Wii Sports Resort Review
Wii Sports did its job back when the Wii launched. It showed developers how the Wii Remote could be used in five different ways and it was also the perfect introductory game to the concept of the Wii. Everyone knows how to play sports, so it was a natural fit. Now with Wii Sports Resort and the Wii MotionPlus accessory, Nintendo is again using sport to show off just what its new hardware can do. Like Wii Sports, some of the games in Wii Sports Resort are not very good and you’ll find yourself rarely coming back to them, but it’s the ones that do work that are what’s worth sticking around for. This isn’t the same game you played three years ago. Not by a long shot.
Now, I know what you’re thinking. Another mini-game collection on the Wii… hell, this one is even from Nintendo themselves! But Wii Sports Resort is not the same as every other sports-based mini-game collection that’s out there. Yes it contains a collection of 12 mini-games (two of which featured in the original Wii Sports), but there is depth to these games that might not be apparent on the surface. If you dig a little deeper, you’ll find there is plenty of deep gameplay on offer, but that’s not to say you have to put in countless hours to have fun with the game. Wii Sports Resort, like its predecessor, is deep enough to be enjoyed by hardened gamers and simple enough to be enjoyed by everyone else. Yes, even you macho-FPS-bald-space-marine gamers – you too can have fun with this.
From the get-go, all 12 games are unlocked. There’s no pesky beavering away in single player mode to make sure you can get the full experience. But that’s not the say there aren’t things to unlock – there are. Most of the sports or events have harder modes or extra levels that can be unlocked, but a small amount of play time will usually do the trick. I found this unlocking a little redundant though as all you have to do is beat your top score meaning at a minimum you need to play twice to unlock something.
Since all of the games are unlocked from the start, there is no specific order in which to play them, you just pick whichever takes your fancy, with one exception. When you boot up the game you’ll be thrown out of a plane and straight into the Skydiving mode. It’s a perfect introduction to just how well the MotionPlus can pick up your movements. The game shows a transparent Wii Remote over your Mii which helps you quickly get the hang of the controls. You can move your Mii in any which way – roll, tilt and rotate your Wii Remote and it just works. The first of many examples of how this game couldn’t be done without MotionPlus. You can revisit the Skydiving section later and it adds taking photos of your jump when you connect with other people, as well as getting in a formation. While you’ve got your head in the clouds, there is also the Air Sports Plane modes which includes a simple flyover in a plane, or you can hook up more controllers and have a duel. The flyover is more of a relaxation exercise, while the duel is a little fun as you hunt your fellow player down. You control the plane in very much the same way as the skydiver… however the plane is rather slow, so seeing the entire island will take a while. This is good as there are many hidden spots, nooks and crannies all over the island to explore.
From the skies to the open sea, there are three events out in the ocean surrounding the island. These are Wakeboarding, Power Cruising (aka the humble Jet Ski) and Canoeing. Wakeboarding, as you’d expect, puts you in behind a boat powering around and using the wake of the waves to jump. Scores are given for jumps and tricks which are performed by pushing the Wii Remote left and right when going over a wave. Power Cruising has you holding your hands out with the both the Wii Remote and Nunchuck like you’re holding on to the handle bars of a jet ski. By leaning your hands left and right, you can tilt and turn the jet ski. Acceleration is handled by holding either the A or B button and you twist your wrist like an accelerator to engage the turbo. Again this is open to four players with either time trial or versus mode (or you can just cruise around the island, five minutes at a time). Power Cruising is one of the better events in the game. While the controls can be hard to grasp at first, after a little while you’ll be cruising through rings like an expert. The last of the on-water events is Canoeing and while it’s not exactly terrible, like canoeing itself, it’s hard to do and going for a race is painful. Holding the Wii Remote out in front, you have to “dig” at the water on either side to move forward. It’s a hard game, that’s for sure, but it’s over tiring and you’ll seldom come back to it.
Back on land you have the bulk of the events, Swordplay is probably the best example of near perfect 1:1 movement in the game and it works flawlessly. Move the remote up, your Mii replicates your movements perfectly, move it around your back, the character does the same. Tilt it to the side; yep, your Mii does that too. It’s the sword controls you first imagined when the Wii Remote was announced. The Swordplay is split up into three modes – the first of which is a Gladiators type event where you even wear the stupid looking masks. You and your opponent are upon a big stage above water and the goal is to whack your fellow Mii into the water. Like with all events in the game, it starts off easy, but the more you fight, the higher your rank goes up and the harder it gets. Other Swordplay modes include the speed slice mode where a bunch of different objects are thrown at you and you have to slice them in a particular way as fast possible. Cutting up bread has never been so entertaining. Last, but not least, is Showdown. It’s you against a bunch of Miis as they come running at you in different locations all over the island. It’s this mode that shows a glimpse at what I hope is the way combat is dealt with in the next Zelda. While you don’t control your Mii, this mode shows combat at its best.
Table Tennis is simple right? Wii Play had it; there are more Tennis games on the Wii than first person shooters so it has been done to death, right? Well not quite, but Table Tennis has all the nuances of real table tennis which gives it a really authentic feeling. You can have a normal match against an AI opponent or there is a return challenge. Again, like the rest of the mini-games in Wii Sports Resort, it seems easy on the surface but dig a little deeper and a more advanced game is there. Basketball is probably an odd choice to include in the game. It’s not really a resort-type sport, but it’s there nonetheless. The shootout mode is a little bland, but the real treat is the 3-on-3 mode which is a game of skill and timing. One misstep, you’ve lost the ball and it switches sides. Shots are made by making the same motion you make when you play real Basketball. It’s all in the wrists. (Or is that Golf?)
