A great introduction to the Wii and its wacky new controller.
Back at E3 in 2006, Nintendo held a press conference at the Kodak Theatre displaying Wii Sports. It was simply a demo and only a basic version of the game tennis on the released version of the game. On the 14th of September 2006 the Wii release date was announced, the fact it would be included 'free' in the Wii package (excluding Japan) and two new games - Bowling and Boxing - were announced.
Wii Sports features five sports - Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Golf and Boxing. Tennis is the most well known and because four players can play all at once, is the most multi-player friendly. You do not have to move your Mii but simply swing at the correct time in order to hit your ball over the net in hope that the other player will mess up their shot or simply not reach it it in time. Normal tennis rules apply, of course (deuce, out, etc). Sadly though, you don't really get the feel you are in control of where the ball goes.
Baseball lets you and a friend take turns in batting and bowling, batting being the most fun. Bowlers simply hold down either A, B or AB to determine what kind of throw they do. They then swing their controller down (how fast they do this also affects the ball) which makes the ball leave their hand on-screen and fly towards the batter. The batter then has to swing at the correct time in order to run round. How far they run round depends on how good their swing was (the ball will go further). This is basically all you have to do as the game will automatically run you round and make your characters run for the ball once it has been hit which is a downside as you feel it would be quite fun to do this yourself.
In Bowling you use the same actions as you would in real life. Swing back, forward and then release (not the remote, obviously). This works very well and the physichs are very good. The only downside here is once you've mastered the technique it really isn't very hard to get strikes nearly all the time.
In Golf you choose the strength of your swing by how fast you swing the remote in a golfing action. You can adjust the direction of your shot using the D-Pad, which you will need to do due to the wind which will affect the course of the ball. Swinging the controller too fast will make your strength meter go into the red which will make the ball go of course (much like the wind does). Golf is a good game but can be hard to master.
Boxing is the only sport to use the Nunchuk attachment. You hold the Remote and Nunchuk in separate hands and then punch in the air which is supposed to be copied precisely on screen. In reality this isn't true and you'll find yourself getting really annoyed as you are swinging wildly but your character isn't doing what you tell it too. Apart from this boxing is good and very tiring.
Wii Sports makes heavy use of the Miis and not just your own. In Tennis and Boxing Miis from the Mii Plaza will appear in the crowd and also as bowlers in Bowling. In Baseball other Miis on your console will appear on both teams. All the computer characters are also generated Miis. This is fun as it is always nice to have familiar faces around.
Graphically Wii Sports isn't exactly revolutionary and the sound is mediocre. A downside of the game is that after a while you will get a bit bored of it and you may only use it when newbies to the Wii come round your house. Having saying this, the use of the Wii remote is put into fantastic use and this is a great introduction to the Wii for you, family and friends.
Wii Sports features five sports - Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Golf and Boxing. Tennis is the most well known and because four players can play all at once, is the most multi-player friendly. You do not have to move your Mii but simply swing at the correct time in order to hit your ball over the net in hope that the other player will mess up their shot or simply not reach it it in time. Normal tennis rules apply, of course (deuce, out, etc). Sadly though, you don't really get the feel you are in control of where the ball goes.
Baseball lets you and a friend take turns in batting and bowling, batting being the most fun. Bowlers simply hold down either A, B or AB to determine what kind of throw they do. They then swing their controller down (how fast they do this also affects the ball) which makes the ball leave their hand on-screen and fly towards the batter. The batter then has to swing at the correct time in order to run round. How far they run round depends on how good their swing was (the ball will go further). This is basically all you have to do as the game will automatically run you round and make your characters run for the ball once it has been hit which is a downside as you feel it would be quite fun to do this yourself.
In Bowling you use the same actions as you would in real life. Swing back, forward and then release (not the remote, obviously). This works very well and the physichs are very good. The only downside here is once you've mastered the technique it really isn't very hard to get strikes nearly all the time.
In Golf you choose the strength of your swing by how fast you swing the remote in a golfing action. You can adjust the direction of your shot using the D-Pad, which you will need to do due to the wind which will affect the course of the ball. Swinging the controller too fast will make your strength meter go into the red which will make the ball go of course (much like the wind does). Golf is a good game but can be hard to master.
Boxing is the only sport to use the Nunchuk attachment. You hold the Remote and Nunchuk in separate hands and then punch in the air which is supposed to be copied precisely on screen. In reality this isn't true and you'll find yourself getting really annoyed as you are swinging wildly but your character isn't doing what you tell it too. Apart from this boxing is good and very tiring.
Wii Sports makes heavy use of the Miis and not just your own. In Tennis and Boxing Miis from the Mii Plaza will appear in the crowd and also as bowlers in Bowling. In Baseball other Miis on your console will appear on both teams. All the computer characters are also generated Miis. This is fun as it is always nice to have familiar faces around.
Graphically Wii Sports isn't exactly revolutionary and the sound is mediocre. A downside of the game is that after a while you will get a bit bored of it and you may only use it when newbies to the Wii come round your house. Having saying this, the use of the Wii remote is put into fantastic use and this is a great introduction to the Wii for you, family and friends.
