Sports Island 3D (3DS) Review

Sports Island has always been one of those franchises that I haven’t really put much care or attention into playing, as they seem to be riding on the success of Wii Sports and the more recent Wii Sports Resort. Both of these titles take place on an island, both feature a wide range of sports (albeit different ones on each package) with one major difference – they’re both developed by different teams. One is Nintendo, who we typically associated with quality nowadays, while the other is developed by the now defunct HUDSON. Having a significant lack of a sporting compilation on the Nintendo 3DS, does Sports Island 3D fit that niche comfortably? Or is it more of an awkward shuffle into a niche it can’t really fit into?

Sports Island 3D utilises a rather derivative and eerily familiar presentation style to Nintendo and their illustrious Wii range of games, including the launch title Wii Sports. The characters are all drawn in a kind of cartoony style, though the art direction in this game leads more towards reality than the Miis do, but still have that signature Mii look which is both strange and interesting. The simplistic presentation of the game do, however, match the game’s feel quite well. This is further emphasised by the 3D effects which thankfully add an extra layer of depth and even aid the gameplay sometimes, as it’s not done too half assed, which is great to see from a developer that isn’t Nintendo. There are of course a few jaggies here and there but nothing too offensive to the eyes. The game is bright and clean looking, almost looking as good as other Wii games such as Wii Sports and Wii Party.

Sports Island 3D boasts a rather impressive amount of sports to choose from, ranging from the ones you’d expect like tennis, hockey, soccer and basketball to the more obscure sports such as Trampolining, Sumo Wrestling and Snowball Fighting (Yeah, we’re not sure about the last one either). When first booting the game, players will be given the option to build their own “Olympic” team to tackle the different sports with. Upon choosing a team, players can jump into one of four different modes, though to be honest they don’t offer much variety, instead randomising which sport you play or playing multiple ones in tournament style play – hardly anything ground breaking.

Controls are also quite simple and thus perfect for people who just want to pick up and play, with the Circle Pad controlling the movement of the characters and the L button usually being mapped to a “super shot” of sorts, that varies depending on the sport played. Additionally, the face buttons also vary depending on which sport you play, but it’s all very intuitive and I never had a problem picking up one sport from another – and considering how many sports there are, this is a great accomplishment.

In terms of quality, the sports package is a little bit of a mixed bag. Where some sports are pretty well designed and fun to play, others don’t actually feel all that substantial and it’s fairly obvious some of these were tacked on quickly to fatten up the overall package. The game has this rather annoying (yet realistic) Stamina component in which players must rotate their team members or suffer the consequences of reduced performance. It’s a nice touch of realism but personally I don’t see why it had to be included in a game that’s really not so serious looking or feeling. It’s hard to go through every single game and list its pros and cons (as well as excruciating for some readers), so I’ll just mention my favourites. Sumo Wrestling is a good tug-of-war kind of game, Tennis actually works really well (almost as well as Wii Sports) and Snow Mobile Racing is seriously similar to Mario Kart.

Finally, there is multiplayer functionality, and thankfully I managed to get a friend with a (rented) copy to try the game. There are two main options with Sports Island 3D, and they are Local Play, which is obviously played between two 3DSes using their wireless functionality (with two cartridges) or Download Play, where a sport is selected and both players can play using just one 3DS card. It’s nice to see Download Play returning finally, but there is one annoyance. It’s probably a technical issue which wouldn’t really be fixable, but each “session” of download play can only be one sport – so if you want to play another sport with a friend you’re connected with, you have to close the game and start again. It’s a bit annoying but I do understand why it’s done this way, especially in a “Download Play” kind of scenario.

In terms of longevity, I have to be honest. Sports Island 3D is a very, very, VERY casual game – you literally pick it up and play it for no more than an hour at best. It’s great fun to pick up and play but it really doesn’t offer heaps to do in long sessions, but it is a nice little distraction. For those who want something more, characters can be unlocked by completing certain events. Although nothing remarkable, the package still tries its best to extend itself but the offerings are rather slim. It must be commended to have such a substantial number of sports, however. Some kind of online mode would’ve also been quite nice too.

Sports Island 3D is a very well put together minigame compilation that does its best to offer a sporting compilation on the Nintendo 3DS. Despite its lack of competition right now, it manages to stand up very well, although those expecting something deep and compelling will probably be let down – this is a very casual, pick-up-and-play experience.

Graphics 8.0

Nice simplistic artistic direction along with a great third party 3D effect.

Gameplay 6.5

Theres heaps of sports on offer, and most of them are easy to play, but some of the sports feel very half done.

Sound 6.0

Inoffensive but unremarkable soundtrack offers a decent backing to the action.

Tilt 7.5

Theres a nice amount of sports and some unlockables here, but nothing that will stand out. Still, the package is full of a decent amount of varied sports

Value 9.0

Despite my initial apprehension, I really enjoyed my time with Sports Island 3D, especially when I realised how there wasnt anything else like it on the 3DS…..yet.