While that experience is the one that launched millions of sales for Nintendo's console, it's been a bit of a bumpy road for those of us with years of gaming experience. As developers chase after the millions of Wii owners who don't have a lot of hours spent with more traditional games, we've seen tons of games that attempt to duplicate the simple successes of Wii Sports. But very few of these cash-ins have succeeded. All of this makes Nintendo's return to sports-themed minigames that much sweeter. Wii Sports Resort offers more variety and a bit more complexity without alienating that family up the street who only bought a Wii because they love bowling. Unless you're the kind of sullen misanthrope who can only feel at peace when getting headshots with some kind of virtual scope, you'll surely find something about Wii Sports Resort that keeps both you and your non-gaming friends or family coming back for more.
As the first game that actually requires you to have a Wii MotionPlus, Resort is the big showcase for Nintendo's sensitivity-enhancing brick, and it works very well. Wii Sports Resort and the MotionPlus combine to finally make good on all the promises that the Wii originally made back in 2006. Remember all the dopey models, hiding behind couches and twisting on-screen swords with lifelike precision? With the MotionPlus attached, everything feels just a bit closer to that reality. It's probably most noticeable in the sword fighting game, where you have to swing at multiple angles to get around your opponent's defense. The sword stuff ended up being my favorite game of the lot, actually. It just feels right.
In addition to the swordplay, there are 11 other types of games to play with in Wii Sports Resort. Odds are you won't love all of them. Me, I found canoeing, cycling, Frisbee, and power cruising to be my least favorite. Canoeing is just kind of tedious, though the act of paddling your canoe is fairly lifelike. Cycling doesn't replicate the act of riding a bike very well, asking you to shake a Remote and Nunchuk up and down to pedal and move them sideways to steer. Frisbee--which lets you play Frisbee golf or attempt to throw the disc at specific targets--seems really cool in theory, but I'm absolutely awful at it. And as much as you want power cruising to be the second coming of Wave Race, it's never going to be the second coming of Wave Race. The controls are awkward and the courses are dull.
Golf and bowling both appeared in the original Wii Sports, and they're back in Resort. The main differences I noticed was that bowling felt a lot easier because you have a higher level of spin control on your shots. That same wrist twisting made golf a lot harder for me at first. I probably spent 30 minutes slicing shots into the rough before working out the kinks in my faux-swing, keeping my wrists straight, and getting a good feel for how much power is enough power. That said, they're still very similar to their counterparts from the previous game.
There's also an air sports section where you can sky dive or fly a plane around the island. The sky diving almost seems like a tutorial designed to get you used to moving the Remote with the Wii MotionPlus attached. The flying is interesting because it lets you see the whole island, where every event takes place. You can buzz the area where the sword duels take place, see the different cycling courses from the sky, and so on. But that and the two-player dogfighting aren't strong enough to keep you coming back.
By offering 12 events and covering a variety of different styles, Nintendo has almost ensured that anyone who remotely liked anything about the original Wii Sports will find Wii Sports Resort to be a lot of fun. On top of that, it's still just as accessible as the original was, making it a great choice if you're looking for games to play with people who don't play a lot of games. You know what? It doesn't even need that layer of qualification. Wii Sports Resort is great.
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