When Nintendo revealed its first game for the Wii at the E3 in 2006, entitled Wii Sports, the entire gaming community was set ablaze. Implementing the latest motion-sensing technology, Wii Sports gives gamers the freedom to actually throw a bowling ball, swing a tennis racket, baseball bat, golf club or throw a jab, in the privacy of their own home, rather than pressing a button, creating a one of a kind experience that not only serves as a great pack-in title with the Nintendo Wii, but forever changes the way people think about video games.
While Wii Sports only consists of five mini-games: bowling, tennis, baseball, golf and boxing, each game has its own charm and group of gameplay modes associated with it that provide hours of venerable gameplay. For instance, not only can you bowl a full 10-frame game in Wii Bowling, but you can also play a spare-pick up mini-game and a power-throwing mini-game that are both challenging and extremely fun. Wii Boxing also sports some pretty interesting game modes, such as a “destroy the heavy bag†mini-game and a target punching mode that use both the Wii remote and nunchuck accessory, providing a good change of pace from the other games on the disc.
Unfortunately, there aren’t really any rewards for succeeding in any of the games; however, they are addicting, as after a few go-rounds, gamers will be in awe of just how responsive the Wii remote is, responding to their every move.
Just how responsive you ask? The use of the Wii remote in Wii Sports is so innovative, fluid and enjoyable that it will make the non-athletic want to play these games in real life and will turn people who you never thought would touch a video game in their lives into addicts.
This is accomplished even further by the implementation of Nintendo Mii’s [creatable characters that are used in selected Nintendo Wii games] in Wii Sports. Now, the gamer can take the fun a step further and create themselves and see a cyber version of themselves perform their actions on the television while they perform them in the real world. This may not sound like such a big deal, but to the casual gamer, this may be worth the price of admission alone.
However, despite all the fun you’ll be having by yourself playing the game, Wii Sports is at its best when played with two or more people. Bowling is easily the best multi-player game on the disc, but playing doubles in tennis or a head-on game of baseball are great ways of killing massive amounts of time. On the whole, the multi-player elements in Wii Sports provide an entirely new gameplay experience that can stand tall by themselves if need be.
Wii Sports unfortunately does have a few drawbacks, however. A few of the games, most notably boxing and baseball, don’t have the same depth of golf and bowling, as both games are only three rounds or innings long and in the case of baseball, games can actually end in tie. Some may feel these are small blemishes on an amazing group of games that is forgivable, but hardcore gamers may feel a bit disappointed that the extra work needed to make these games perfect was put into them.
As well, despite the flat-out fun you’ll have playing Wii Sports, playing these games for hours on end will definitely take a toll on your body and gamers [especially out of shape ones] should be advised to take it slow and steady. Aside from that, the sky’s the limit for any gamer looking for a good time with this title.
Aside from these small imperfections and nuances, Wii Sports is a must own title and is a great launching pad for anyone who thinks video games aren’t for them. Creating a completely new genre of video games that will be imitated for years to come, Nintendo has brought out all the stops with this one and have done the impossible in creating a game that a middle-aged mother or father will want to play more his video game-addict son or daughter.
Be warned.
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