The Good: Controls are excellent for the most part, wonderful atmospere, lots of great minigames, great to play with friends.
The Bad: Not as much fun by yourself, some minigames suck.
When I first saw that they would make a sequel to Wii Sports Resort, I got excited. I really liked the original, and Wii Sports Resort looked awesome. Now, this review is going to be slightly different than my usual reviews. I'm going to review the minigames individually, except for the ones that require multiplayer. I don't have a second Wii motion plus at the house, so no required multiplayer games! You got that? Okay! Here we go.
What truly got me interested in Wii Sports Resort was the swordplay section. It looked so cool! Bashing someone with a sword? Sweet! The first game in the swordplay category, or in all Wii Sports Resort for that matter, was the duel. It's fun! The motion controls work well and I like the challenge. Same with the speed slice! The controls are easy and fun to use and it gets really tough the better you get at it. My only problem with speed slice is that there are certain directions in which you slice that feel awkward and hard to use. The showdown is pretty fun. You walk forward and whack all the enemies ahead of you. It's fun and tough later on! I like that it's difficulty prevents you from just wailing on the bad guys. It takes some actual strategy! It does get kind of repetitive, though. You're just swinging the Wii remote over and over again, but it's a small complaint. Overall score for Swordplay: 4.5/5.
Wakeboarding is okay. You move the wii remote side to side to turn, jerk it up to jump over the stream, and you have to hold it straight to land a perfect stunt. It's an interesting idea, but it's kind of repetitive. All you really have to do is move side to side, jump, and hope you'll make your stunt. It could've been programmed to do more and be more interesting. It's fun for a little bit, but the novelty wears off pretty fast. Overall score for Wakeboarding: 3/5.
Frisbee is pretty fun. It puts good use to the Wii remote and the games are pretty enjoyable! First off is Frisbee Dog. You throw a Frisbee and the dog has to catch it. It's fun for a little bit, but it gets a little boring. You're just throwing it and the dog does all the work. My biggest complaint though is the jumping catch. The green area is ten points, the orange area is fifty points, and the purple area is one hundred points. Shouldn't a jumping catch give you more than one hundred points? Cause I think so! Then there's Frisbee golf. This game is a lot of fun! It feels like real Frisbee golf! The controls work well and courses range from easy to challenging. Though I wish there was more of a variety in courses and Frisbees. Still, it's a lot of fun. Overall score for Frisbee: 4/5.
I really like the archery minigame! It's a lot of fun! It may not be necessarily realistic, but the controls are effective and easy to use. It's also a challenge getting that perfect mark. The only complaint I have is that I would like to see a few more archery stages, but that ain't really going to bring down my score at all. Overall score for Archery: 5/5.
In this game, basketball acts as both a gift and a curse. The games are fun, but flawed. There's the 3-point contest. It's fun and intense. You have to quickly shoot balls into a goal in 60 seconds to score. I like the challenge, but the controls suffer. They're very precise and the one slight tilt of the Wii remote will make the ball be off. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but it can be annoying. It can also hurt your arms a little. The 3-on-3 game is the same way. It's a blast to play with a few flaws. The offense is great. Making a pass is easy and attempting to make that shot is both intense and gratifying when you actually do. The defense controls are pointless. You don't have to do anything except swipe the Wii remote to attempt to swipe the ball out of the opponent's hand. Sometimes you will, but half the time you'll end up just falling on your face. It can also hurt your arms while doing this. I like these games, but they got some problems. Overall score for Basketball: 3.5/5.
Table tennis is fun. The controls work well and the match can be intense. It's like a smaller, faster pace version of tennis on the original Wii Sports (and the tennis game is pretty fun). They pretty much play the same, but that really isn't a bad thing. The serve return game (or whatever you call it) is where you have to rapidly return the balls the opponent sends to you. It's enjoyable for a while, but it's repetitive and the novelty wears off fast. It's still a great addition to the game. Overall score for Table Tennis: 4/5.
Golf is a game that I question why it made a reappearance in the sequel. I think the sport is okay, it's just that this game is jacked up. While holding the Wii remote and swinging, it's going to go to one side or the other no matter what. It won't go to the spot you want to get. A hit that's slightly too strong will send it soaring. It's too sensitive. It's also boring. Overall score for Golf: 2/5.
Bowling- the pinnacle of the Wii Sports franchise. It's easy to see why. The bowling minigames are the best in the game. You got the classic standard game, knocking ten pins down, the 100 pin game, knocking down 100 pins in a hilarious variation of the original game, and spin control, like the standard game but with obstacles in your way. All of them have great controls and are a lot of fun. There is no way that these games can be topped. No way. Overall score for Bowling: 5/5.
Power cruising makes me wonder… why? Why would you put this in here? It isn't really that much of a sport. It's definitely the least involved of all the minigames. You hold the Wii remote and nunchuck together at the top and tilt them side to side to steer. It's uninteresting, easy, and boring. I don't even think power cruising is really a sport! Overall score for Power Cruising: 2/5.
Canoeing. *GROAN* BY FAR the worst thing on Wii Sports Resort. The controls are so clunky and repetitive. You stroke down on each side to go and turn. It's boring and repetitive. It's also hard with it's too short time limit. It's not fun. Overall score for Canoeing: 1/5.
Cycling is pretty cool. The controls are effective and work well. It's also pretty adventurous, speeding down through the environment and seeing the sights. It's awesome! It does get slightly repetitive, but it's only because it's realistic. By the way, you might need a break after this. It's pretty exhausting. Overall score for Cycling: 4/5.
Air Sports is amazing. The gameplay is pretty good, but what really stands out is the atmosphere. First, there's skydiving. You fall through the sky, connect with other falling skydivers, and take a picture. It may seem boring to some, but I love this one. It feels adventurous, like I'm on a quest. Take a picture as many people as you can before you hit the bottom. It's cool. And then there's the famous flight tour through the island. In this game, you are on a plane, flying through Wuhu Island (the island you're on) to explore and discover new areas. This one is a lot of fun, just flying around, not knowing what you're going to find. The atmosphere is where it really stands out. Wuhu Island is an amazing place to explore. It's possibly one of the greatest overworlds ever created in a videogame. And besides, you can shoot balloons! Overall score for Air Sports: 5/5.
This game is a lot of fun. It's pretty good by yourself, but when you're playing with a friend, prepare to be addicted. Not only are the games enjoyable, but the atmosphere is great and the music is catchy. This is a must play for all Wii owners.