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[B][U]Wii Sports Resort, Nintendo Wii[/U][/B]The recently released Wii Sports Resort for the Nintendo Wii has revived my interest in the console, something which hasn’t been achieved since Mario Kart Wii a few months ago.
The game mimics that of the Wii Sports game that came with the console, in that it’s a simple game, designed to make use of the Wii’s unique controlling system, highlighting its ability to be even more accurate with the new motion sensor adaptor, as opposed to being an in-depth thinkers game.
There are twelve mini games that are playable at the Wii Sports Resort on “Wuhu Island”, and each of the events are dotted about the small, sunny landscape, which includes lush beaches, rocky mountains, and wind turbines that power the whole island, to which the Daily Mail has already started their campaign against!
Most of the games can be played as an individual, aiming to compete against your own high scores, or as multi-player contests against other Wii players, which is where the fun lies in this game.
Unlike the original Wii Sports, there is no daily challenge or fitness levels, just little events that are designed to show you that Nintendo can make a cleaver piece of kit, and that even playing video games can actually be exhausting.
Swordplay
Perhaps my favourite of the games is Swordplay, using the Wii-mote as a sword within three games, Duel, Speed Slice and Showdown to battle a friend, chop things up or fight off an army of Mii’s respectively.
Duel finds you on top of a podium battle platform, and you have to fight off your opponent to the edge, causing them to fall a few feet in to the drink below, best two out of three finds you the victor, and the video reply of your victory is even more glorious.
Speed Slice finds you challenging another person to see who can slice an odd range of items quickest. The referee will throw objects in to the air, and as they fall, an arrow will indicate the direction to slice it, and you have to slice the item in the correct direction, quicker than your opponent.
Showdown is my favourite, as you have to fight off a number of Mii characters in a battle across parts of the island. Usually a single swipe is enough for most Mii’s to fall, but a few heavily armoured Mii’s are among the crowds, and are more likely to take a swipe at you, and deflect any attack to advance. You’ll need to defend yourself well in this game, as you only have three hits before it’s game over!
Wakeboarding
The aim of Wakeboarding is to pull stunts from being thrust up in the sky from the rushing “wake” from the boat that is pulling you forwards at speed. You gain more points for the more entertaining stunt pulled, so long as you land perfectly.
This game doesn’t grab my attention much at all, in fact I think I’ve played it four time only, and nothing about it makes me want to try again. But then, maybe that is because I wasn’t very good at it?
Archery
The Archery was one of the games I was particularly intrigued by, as I wasn’t sure if it could be pulled off, even with the new motion sensor. The way it’s done is spot on target, using the Wii-mote as the bow and the nun-chuck as the pull-back, with a very accurate motion of how an arrow would be aimed using the real deal. The courses are fun to play, with the target being moved further away, moving left to right, hidden behind objects, and wind directions changing the course of the arrow.
Frisbee
The Frisbee game is brilliant, and like the Archery, was another one of those games that I wasn’t sure how accurate the controls could be. They are pretty spot on, and quite tricky to perfect. The main game is Frisbee Dog, where you have to throw a frisbee as close to the target as possible, so that the dog can catch it. The closer you are, the more points you get, and if you’re too far away, the poor little mutt won’t make it. There is also Frisbee Dog with Balloons, which is the same, except if you hit the balloon while aiming for the target, you get bonus points.
You can also play Frisbee Golf using all of the available golf courses, with a further three special frisbee courses becoming available later on, which are somewhat more challenging.
You can aim the frisbee very accurately, aiming up or down to take advantage of the wind directions, and if angled correctly, the frisbee will even bounce of the water and continue on it’s way during frisbee golf. Another one of my favourites of the resort.
Basketball
The basketball games seem quite slow going to me. The 3 Point Contest involves running around the three point zone, throwing five balls one after the other, trying to score a point (or two for each 5th ball), using the Wii-mote to flick the ball towards the ring. There isn’t much more to it, and it doesn’t really keep my interest for too long as a single player game, although it does become more interesting when playing other people.
The 3-on-3 Game is a little tedious for my liking, as all you get to do is block and shoot in the area around the ring, rather than using the whole court.
Table Tennis
The Table Tennis Match seems a lot more accurate that it did in Wii Play, which makes it more entertaining to play, as you can have longer lasting games which make you work harder to win.
The Table Tennis Return Challenge is like the larger tennis version from Wii Sports – hit back the balls that come at you across the table. Every so often a can will appear on the table, giving you something to aim at for a few bonus points.
Golf
The Golf has become more interesting because of the Wii Motion Plus, because the “club” now responds to twists in the swing, and you’re more likely to find your ball swerve to the left or right if you don’t keep your club at the correct angle.
