Wii Sports – Review

A bundled videogame that comes free with a console? Surely it has to be bad. Strange that Nintendo opted to include Wii Sports with the Wii console and not as a cheap stand alone product. In some way that decision may have marred the game’s respectability, or at least until you load it. You then realize that Wii Sports is actually a brilliant game and one that you’d have been happy to pay a little extra for. No, it’s not graphically stunning—as we’ll shortly examine—nor is it an aural assault on the senses, and there’s very little depth to be had. Yet Wii Sports is still a slice of absolute genius. Let’s examine why.

More than anything else, Wii Sports does one thing amazingly well, it shows gamers what the Wii remote is capable of delivering, but it does it in such a clever and fun way, it makes gaming accessible to everyone—even non-gamers. Perhaps this is why Nintendo chose to include it with the Wii console. Wii Sports includes simplified versions of Tennis, Golf, Bowling, Boxing and Baseball. Each of these sports will see the Wii remote utilized as though it were a bat, racquet, club, ball, and boxing gloves. This is what makes this title so much fun to play, and also so appealing to those people in your family that don’t usually partake in your gaming hobby. Wii Sports lacks the confusion of a title like Zelda, or many other in-depth games, instead getting down to the nitty-gritty of what gaming is about, fun with a capital F.

All of the sports in Wii Sports use the Wii remote, with the exception of Boxing, which uses both the Wii remote and Nunchuk, one in each hand, each mimicking the movements you’d make in the ring. This aspect of the Wii control mechanism will surprise many who believed the Nunchuk was merely a regular controller add-on to the motion sensing ‘Wiimote’ controller. Sadly, despite the cool factor of the boxing section of Wii Sports, it’s the one title in the compilation that feels a little hampered; though it can still be fun.

Where Wii Sports excels is in its curiosity factor. Whilst reviewing this title, two family members entered the room—who’ve never played a videogame, and also think an interest in such things is less than infantile—and they watched inquisitively, and then asked for a try. And the result of said foray into the unknown? “That’s very clever isn’t it? Could we get together at Christmas so everyone can play it after dinner?” This type of response is exactly what Nintendo has been hoping for. The accessibility of Wii Sports encourages even the most ardent of non-gamers to want to give it a try, and the experience is so enjoyable that they soon want another go. Add to this that the ease of play makes it so instantly accessible and you’re onto a winner. On the other hand, had The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess been loaded up and proffered, there would have been utter confusion, no gaming joy, and the swift passing back of the controllers.

If Wii Sports is going to have any criticism aimed at it, it’s probably going to be that it lacks depth. To this we say, “So?” Who needs depth when you’ve got a game that is fun, hilarious, and a true family experience? When a four-player game of bowling has you whooping and cheering—much as you would were you actually at the local bowling alley—or a game of tennis has you exerting as much grunting energy as Monica Seles, then who cares about depth? The immersion factor of Wii Sports is absolutely astonishing and it’s all down to the ‘way you play’ it. Sitting on your behind to play the deep and graphically resplendent titles such as Top Spin or Tiger Woods is one thing, getting off your behind to forehand and backhand like a pro, or chip in from the bunker—even with modest graphics—is an entirely new world, a wonderful world, a world we like, and a world you’ll like too.

It’s difficult to criticise Wii Sports for anything else other than its lack of depth. Sure, the games are simplistic, as are the graphics—extremely simplistic in comparison to other next-gen consoles—but all of this is of little consequence because Wii Sports arrives as a free game bundled with the hardware, and it is an absolute blast to play. Regarding replay value, Wii Sports has it in abundance in both multiplayer and even in single-player modes. You can aim at becoming a pro by accumulating points; the more points you get, particularly in tennis and boxing, the harder your opponents will become in order to keep the experience challenging. This ramping up of difficulty works well because it keeps you interested and increases so gradually that even non-gamers will have become adept by the time real difficulty creeps in—it certainly won’t ruin the gameplay.

There’s also another little section in Wii Sports called Wii Sports Fitness. This is essentially a little add-on mode that’s similar to Dr Kawashima’s Brain Training on the Nintendo DS, although this is meant for fitness. You’ll be asked to play through a series of tasks that will assess your agility, balance, and stamina, and then the results will be gathered in order to give you your Wii Fitness Age, which will be stored in a chronological graph format so you can chart your ongoing progress. It’s not a huge addition, but it’s still fun—and the reappearance of the ‘f’ word pretty much sums up the title overall.

So, there you have it, Wii Sports is free game that comes packaged with the Wii hardware, and it offers more fun than you’re probably going to have on many of the ported full-priced titles. Furthermore, this review didn’t even see us needing to add our usual female gamer angle, because Wii Sports is for one and all. And, as all the sports games use a representative ‘Mii’ which you can create in your own image (or someone else’s if you desire), it’s completely balanced in terms of gender. It’s also a rare title that will have that ever elusive ‘girlfriend market’ desperately wanting to take a turn—hell, the mom and grandma market too. Wii Sports is tempting to all of those groups, and non-gamers in general because of its instant accessibility, and it’s also a joy for the veteran gamer because of the innovative control method. Wii Sports is, in a word, ‘amazing’.

Gone is the complexity inherent in the latest EA or 2K franchise sports titles, this is bare boned sporting goodness and it can be made all the more enjoyable by the Wii’s ability to create a Mii. Yes, create a Mii character based on yourself, get your friends to do the same (actually you won’t have to get them to, they’ll want to) and let the games begin. You’ll probably spend most of your time playing tennis and bowling, but the other sports are also fun in short bursts; boxing is the only one you may not play for long. The Wii is a new console full of great promise, and its innovation is incomparable to its next-gen counterparts. Trust us, depth or no depth, you’ll still be playing Wii Sports in a year, be it at family parties, when you’re bored on a rainy day, or just when you want a little fun-filled exercise. The only thing you’ll have to worry about is a sore shoulder for a day or two from all the effort the experience coaxes out of you. Wii Sports rules!

Review by Angela