A tech demo that's actually fun to play.
GAMEPLAY
Wii Sports truly shines in terms of gameplay just because of the nature of the Wii’s unique controller design. The motion-sensitive controller allows the player to mimic real-life motions, which in turn controls the characters on-screen.
Included in Wii Sports are 5 sport-related mini-games: Tennis, Baseball, Boxing, Bowling, and Golf. These games have been greatly simplified to several core elements, but this allows the games to be picked up and easily played by anyone that is even remotely familiar with the sport.
However, this does create a drawback, as the games are not very in-depth. Therefore, Wii Sports is really only effective as a party game. A single player wont get many hours of enjoyment out of it, but throw in 3 more people, and the game really stands out.
There is also a fairly steep learning curve involved in using the “Wiimote.” Although the game mimics the real-life sports, the way in which the movements are performed needs to precise, and seems to be based more on timing than actual skill. This leads to a lot of in-accurate shots, and statements such as “I totally hit that ball!”
GRAPHICS
Because Wii Sports is more of a tech demo, the graphics suffer while the gameplay shines. Not that Wii Sports looks “bad.” It’s just not up to standards. This game is the first to use the Mii features of the console. This allows you to create a personal avatar to control in the game. These avatars have a LEGO character style to them, but this means that they’re very blocky.
In fact, the characters don’t even have arms, and in some of the mini games, don’t even have feet. I understand the style they were going for in this game, but all this makes you wonder about the true graphics capabilities of the Wii.
It’s not all bad, though. The Mii’s that you have created will actually be in the background when playing as other character. The backgrounds look decent, and there’s a nice focus effect in some of the levels. But you can’t play on any different levels. Therefore you’ll be playing on the same tennis court, baseball field, etc every time you play.
SOUND
Although the sounds are a little basic, the way they’re implemented is what makes them stand out. The “Wiimote” has a built-in speaker, which allows for audio queues per player. Things like hitting a baseball are done through the speaker of the player performing the action. This further pulls the player into the experience, and opens new possibilities for other games. Imagine playing a shooting game where the gunshots actually came from the remote. There isn’t much in the way of voice-overs, or even music, but the fantastic use of basic sound effects more than makes up for this.
VALUE
This is the only area where Wii Sports is sort of mixed bag. As I said before, there isn’t a lot of lasting single player value because of the shallowness of the gameplay. However, as a party game Wii Sports will provide many hours of entertainment.
The ease of controls allows even people who have never played video games, to be able to join the fun. The use of Mii’s is very well implemented and allows each player to not only have a personal avatar, but also a way to keep track of their own high-scores.
Online play would have been nice, but its much more fun when playing with people in the game room. Overall Wii Sports is a great title for Nintendo to include with the new system. It feels more like a tech demo in certain places, but it’s still a lot of fun, and also introduces a lot of basic concepts that players will use in other Wii games to come.