The courses that were found in Wii Sports make their return, as do nine new island holes, enabling an 18-hole game to be played.
Bowling
Players of Wii Sports won’t find much has changed in the world of bowling. The 10-Pin Bowling is still the same, and the Spin Control game still exists, although it has been enhanced slightly with different obstacles, some of which now move back and forth, that add a little more to the game, but not much, to be honest.
The 100-Pin Bowling has been turned in to a bowling game of it’s own, in the same way that the original bowling game is playable, with ten turns, and multiple players, except that 100 pins are on the ally, rather than 10. It’s pretty good to play, and can make the 10-pin game completely irrelevant.
However, the controls are more realistic, as is perhaps expected.
Power Cruising
The Power Cruising isn’t one of my favourites, as it’s just a time-trial racing game on water. The controls are good though, and hopping off of the waves is fun.
Canoeing
I didn’t think I’d like the Canoeing, but I do. The controls involve the left and right paddling, and although at times the accuracy seems off, the challenge of turning and keeping straight makings this little game great to play as multi-player.
Cycling
The Cycling is quite a challenging little adventure. You use the Wii-mote and nun-chuck as peddles, while also steering left and right by tilting them both as if they were handlebars. If you peddle too much, you’ll become tired too soon, and have to stop to catch your breath and have a drink.
You can catch a break if you cycle behind other people, and use them as a windbreak to save some energy, and take advantage of down hill slops as if you were really on your bike.
One thing I found with this was the cable form the Wii-mote and Nun-chuck constantly gets in the way, wrapping itself around your wrist at any given opportunity, a real pain.
Air Sports
The Air Sports consists of three events, two of which are in aeroplanes.
The first is a generic trip around the Wii Resort Island, looking for all the important locations and then some balloon popping with your gun. Giant balloons will contain lots of balloons that can only be released when flying directing in to it. The released balloons will then float up and up and up, so pop them quickly.
The aim is to pop more balloons and fine more locations each time you play, either in day, evening or night mode Some are easy to spot, and obvious to look for, but some locations are well hidden, and a couple keep moving around as well
The Dogfighting can’t be played in single player mode, and you have to burst the balloons attached to your opponent. You both start with the same, but can collect more to increase your chances of winning. One of the most fun multi-player games of the resort.
I found the Skydiving links and Skydiving through rings to be quite a challenge at first. As you fall through the sky, you have to link up with other skydivers for a photo opportunity, with smiling face shots getting a bonus, and then dive through a ring of people for the final group picture.
No Online Play!
The only online aspect that I can see in this game is that other peoples “Mii” characters are downloaded and used in the game, either as opponents, or just faces in the crowds. The fact that there is no real online play with Wii Sports Resort is a great shame, and such a disappointment.
Overall rating!
I’d give this game a 7 / 10, or 72%.
As a single player game, its lastability is limited in my view, with the games becoming repetitive very quickly, especially if you’re quick to gain yourself some high-scores, as there aren’t that many of them. It would have been nice if tennis were included, as an extended version, perhaps with one of those tennis cannons as one of the challenges. I was surprised by it’s absence completely from the game.
As a mutli-player game though, it can last for substantially longer, even more so if you are evenly matched with the people you’re playing, as each game is still a challenge after many attempts, and can you really resist one more chance to win, or to redeem yourself? While I probably shouldn’t promote drinking on this forum, with Wii Sports Resort, there is perhaps nothing funnier than challenging three friends to a dogfight while intoxicated, although you really need to ensure the Wii remote straps are fastened tightly in this situation.
I’m disappointed that there isn’t an online function for this game, as it seems the perfect little time passer for millions of people around the world. The creator of the game stated in an interview that he wanted the Wii Sports Resort game to be a “face-to-face” game, but I’d disagree that this was cause enough for not having an online mode. It could have been an extra addition, and wouldn’t have affected the face-to-face part of the game, but would have enabled more people to enjoy the game, even on days when they are the only one in the house, and after all - with the popularity of Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, etc, it’s perhaps no surprise that having a go on the Wii with people from further a field wouldn’t go a-miss.
Oh well, maybe that will come in Wii Sports World!
And sorry for the quality of the short video clips!!!!!
Thanks Sonic Chris.
You've heard correctly, as I've never been that technically minded, it took me ages to figure out how to use YouTube. I'd write more reviews of games and films if I were more of a gamer and movie buff, but I don't play much, and my attention span for film detail isn't that long, apart from the usual, "wow, cool explosion" and "she's hot"!
