| Product: |
Wii Sports (Wii) |
| Date: |
14.04.08 (93 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: A whole new world of gaming
Disadvantages: You don't get a full 5 set match of tennis
As this is my first review on a game for the Wii, and as I hope to do many more, I shall start with a bit of background to my decision to purchase the console itself.
It is fair to say I have been slacking when it comes to hardcore gaming. In fact, the last console I could call my own was a Sega Master System which I played until the controllers bled from their sockets! I won an Xbox in a competition in L.A., and shipped it home. What I fool I had been. It was the American version and it needed chipped for UK games. I sold it on to my brother-in-law. I thought fate was dictating that I should never own a modern day console again. The nearest I got was when visitng my mates and playing their respective versions of football or shoot 'em up games!
A new concept on the horizon
The Nintendo Wii. This looked for all intents and purposes, a wondrous new prospect. I decided to dip into the market once again. The Wii comes complete with a free game called Wii Sports and one Wii controller that straps to your wrist. The controller gives a signal to a sensor which needs to be placed in the middle of your TV screen, either at the top or the bottom.
What is Wii Sports?
The game is essentially an introduction to the whole new experience that Nintendo believe will have all the family enjoying game play in a more active environment. The game itself consists of five different sports and training aspects to help you master each one. You need to create your own character before you can play this game. You can do so on the Mii channel which is provided on the console before you even load Wii Sports. You can try to make your Mii as similar to your own likeness as you prefer, from selecting glasses or moustache to picking out the perfect beauty spot. Hey presto, you look like a mini bobblehead and you're ready for action!
The sports
Tennis - this is generally the most enjoyable game of the five, and is most suited to the wrist strapped controller. I like to play tennis myself, and found the movements quite authentic, although you don't need to put your all into every shot. Just a flick of the wrist will suffice. When you play solo you come up against characters with higher skill ratings each time, until you manage to beat the lot. Each time you win, your own skill rating gradually increases. Multiplayer can be frustrating when it goes to a split screen to cover each player's side of the court. Sometimes you don't even see the ball come back at you. This is a minor niggle as it's a lot of fun playing with your friends, even though it can become quite chaotic. Make sure you clear plenty of space before you start, as I've suffered a few broken glasses already! The multiplayer option is up to four player for a game of doubles. You need to purchase three separate wrist controllers to enable this. Each one retails at around £30. This is quite pricey, but if your mates have a Wii as well, they can always bring their own controller round! Being a tennis fan, the only other downside to this game is that you can only play the best of five games instead of full matches. For a lot of people the length is probably perfect and doesn't get too tedious, as shots can be repetitive.
Golf - I'm going to skip past this one as I found it extremely unplayable. I think I still need a lot more practice to master it. However, I have heard a lot of people say the Tiger Woods game is a much more user friendly game for the console. Again, the multiplayer option is for up to four people and there is not an option to play a full 18 holes of golf.
Bowling - This is probably the easiest game to pick up as a beginner. The good thing is you even get a complete ten pin bowling match, right down to the tenth leg. The wrist controller works with a normal bowling swing, although you don't want to put too much zip into it, or you will see your ball fly into the watching crowd behind! Multiplayer option is up to 4 players. My place of work has just bought a Wii for the office and is planning on setting up a bowling league! I can't think of any other console that would be accepted in this way.
Baseball - I found this quite a hard game to master, and even now after a few months I can be restricted to low scores. The game is kept to 3 innings for each side, rather than a full baseball match. You take control of the batter when your teams batting, and the pitcher when your teams pitching. Simple as that! Catching the ball is automatic. Baseball is for 1 or 2 players only.
Boxing - For this you need an additional controller, called a nunchuk. This retails at £15 and connects by a cord o the back end of your other controller, so that you can hold them both like two boxing gloves. This is great fun and sometimes gives you the feeling that you've been through a couple of rounds with Mike Tyson! Sometimes, you can knock your opponent down about four times, and they can still get you with one killer blow! Multiplayer is for 1 or 2, and each player requires an additional nunchuk.
Conclusion
I thought the Wii would be an good way to keep active while doing next to nothing, and I wasn't too disappointed. It took a lot out of me the first few times I played it, as my body took a few days to adapt to all the twists and turns you are required to do to keep up with the action! The graphics are not as good as the Xbox 360 or the recent Playstations, but that is only to be expected from a new gaming experience. Wii Sports is definitely a much better game when entertaining other people. Having reached a high skill level playing solo, I can become frustrated by the lack of quality opponent the game provides to keep me interested. However, this is the first game to be released for the console so all things considered it is excellent fare, and gave me a thirst for more. I'm sure further games will develop these sports to an even higher level.
The Nintendo Wii Console (including Wii Sports and wrist strap controller) currently retails on Amazon at £179.98. In my opinion, this is a bargain, if you can track one down in stock! The set enables you to play all the sports except the boxing.
To have all the equipment to cover all multiplayer options you require in addition:
3 wrist controllers @ RRP £29.99 each, and
2 nunchuks @ RRP £14.99 each
Thanks for reading.
Summary: Highly recommended for all ages
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