Archery is another standout event that really shows off how MotionPlus can better track your position. The Nunchuck is used as the draw with the Wii Remote used as the hand that holds the bow. Be sure to hold your hand steady and take into account that very annoying thing called gravity. It won’t be an issue on the easy course but throw in a moving target and some lava and things heat up (oh dear that’s a bad pun). That brings us to the Frisbee and the Cycling. The Frisbee has a throwing mode with the dog that we’ve seen before, but the real meat is the Frisbee Golf. It follows the usual rules of Golf but uses a Frisbee instead of a golf ball. The Frisbee is thrown like you’d expect to throw a real Frisbee, but the MotionPlus helps make it more accurate than you’d expect by tracking the angle and pitch of your throw. In fact, it’s sometimes a little too sensitive, as you’ll fudge up a few throws before you get it going exactly how you want.
Cycling is perhaps the weakest event in the line-up. Pedaling is done by shaking the Wii Remote and Nunchuck and steering handled by tilting both the controls left and right. The game’s usage of MotionPlus is basically non-existent and the whole thing turns into a waggle fest. It’s not entirely bad, but like Canoeing, it’s exhaustive for no good reason. So if you’ve read all that and wondered which games I liked the best, it’s definitely Swordplay, Power Cruising or Archery – they’re the ones you will come back to time and time again.
Returning from Wii Sports is the Golf and Bowling games. Golf gains full MotionPlus controls with exact movements on backswings like Tiger 10, as well as draw and fade on shots. There is also a whole new course to play in addition to the classic course. With Bowling, the spin control has been improved and the lanes get a graphical lick of paint but overall they remain mostly the same and a welcome addition to the entire package.
So apart from the actual challenge of participating in the games there are stamps to collect. These stamps are the basic equivalent of achievements and can be unlocked by performing various different or difficult tasks during all the events. These feel tacked on as an afterthought. You can’t go to a menu and see all of them or what’s left to get and there doesn’t seem to be any reward for getting all of them. Also (not a error, but a quirk), when you gain enough experience by getting to a thousand points you unlock a medal and pro mode – however, apart from the difficulty increase, this doesn’t seem to do anything else. This sort of defeats the purpose of getting them in the first place.
Some more complaints now, and it happens with each game. All the events are preset, for example in table tennis, you can’t extend how many rounds you want to play. Sure, you can restart it over and over again, but an option to boost this would be nice. Also the time limit on the free cruising seems a bit arbitrary, this can be extended with time balloons floating around, but it’s not that much longer. There is also no tournament or knock out modes. This isn’t a problem as up to four people can play anyway, but you’ll have to organise a tournament yourself for any more players.
Wii Sports Resort, like its predecessor, is best with more than one person. That’s not to say it’s a boring single player game because, while eventually it’ll get boring, the stamp and rating systems have added that little bit of replay value that wasn’t there before. With 12 events now on offer, you’ll be playing this for nearly as much time, if not more, than Wii Sports. One downside, while the game comes with a MotionPlus unit, unless you’ve bought Tiger Woods or Grand Slam Tennis, you’ll need to cough up the dough for three more units to really get the most out of the game and that could be pricey for some. But think of it as an investment, or at least that’s what you’ll have to tell your significant other or parents (unless you’re forking out the money for yourself of course).
I haven’t touched on graphics, presentation or sound yet, and for good reason. It just simply isn’t an issue in the game and just works. Sure, the art style is very plain but the new locale of WuHu Island is bright and colourful and full of life in all events. Miis can even be imported from the Mii Contest Channel. The menus are cleanly laid out and easy to select with either the pointer or D-Pad, which is a godsend as you’ll want to retry and keep your hands in position and not have to re-point at the screen. Wii Motion Plus calibration happens every so often and for events like Golf and Swordplay you’ll have to reset its position a couple of times in long play sessions, but it’s not that distracting. What is distracting is the constant tips which can’t be disabled. Yes, I know I can pause the game to have break! The game’s whimsical music continues in the vein of Wii Sports, but with a tropical mix thrown in. Events like Basketball have their own little theme, but overall it’s very subtle and never offensive.
Final verdict after the scores.
Graphics 8.5
Clean and simple presentation with some nice next-gen effects to lift it. WuHu Island is a bright and colourful place from the sky to the water. Oh and it runs as smooth as silk.
Gameplay 8.5
Mixed bag with more good than bad. Wii Motion Plus brings the closest to 1:1 possible to the Wii, but also brings its ugly cousin called waggle in a few events. Fun for everyone.
Sound 7.5
Does what it needs to. The new tropical music suits the game to a tee. Mario Kart start noise cameo is a nice little addition.
Tilt 9.0
Playing by yourself might wear thin after a while, but throw in some friends and youll keep coming back. Just be sure youve got the extra MotionPlus units. Online next time Nintendo?
Value 8.5
A ton of fun to play. Even if you skip the events that are a bit rubbish there is still plenty to see and do in this game. Youll want to keep going back to it again and again.
Overall 4.5
Wii Sports Resort is like a bag of mixed lollies. Its filled with delicious treats, but at the same time, theres a couple of things in there youll try once and decide you dont like. While casual friendly on the surface, beneath that sugar coated exterior is a game worthy of playing by anyone and everyone. If the other Wii MotionPlus games didnt sell you on the idea then this will. A worthy follow up to Wii Sports, and works as advertised.