You've heard correctly, as I've never been that technically minded, it took me ages to figure out how to use YouTube. I'd write more reviews of games and films if I were more of a gamer and movie buff, but I don't play much, and my attention span for film detail isn't that long, apart from the usual, "wow, cool explosion" and "she's hot"!
Fabtastic Review cjh. You should review games/films more often! (i've heard Technical Posts are bad for you ;D)
[B][U]Wii Sports Resort, Nintendo Wii[/U][/B]The recently released Wii Sports Resort for the Nintendo Wii has revived my interest in the console, something which hasn’t been achieved since Mario Kart Wii a few months ago.
The game mimics that of the Wii Sports game that came with the console, in that it’s a simple game, designed to make use of the Wii’s unique controlling system, highlighting its ability to be even more accurate with the new motion sensor adaptor, as opposed to being an in-depth thinkers game.
There are twelve mini games that are playable at the Wii Sports Resort on “Wuhu Island”, and each of the events are dotted about the small, sunny landscape, which includes lush beaches, rocky mountains, and wind turbines that power the whole island, to which the Daily Mail has already started their campaign against!
Most of the games can be played as an individual, aiming to compete against your own high scores, or as multi-player contests against other Wii players, which is where the fun lies in this game.
Unlike the original Wii Sports, there is no daily challenge or fitness levels, just little events that are designed to show you that Nintendo can make a cleaver piece of kit, and that even playing video games can actually be exhausting.
Swordplay
Perhaps my favourite of the games is Swordplay, using the Wii-mote as a sword within three games, Duel, Speed Slice and Showdown to battle a friend, chop things up or fight off an army of Mii’s respectively.
Duel finds you on top of a podium battle platform, and you have to fight off your opponent to the edge, causing them to fall a few feet in to the drink below, best two out of three finds you the victor, and the video reply of your victory is even more glorious.
Speed Slice finds you challenging another person to see who can slice an odd range of items quickest. The referee will throw objects in to the air, and as they fall, an arrow will indicate the direction to slice it, and you have to slice the item in the correct direction, quicker than your opponent.
Showdown is my favourite, as you have to fight off a number of Mii characters in a battle across parts of the island. Usually a single swipe is enough for most Mii’s to fall, but a few heavily armoured Mii’s are among the crowds, and are more likely to take a swipe at you, and deflect any attack to advance. You’ll need to defend yourself well in this game, as you only have three hits before it’s game over!
Wakeboarding
The aim of Wakeboarding is to pull stunts from being thrust up in the sky from the rushing “wake” from the boat that is pulling you forwards at speed. You gain more points for the more entertaining stunt pulled, so long as you land perfectly.
This game doesn’t grab my attention much at all, in fact I think I’ve played it four time only, and nothing about it makes me want to try again. But then, maybe that is because I wasn’t very good at it?
Archery
The Archery was one of the games I was particularly intrigued by, as I wasn’t sure if it could be pulled off, even with the new motion sensor. The way it’s done is spot on target, using the Wii-mote as the bow and the nun-chuck as the pull-back, with a very accurate motion of how an arrow would be aimed using the real deal. The courses are fun to play, with the target being moved further away, moving left to right, hidden behind objects, and wind directions changing the course of the arrow.
Frisbee
The Frisbee game is brilliant, and like the Archery, was another one of those games that I wasn’t sure how accurate the controls could be. They are pretty spot on, and quite tricky to perfect. The main game is Frisbee Dog, where you have to throw a frisbee as close to the target as possible, so that the dog can catch it. The closer you are, the more points you get, and if you’re too far away, the poor little mutt won’t make it. There is also Frisbee Dog with Balloons, which is the same, except if you hit the balloon while aiming for the target, you get bonus points.
You can also play Frisbee Golf using all of the available golf courses, with a further three special frisbee courses becoming available later on, which are somewhat more challenging.
You can aim the frisbee very accurately, aiming up or down to take advantage of the wind directions, and if angled correctly, the frisbee will even bounce of the water and continue on it’s way during frisbee golf. Another one of my favourites of the resort.
Basketball
The basketball games seem quite slow going to me. The 3 Point Contest involves running around the three point zone, throwing five balls one after the other, trying to score a point (or two for each 5th ball), using the Wii-mote to flick the ball towards the ring. There isn’t much more to it, and it doesn’t really keep my interest for too long as a single player game, although it does become more interesting when playing other people.
The 3-on-3 Game is a little tedious for my liking, as all you get to do is block and shoot in the area around the ring, rather than using the whole court.
Table Tennis
The Table Tennis Match seems a lot more accurate that it did in Wii Play, which makes it more entertaining to play, as you can have longer lasting games which make you work harder to win.
