Wii Sports

The Good
I suppose I was among the lucky few who actually managed to snag a Nintendo Wii; even luckier was that I managed to get one a few days after launch. Since then I've been able to play and sample several games (ExciteTruck being the worse, Zelda being the best), but the one game that I keep coming back to is Wii Sports.

Writing reviews for Wii games is going to become an ongoing difficulty in the game industry. How do you write reviews that are almost entirely based on user's preferences and general gaming skill? Sure, you can look and judge games based on quality of graphics, music, dialogue, story, the usual; but when it comes to the Wii, there really is no universal standard for gameplay.

Wii Sports demonstrates this pretty effectively. Wii Sports is the pack-in game that comes with the Nintendo Wii. It offer 5 different sports: Bowling, Golf, Boxing, Tennis, and Baseball, plus a few other smaller options. If you sit down with this game, you will have a fun time playing it; but when you sit back and watch others play, you will notice that everyone has their own play style, and as such get different results.

Since Wii Sports is essentially 5 games in one, I'll review each game type seperately, starting with my favorite and what I believe is the best game.

Bowling - Most reviewers will agree with me that this is the best developed of all the games. In order to play, you hold your Wiimote in front of you, like you'd hold a real bowling ball. You swing back, just like in real life, and move forward (while releasing B) to throw the ball. Depending on how straight your motion is, the ball will either go straight, curve, or have spin on it. The same goes with the speed of your movements controlling the speed of the ball. One little interesting addition that they put in the game is that you can literally do the "drop throw" you see in real life. While it is possible to play this game sitting down and just using your wrists, the best control is achieved when you actually stand up and do a full arm motion; no need to actually line up and take the required steps, however.

The scoring and game is standard; 10 frames, strikes, spares, the dreaded splits, etc. This is also one of the few games on Wii Sports that allows you to have multiple players controlling one Wiimote.

Baseball - Pretty much the only complaint I've heard about baseball is that it isn't completely realistic. The player has two duties in this game: to bat the ball, and to throw the ball. Batting is pretty self explanatory; hold the Wiimote like a regular bat, and swing away. This is one game where it actually is easier to just use one arm/wrist instead of doing the full motion with both hands wrapped around the controller. Pitching is accomplished by moving the controller in a throwing motion. Speed is determined by how fast you whip it, and direction by directional control, naturally. One interesting thing is that there are multiples times of pitches: fastball, curveball, screwball, and splitter. These are changed by which button or combination of buttons you hold down as you pitch.

Boxing - The only game in Wii Sports that uses the nunchuck. You hold both hands before you, just like you would your fists in a real match. Depending on where you swing, you will perform different punches: jabs, uppercuts, body blows, etc. You are able to dodge blows by physically moving your body (or the controllers) to the far left or right.

Interesting bit of trivia: the first opponent in boxing looks just like Jim Caviezel from Passion of the Christ.

Golf - My least favorite of the games. It's golf. You have enough control that you can slice, hit it halfway decent, change your clubs, putt fairly decently, and still get so bored that you quit halfway through the first hole. You actually have to swing your controller like a golf club to get results in this game, and I guarantee that the first time you putt you will seriously overcompensate and send your ball flying. If you can tell, I really haven't played this one too much; it's golf.

Tennis - 2 on 2 tennis match. You have no control over the movement of your characters; just the club/paddle/stick/ whatever. Probably the most simple and underdeveloped of the Wii Sports games. Another game that I really have not put much time into.

So those are the 5 main games. Two other neat additions to Wii Sports is a training mode and a Fitness mode ala some of those Brain games for DS. Through 3 events (Pick up the Spare, Hit the Tennis Ball, and Hit the Homerun) the game tracks your progress daily and provides you with your "Wii Age", pun very much intended I'm guessing. This is actually pretty entertaining, and provides a little incentive to put some time into Wii Sports daily.

One last thing very much positive - the music following the boxing event is highly infectious. I wouldn't be surprised if it becomes a new source of remix music.

The Bad
Ok, let's do this by game type again.

Baseball - I personally did not have any issue with this, but a few have commented on it to me. Baseball does not follow normal rules. If you bunt, you are out. If they catch the ball after it bounces anywhere in the infield, you are out. You also have no control over anyone else but the pitcher and batter. Basically, you swing and throw, and in the case of batting, depending on how long it takes them to get to the ball or how far away the ball is, you will either get a single, double, or the rare triple.

My response to people who voice this complaint? Wait until Mario Baseball. Oh, and stop whining.

Boxing - This is boxing, not Street Fighter. If you attempt to land a thousand hyper fists, you will get hit. I, and others who have played this, have tried to move faster than the game. It is very easier to move faster than your character can react, and when that happens, you just end up losing control while your Mii spazs out. Once you slow down and actually start thinking of which punches you want to land, and the timing of those punches, the game will respond normally.

Golf - Fairly easy to trick this game. There really is no need to do any backswing. Just hold the controller stationary then throw it forward; instant shot that often tends to be better than perfect. Putting takes some practice; the key is to followthrough, and odds are you will still overshoot.

Bowling - Really nothing I can say bad about this game. It controls nigh perfectly. Some better camera angles would be appreciated though; at times, you can never tell if you are looking at one pin or a row of pins. I've also noticed that the closer you get toward the sensor bar, the straighter your shot...but that would be cheating.

Tennis - It might just be me, but I've really felt no noticeable control over where I can send the ball to. It feels like I'm just hitting the ball, and letting it go where it wants. This is probably just a failing on my part, though.

Other than that...well, I suppose the argument can be made that the graphics suck, there isn't enough games, the music isn't of FF quality, etc. But those are others complaints, not mine.

The Bottom Line
Wii Sports is probably more like a Zero Generation game than a 1st Generation game for the Wii. While it is a pack-in, this is a highly well done pack-in that not only can provide hours of entertainment for you and your family and friends, but is also the perfect introduction to the system that many have predecided is geared toward first graders.

Prove them wrong. Go buy a Wii and play some Wii Sports.