Wii Sports Resort
An island paradise
Wii Sports Resort has a hell of a lot to live up to. After all, the original Wii Sports will forever be remembered as the game that convinced the world motion control could work, its intuitive controls and beautifully judged gameplay providing Nintendo with the perfect advert for its new console. So note perfect was it that the inspired decision to bundle it with the hardware probably did more than anything to help sell the Wii to audiences outside the traditional gaming market. So, Wii Sports Resort, no pressure.
Wii Sports Resort, as additional word in the name suggests, takes place on the idyllic island resort of Wuhu which you arrive on via an enjoyable skydive at the start of the game. Wuhu island is home to all twelve of the sports you're be able to participate in although unfortunately there's no option to wander around freely and explore the island (except from the air, more on that later) with events always accessed from a menu much like the original game. Ten of the sports on offer are brand new while Golf and Bowling make welcome returns in expanded form, the former especially benefiting from MotionPlus in particular.
Of course, it's that new MotionPlus hardware that's the primary draw here, as much as new Wii Sports events are welcome it's how Nintendo have implemented the new hardware that's going to prove the key selling point. MotionPlus, for those not in the know, is a small expansion device that plugs into the bottom of the Wii Remote allowing it to more accurately detect complex motions, exactly what lots of people feel the standard Wii remote lacks. In the same way the original Wii Sports could be seen as a glorified tech demo for the Wii so WSR acts as an elaborate and hugely enjoyable demonstration of the potential of MotionPlus. One of these new gizmos comes bundled with WSR and the increased sensitivity it offers is instantly apparent in most of the events. The only slight fly in the ointment is that one isn't likely to be enough as a lot of the fun of WSR comes in the multiplayer options. This could make picking up separate MotionPlus packs for each of your existing Wii Remote's an expensive process.
Onto the sports themselves, they're a pleasingly varied bunch which should ensure there's something for pretty much everyone with only one real dud to muddy the waters. An obvious highlight is Table Tennis, in fact if you ever want to show someone the difference between Wii games before and after MotionPlus simply let them compare WSR's Table Tennis with Wii Sports Tennis and you'll have your point proven perfectly. The subtlety of shot detection here is massively impressive, top-spin, back-spin, slice, they're all available with a small change of angle and flick of the wrist. It's a shame there's no four player option but the games are short enough that anyone left waiting for a go will never be watching for long.
Archery is another impressive new addition where once again the controls are so effortlessly perfect you start wishing there were more Wii archery games out there. Simply hold the Wii Remote vertically in front of you as if it were a bow, then hold the nun-chuck as if it were the string and pull back while holding the Z button to zoom the 'focus' area into the target. When you're happy with your aim release the Z button and bingo, your arrow shoots towards the bullseye (hopefully). Such is the brilliance of the control scheme I wouldn't be surprised to see Archery taking over from Bowling as the party game of choice.
Not content with land-based sports, WSR also takes you out on the ocean waves in three water based activities. First up we have Wakeboarding which sees you hanging onto the end of a rope being pulled behind a speed boat while you try to earn points for pulling off stunts. The Wii remote is turned on its side here, a-la a traditional gamepad, and you hold it as you would expect, tilting from side to side to steer and build momentum before flicking it upwards to jump when you hit the crest of a wave. The tricks are automated once you're airborne leaving you to worry about landing safely which may sound like a lot of the fun's been removed but there's still something surprisingly moreish about the admittedly simplistic action.
The remaining two water events aren't quite as impressive, canoeing feels a little clumsy at times with it's side to side swinging action, although still proves manic fun when you've got a few other people to play with. Finally Power Cruising is the worst of the bunch with oddly unsatisfying steering.
Back on dry land the Sword Play proves to be yet another great demonstration of what MotionPlus can add to things. While it doesn't offer an exact 1:1 replication of your actions it's as near as damn it and very impressive from the moment you first swing your sword (look LucasArts, here's your proof of concept...). Being forced to hold down B to tell the game you're parrying seems a little strange but you'll soon be doing it automatically and it feels suitably satisfying when you deliberately block an attack. You get three different modes of sword based action for your money; Duel is your standard one-on-one battle where the aim is to knock your opponent out of the ring. Speed Slice gets you to slice a selection of rather random objects (large boiled eggs, water melons, giant clock radio's) in the direction indicated by an on screen arrow while Showdown sets you against a stream of on-rushing enemies to defeat with you having a three strike health limit.
Other events that are less outstanding while still being good fun include Basketball where the MotionPlus's eye for precision shows up any errors in your action perfectly making it a real challenge. Frisbee is another slightly 'meh' one, fun and cute in the way only Nintendo know how yet also prone to become a tad repetitive after a while (much like the real thing come to think of it) despite the presence of that incredibly friendly dog.
Not content with land and water based action you also get to take to the skies with the air events. These could easily have been expanded to become a separate game, in fact the realisation that you really want more from them ends up being their only real problem. Sky Diving makes a welcome return from the game's introduction and there's something to be said for how relaxing it is falling through the sky towards the island, your only focus being forming up with your fellow divers and posing for the camera. Best of all though are the plane events; free flight lets you explore Wuhu Island from the sky, collecting points of interest tokens as you go. It's a genuine pleasure to simply explore the environment while the relaxed action also shows off the MotionPlus very well too, the plane responding perfectly to your every movement. There's a Dogfighting mode additionally which allows you to battle it out against another player, there's not a lot to it but as a glimpse of how much fun a Wii flight-sim could be it's tingle inducing.
Golf and Bowling, as I mentioned earlier, both return from original game complete with MotionPlus makeover. Bowling benefits least from this with no really significant difference noticeable. Golf on the other hand has new holes to add to the original selection and, much like Tiger Woods, has been made a far more realistic experience with the advent of MotionPlus.
Finally we come to Cycling, a sport left until last simply because it's the one time WSR fails. Its shakey-shakey control method is an unnecessary step back into territory we all thought MotionPlus would help us leave behind. It's not improved by the fact you're supposed to lean the controllers left and right to steer while you shake them up and down. It's an idea that sounds fraught with problems even in theory and proves not much better in practice, especially with the MotionPlus calibration seeming to dislike such vigorous motions as much as you will.
On a more general note, if there's one thing that hasn't been improved since the original it's in the ability to customise the rules of each event. Why can't you up the points limit in table tennis? Why can't you change the number of rounds in the archery? Want a best of 10 sword fight? Sorry, you can't. It wouldn't have taken much to include these options and the lack of them is the only real frustration in a game that's otherwise so inviting.
Since we're having a grumble it's worth noting that while multiplayer is as fun as ever you're once again restricted to playing with people in the same room, there's no online multiplayer options at all which is a shame. It's also a bit of a pain to constantly be asked to re-calibrate the MotionPlus (by putting the Wii Remote face down on a flat surface) it only takes a few seconds but feels a bit like you're being asked to pause briefly to cure a bug in the hardware which doesn't seem very Nintendo-esque.
Despite those minor quibbles there's really no reason not to recommend you add this to your Wii collection as soon as possible. Just as Wii Sports was exactly what Nintendo needed to help shift units when the Wii launched so too Wii Sports Resort proves to be a perfect advert for MotionPlus as well as still being a cracking game in its own right. While it's unlikely to cause as huge a revolution as its older brother it still manages to be a tantalising glimpse into a MotionPlus-enabled future while acting as a firm poke in the eye to all the other mini game collections that have swamped the Wii release schedules since launch. Anyone who's enthusiasm for the Wii was starting to wane will find their faith restored as Nintendo, once again, prove that they know best.
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Comments
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