01-29-2007, 12:08 PM
Wii Sports
For the Nintendo Wii
ESRB E for Everyone
For a game like this a special review is needed. I decided I’d break down the review into sections on each of the games. In there I’ll talk about the gameplay, controls, sounds, visuals, and all that stuff. So please enjoy my Wii Sports review.
Wii sports is a free pack in with the Nintendo Wii. It’s basically 5 sports games that allow you to use your Miis. There is Tennis, Baseball, Bowling, Golf, and Boxing. They all offer new gameplay and are great games to get you used to the Wii-Remote. But the fun doesn’t end there this game will keep you entertained for hours on end.
Tennis
Tennis is by far one of the most fun games of the five in Wii sports. It has you swinging the Wii-Remote like a real Tennis racket. Swing it up then down to serve and swing from side to side as you would a real Tennis racket. This all feels incredibly good and stays intriguing the whole way through.
Now visually well, this game isn’t so great in that department. But something that makes up for its simplicity is the usage of the Miis while playing. One thing I’ve noticed when I play tennis, or should I say what I don’t notice is the bad graphics. I find that when you’re playing it you don’t really notice and don’t really care when it comes down to it. The graphics are passable but not great.
I found that Tennis really shines with its sounds. You can hear the tennis racket swing through your Wii-Remote, which actually sounds really good. Plus the sound the racket makes when hitting the ball sounds nice and realistic. There’s a lack of music but I really don’t think it’s needed during gameplay. You’ll also hear the crowd cheer when you get a point which is really nice to hear.
The gameplay is what you’d expect from a tennis game. Although you do not control the movement of your Mii, I find that it doesn’t matter and actually flows well not having to worry about moving your character and simply focus on hitting the ball. Which brings me to hitting the ball, you’ll notice that depending on when and how hard you hit the ball your shot will drastically change.
Bowling
Bowling is perhaps the Wii Sports game that Nintendo worked the hardest on. You can move your character from side to side by clicking left or right on the D-pad. You can also get a zoomed in look by clicking the up button on the D-pad. If you want to switch your angle then simply click A and use the right and left buttons on the D-pad to change your angle. Then when you’ve completed all of your preparations bring the Wii-remote up and hold the B button down then do the motion that you would when throwing a bowling ball and try to let go of the B button as soon as the bowling ball passes your Mii’s legs.
Visually bowling looks fine. You have other Miis sitting behind you and there’s also other Miis bowling around you. The bowling lanes themselves look good and give off a shine, although again it’s not incredibly good looking. But once again like in Tennis the addition of your own Mii is a welcome feeling, its fun being able to use your own Mii and adds a level to the visual oomph.
There aren’t many sounds in bowling other then those you would expect. Like the ball hitting the ground, and hitting the pins. It all sounds great and they add the little bonus of a voice that says things like “Nice Throw!”, or “Nice Spare!”. The crowd also cheers for you or boos you depending on how well or bad you did on your turn.
Gameplay wise there isn’t much to say. Although you can curve your ball, which can be annoying when trying to make that perfect hit yet is realistic as you normally get curve when playing bowling anyways. You can pick where and in what direction you want to throw the ball although you have to remember that curve will end up playing a part in your throw so always be careful were you aim. You have two throws per turn, of which you could get a strike, spare, or another number which would indicate that you didn’t knock all the pins down.
Golf
Golf is fun and a perfect game to add in with the bundle. You hold the Wii-Remote facing downward and like a club and pull back then swing it forward like you would a real club. You can change your clubs by clicking up or down on the D-pad and you can change the direction you hit the ball in by clicking left or right on the D-pad. To hit the ball you have to hold the A button while you swing, so if you don’t hold the A button you can work on your practice shot.
Golf is probably the nicest looking of all of the Wii Sports games. The courses look very nice as do the clubs and the background. They did a good job on the trees and water, they both look satisfactory. The real thing that sets Golf apart form the other games is its backgrounds, they are filled and look good, and are not just random Miis. Of course in this game you can also use your Miis when playing to give your character a different look.
Golf’s sound is nice; you can hear birds and the sound of the river in the background when playing. The sound of the ball being hit and the sound it makes on arrival to the ground sounds good and I think they did a good job with it. There’s also other small sounds such as when the ball enters the hole you get a nice satisfying sound and when the ball lands in the water or a sandpit you get different sounds.
