Does this title hit a home run? Well...
You can choose between five sports: Tennis, Bowling, Baseball, Golf and boxing. Other features include Training and Fitness. Wii Sports allows you to choose which Mii you want to play as and rewards progress in each event by acquiring skills points which can be given or taken away depending on your performance, it also affects the difficulty of the enemy AI. At the end of each sport your score will be plotted on a graph which shows how well you are doing compared other Mii's. This is a nice feature and adds to the reply value.
I will review each of these sports separately and then give an overall score at the end.
Tennis
You know the rules of Tennis and in that respect it's almost like playing the real thing! (Except no running is required, but feel free not to tell them!) You can have up to four players and one, three or five sets. Doubles is the only option which is a little disappointing; it would have been nice to choose more then five sets. The court surface can be changed using a cheat. Why didn't they include a choice of courts?
The remote acts like a tennis racket, swing to hit the ball and depending on the timing and power it will go in a certain direction and speed and you can put a spin on the ball by twisting the remote. The AI gets difficult when you get to the pro skill level.
Mii's are the spectator who has the willpower to watch the balls every movement, plus when someone scores they jump up and down in delight! That does make up for the lack of variety in the textures and environments.
It's a good thing that the annoying background music stops when you start playing, the sound quality is good and the remote speaker does a good job of making sure you know that the racket has made contact with ball. I didn't like the sound my Mii makes when he serves..
This game will be the first choice for beginners as the controls are very user friendly. While the graphics, audio and lack of customisation can leave a lot to be desired, it does the job of showcasing some of the unique benefits the Wii Remote has to offer.
Bowling
The best game in the line-up, this single game is better then games with bowling as the only function (Brunswick Pro Bowling (WII)) and it's a good thing the rules of bowling haven't changed, the only slight disappointment is that you can't play against the enemy AI. Single player acts as a practice session and multiplayer is competitive, you can play with up to four people with at least one remote.
To bowl use the remote as you would if you're holding a bowling ball, aim hold down B to take your shot. You're also able to move your aim on the spot and move your Mii from side to side. Like tennis you are also able to put a spin on the bowling ball by twisting the remote respectively.
It's brilliant and well worth a night in with your friends or family! It does a great job of telling the player how to use the controls and how to throw the ball using pictures in the bottom right, it never intrudes on the gameplay and eliminates the fuss of telling the first time players how to throw the bowling ball. The Mii you are playing with mimics your actions when you prepare to bowl, when you have taken your shot the camera switches to the traditional bowling allay view and follows the ball towards the pins, this helps the feeling of immersion.
The Audio is nothing amazing, during multiplayer the remote does have give the player a sound to indicate which controller to use which is useful.
This is one of the better looking sports in this collection. Reflections on the shiny bowling allay floor look excellent. Seeing your competitors sitting down and random other Mii's playing on other allays add to the charm. If you let go of your ball when you swing backwards the Mii's will jump then laugh at you (Like in real life!) Pity it only has one bowling environment.
Its not so good single player as there is no AI to fight against, playing with friends however is a lot more fun, the phase "easy to learn and difficult to master" springs to mind which makes it the most suitable for all ages.
Baseball
You can play with either the AI or against another friend, one team will be batting, the other will be pitching. The team with the most runs wins.
If your not American or have never played Baseball I drought you will be familiar with the way this game is played, so let allow me to explain…
Players who are batting swing to hit the ball, if successful the batter will run a base and depending on the distance the ball travels your batter will automatically go to 1st, 2nd, 3rd or back to the home base. Each time a batter gets back to home base, he scores a run. If you don't hit the ball you get a strike, three strikes and your out. Your also punished if you are try to hit a foul ball, this is very difficult to judge as is the batting, this goes on until all your batters are out then you switch to fielding.
The problem with batting is that timing my swing is difficult to judge,. The game does give a means of leaving the sport rather then having to reset the console. The pitching is ok, but it would have been nice to control the fielders.
When pitching the remote acts as baseball and the player can choose different types of pitching, this includes a screwball, curveball, splitter or fastball. (You don't have to throw the remote because I am not willing to pay for a new TV!) Some tactics can be used such as throwing a foul ball and if they attempt to hit it they get the foul.
This game is unbalanced in favour the pitcher due to it being so hard to judge when to bat so expect to hear foul ball or strike, you shouldn't have any problems fooling a human opponent.
The environments look acceptable, but it doesn't utilize the graphical potential of the console. Some minor clipping issues like the camera sometimes passes through the batter when you hit the ball.
It is also disappointing that the game it lasts too long with no option to limit the number of rounds or number of players in the team, the difficulty you will have trying to hit the ball will damage the experience. Either with a friend or alone won't play this more then a few times and it will leave anyone who plays it with nothing but a sense of dissatisfaction.
Golf
This sport allows you to play four player with one remote like bowling, there are only nine holes with the first three being beginner, the next three being intermediate and so on.
The strength of this title is easy to use controls and interface especially on golf titles on other consoles.
I was able to practice my swing before I took my shot, the power of the swing is indicated by the bar on the bottom left of the screen which can be plotted against a map which shows the location of your ball and were it will go depending on how hard you swing the remote (as seen on the power bar) in addition consideration of the direction and speed of the wind is a must, the direction of the shot can be aimed using the digital controls. When your ready hold A and take the swing. During putting you can view height of the ground by pressing 1 on your remote and plan the shot accordingly.
Visuals again look ok, nothing special, environments look nice enough. Despite the lack of holes and the absence of computer controlled opponents the multiplayer components and the gameplay will keep your interest for some time to come.
Boxing
This game can be played either single player or with a friend, this game requires the Nunchuk and requires you to punch in front of you with the remote repressing one hand and the Nunchuk the other.
Graphically this game is the best in the package with cool effects shattering effects when your life bars goes down, cool light sourcing and the presence of Mii's in the audience.
This can be a lot of fun if a little tiring, however hitting your opponent seems far to random, its far to shallow to even bother commenting further, but it makes your friends look like they are having arm spasms which is always a plus!
Training
Gives you an option of playing mini games in the various sports, three mini games per sport. You must play the first mini game in order to unlock the second and the second in order to unlock the third, all these games help the player in various disciplines for various sports and it is addictive. Plus you are given medals based on how well you perform during the mini games; this usually involves getting a certain amount of points.
It's a nice little feature, but really its only for the hard core Wii sports fans who want to get gold medial in every training event, casual gamers won't be interested in this for to long.
Wii Fitness
Is simply a random choice of three mini games based on what you played during training, it then estimates your age based on your performance which is judged on speed, stamina and power. It is good fun and will give you a daily workout. I can only be played once per day.
Good for families and adds to more replay value to try and get there fitness age down.
Overall
The Tennis, Bowling and Golf should last you a fairly long time and is ideal for parties and when you have a few friends round, you can also play four players on Golf and Bowling with just one remote. If you had any fears that the game will be too complicated to participate then don't worry it is easy to pick up and play, even if you have never touched a Wii remote.
The training, fitness and skill points will keep fans coming back for a while and it is a great showcase for the Wii Remote. Don't expect anything in depth, just relax and take it for what it is. A party game!
Strengths: Bowling, Tennis, Golf
Weakness: Baseball, Boxing