The Table Tennis Return Challenge is like the larger tennis version from Wii Sports – hit back the balls that come at you across the table. Every so often a can will appear on the table, giving you something to aim at for a few bonus points.
Golf
The Golf has become more interesting because of the Wii Motion Plus, because the “club” now responds to twists in the swing, and you’re more likely to find your ball swerve to the left or right if you don’t keep your club at the correct angle.
The courses that were found in Wii Sports make their return, as do nine new island holes, enabling an 18-hole game to be played.
Bowling
Players of Wii Sports won’t find much has changed in the world of bowling. The 10-Pin Bowling is still the same, and the Spin Control game still exists, although it has been enhanced slightly with different obstacles, some of which now move back and forth, that add a little more to the game, but not much, to be honest.
The 100-Pin Bowling has been turned in to a bowling game of it’s own, in the same way that the original bowling game is playable, with ten turns, and multiple players, except that 100 pins are on the ally, rather than 10. It’s pretty good to play, and can make the 10-pin game completely irrelevant.
However, the controls are more realistic, as is perhaps expected.
Power Cruising
The Power Cruising isn’t one of my favourites, as it’s just a time-trial racing game on water. The controls are good though, and hopping off of the waves is fun.
Canoeing
I didn’t think I’d like the Canoeing, but I do. The controls involve the left and right paddling, and although at times the accuracy seems off, the challenge of turning and keeping straight makings this little game great to play as multi-player.
Cycling
The Cycling is quite a challenging little adventure. You use the Wii-mote and nun-chuck as peddles, while also steering left and right by tilting them both as if they were handlebars. If you peddle too much, you’ll become tired too soon, and have to stop to catch your breath and have a drink.
You can catch a break if you cycle behind other people, and use them as a windbreak to save some energy, and take advantage of down hill slops as if you were really on your bike.
One thing I found with this was the cable form the Wii-mote and Nun-chuck constantly gets in the way, wrapping itself around your wrist at any given opportunity, a real pain.
Air Sports
The Air Sports consists of three events, two of which are in aeroplanes.
The first is a generic trip around the Wii Resort Island, looking for all the important locations and then some balloon popping with your gun. Giant balloons will contain lots of balloons that can only be released when flying directing in to it. The released balloons will then float up and up and up, so pop them quickly.
The aim is to pop more balloons and fine more locations each time you play, either in day, evening or night mode Some are easy to spot, and obvious to look for, but some locations are well hidden, and a couple keep moving around as well
The Dogfighting can’t be played in single player mode, and you have to burst the balloons attached to your opponent. You both start with the same, but can collect more to increase your chances of winning. One of the most fun multi-player games of the resort.
I found the Skydiving links and Skydiving through rings to be quite a challenge at first. As you fall through the sky, you have to link up with other skydivers for a photo opportunity, with smiling face shots getting a bonus, and then dive through a ring of people for the final group picture.
No Online Play!
The only online aspect that I can see in this game is that other peoples “Mii” characters are downloaded and used in the game, either as opponents, or just faces in the crowds. The fact that there is no real online play with Wii Sports Resort is a great shame, and such a disappointment.
Overall rating!
I’d give this game a 7 / 10, or 72%.
As a single player game, its lastability is limited in my view, with the games becoming repetitive very quickly, especially if you’re quick to gain yourself some high-scores, as there aren’t that many of them. It would have been nice if tennis were included, as an extended version, perhaps with one of those tennis cannons as one of the challenges. I was surprised by it’s absence completely from the game.
As a mutli-player game though, it can last for substantially longer, even more so if you are evenly matched with the people you’re playing, as each game is still a challenge after many attempts, and can you really resist one more chance to win, or to redeem yourself? While I probably shouldn’t promote drinking on this forum, with Wii Sports Resort, there is perhaps nothing funnier than challenging three friends to a dogfight while intoxicated, although you really need to ensure the Wii remote straps are fastened tightly in this situation.
I’m disappointed that there isn’t an online function for this game, as it seems the perfect little time passer for millions of people around the world. The creator of the game stated in an interview that he wanted the Wii Sports Resort game to be a “face-to-face” game, but I’d disagree that this was cause enough for not having an online mode. It could have been an extra addition, and wouldn’t have affected the face-to-face part of the game, but would have enabled more people to enjoy the game, even on days when they are the only one in the house, and after all - with the popularity of Facebook, MySpace, Bebo, etc, it’s perhaps no surprise that having a go on the Wii with people from further a field wouldn’t go a-miss.
Oh well, maybe that will come in Wii Sports World!
And sorry for the quality of the short video clips!!!!!