep outside of the controls, though, and unless you're a huge fan of the sport, most players will rarely go back to this game.
Lastly, we have Boxing. When playing this game, all I could think of was Konami's MoCap Boxing, which was an arcade game that had actual gloves to wear and detected your movements to avoid punches while dealing out your own punishment. Boxing in Wii Sports also feels arcade-influenced, although the motion-sensing capability of the Wii seems a bit less accurate here possibly because of so much quick movement. In order to jab high, it feels as if you have to keep your arms above your head as you punch. Combinations are possible, and computer opponents can get a little tougher as you continue to play, but the game just feels inexact.
Aside from the five main sports, Nintendo has added a couple of modes of play for slightly different experiences. The Training mode introduces players to several nuances of each game by providing three different activities for each. Bowling Training, for instance, has minigames to test your spare pick-up ability, as well as an "obstacle course" of sorts in order to test how well you utilize hook on the ball. Baseball has a Home Run hitting contest, as well as tests for zonal hitting and rapid-fire batting practice. Each training game provides players with the chance to earn gold, silver, or bronze medals and your daily Wii message board gets an automated message from the game when such an achievement is accomplished. There's also the Wii Fitness mode. This mode of play challenges players to three random training events and then assigns a Fitness Age based on your results, similar to Brain Age. The game tracks your daily results and offers feedback via the Wii Message Board. If nothing else, this mode can get you to play once a day and see how well you do.
Visually, Wii Sports is much like the games on the disc: the graphics are simple and yet deceptively good. The characters are Miis-- which are simplistic characters that are either pre-made or made by console players. It's possible on the Wii to create your own Mii in your likeness. The creation choices are a bit sparse, but most players can do a decent job of creating themselves to see in the game. Aside from the characters, the visuals do the job for the most part. Bowling takes place in a standard bowling alley, complete with other Miis bowling on other lanes. Baseball takes place on a generic baseball diamond, although the crowd is a bunch colored dots. Golf showcases decent grass and water effects. All in all, you won't be overly impressed with the visuals, but you won't scoff at them, either.
In terms of sound, Wii Sports makes use of your speaker outputs as well as the internal speaker on each Wiimote. Through the speaker outputs, you'll hear decent music, as well as vocal cues and commentary and incidental sound effects... all encoded in Dolby Pro Logic II. Once you roll that ball or swing that bat, you can hear the audio cue through the speaker on the Wiimote. Perhaps the most impressive use of this feature is during the Tennis game, in which you can hear the ball impact the racket strongly through the speaker.
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| Thankfully, Roger Federer isn't in this game... so the rest of us have a chance to win | You think real golf is trying? Try reading these greens! |
Wii Sports may not have the depth required to make it a regular play, such as in games like Madden NFL 07 or The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess; however, it does have the ability to make you go back for short periods and try to best your top scores or take down a friend or family member. Of perhaps greater importance is that Wii Sports is highly accessible for anyone who wants to play, regardless of experience with video games. It's a great starting point for the Wii, as Nintendo wants overall accessibility for the masses and Wii Sports has this in spades. The fact that Nintendo is packing in such a fun game only adds to the game's value. This is not a throwaway item; in fact, it stands as one of the best launch titles available.
Top Game Moment: Although Bowling is my personal favorite game, nothing was cooler than hitting my first home run in Baseball. I stood there and admired it, like Barry Bonds and without the steroids. Awesome.