Golf’s has some fun gameplay and some interesting details that affect your game. For instance, there’s the wind, depending on what direction and how hard it’s blowing you’ll have to alter your shot to get the result you want or else the wind will take the ball off your desired course. There are also many obstacles that will get in your way, which vary from sandpits, to water (there are more obstacles in the higher up levels). You have to be careful with how hard you hit the ball as well. Hit it too hard and it will slice to one side or the other which totally messes up your shot. Then of course there’s putting, you’ll find that a lot of the levels have inclines when your putting which makes it twice as hard to get the ball into the hole. Although you can click the 1 button to see what the terrain is like through a chart on the ground. Golf can be difficult but is well worth it.
Baseball
Baseball is broken into two parts, pitching and batting. When pitching you move the Wii-Remote like you would when you throw a baseball, you can also hold down the A button to throw a curveball, the B button to throw a screwball, the A+B button to throw a splitter, or if you don’t hold any button you’ll simply throw a fastball. Also depending on how fast you swing the Wii-Remote your pitch will go faster or slower. When batting you simply swing the Wii-Remote to hit the ball like you would with a baseball bat.
Visually once again this game doesn’t focus very hard to have great graphics. Yet it’s not that bad and is the one game that utilizes the most of your Miis at one given time. This is cool because you have a wide assortment of characters on the playing field at one time that you created. It gives it a cool look since there the characters you made and obviously you would like them since there your creations.
Audio wise baseball has some nice sounds, like the sound the bat make when coming in contact with the ball, or when a player catches the ball. You will also hear the crowd cheer or hear a voice that yells ‘HOME RUN!’ when, of course, you hit a home run. All of it sounds good and is welcomed.
Baseball has some fun gameplay that can last you quite a while, as of course there are many different sorts of pitches that you can do that increase the fun and depth to the gameplay. As well as things like the timing of your swing, get it just right and you can send that ball right out of the park! It’s a really fun game and is highly welcomed along the others in the compilation.
Boxing
The last of the five Wii Sports is Boxing, a game that with the Wii-Remote was an obvious choice to add in. To punch you simply thrust either the Wii-Remote or Nunchuk forward, when aiming for the head punch upwards, the body downwards. When blocking you bring the Wii-Remote and Nunchuk up to your face to block your face or bring it lower down on your body to block your body. There’s also dodging and shifting your position, to do this you either move forward, backward, left, or right. Of course if you get knocked down you have to repeatedly hit the A button to get back up.
It’s pretty good visually, but most of the time is spent looking at your opponent so you really don’t take your surroundings in as much. Although when the camera does zoom out you’ll notice thing like a giant screen that displays one of the contenders. The visuals are ok but I think they could’ve at least added some bruises when you punch them. Still they aimed for a simplistic look and they succeeded.
The sound is good, like when you smack a guy in the face you’ll here a satisfying smack. Or things like the sound it makes when time slows down. Most sounds will be familiar to you after playing the other games, like the voice that introduces you to the fight, and other small things like the cheering of the fans.
The gameplay in Boxing is varied as you can throw many different sorts of punches, from hooks, to jabs and all that good stuff. A technique that is very useful is dodging, if you dodge a punch right when your opponent throws a punch then time will slow down which gives you a perfect opportunity to land a punishing blow. You always have to be alert and have your fists up and be ready to block and then land a counter blow, this will help you a lot. You should normally try to hit the head instead of the body because it does more damage and leads you a step closer to getting that desired KO.
All in all Wii Sports is a great game that will give you hours and hours of fun. On top of what I’ve just told you there are features like, Wii Training and Wii Fitness. Wii training is basically a series of Mini-games for each of the sports that will overall improve your skill. There are three different games for each of the sports. Wii Fitness is a training exam that selects three events for you to play (from the Wii training section) and tests you on balance, stamina and speed, the combined results will give you your Wii age (this can only be done once a day per Mii).
Tennis
Controls-10/10
Visuals-6.5/10
Sound-7/10
Gameplay-8/10
Overall-8.5/10
Bowling
Controls-10/10
Visuals-6.5/10
Sound-7/10
Gameplay-8.2/10
Overall-8.8/10
Golf
Controls-8.6/10
Visuals-7.5/10
Sound-7/10
Gameplay-7.9/10
Overall-8/10
Baseball
Controls-8.8/10
Visuals-6.8/10
Sound-7/10
Gameplay-8.7/10
Overall-8.4/10
Boxing
Controls-9.2/10
Visuals-6.5/10
Sound-7/10
Gameplay-8.5/10
Overall-8.5/10
Wii Sports Overall-8.8/10
I hope you enjoyed my Wii Sports review and I would like some feed back. O and always remember to keep playing Wii Sports!
-alex51011
