Wii Sports Resort: The Best Example Yet of what the Wii Can Do

With the Wii taking the world by storm partially due to its perceived innovative and intuitive motion-sensing technologies, Microsoft and Sony are preparing their own new controllers interfaces in the form of Project Natal and the unnamed Sony motion controller. So, in what appears to be a response to their competitors response, Nintendo has upgraded the accelerometer-based Wii remote with a more sensitive gyroscopic add-on called Wii motion plus. To show off its many uses, as well as get it into as many homes as possible, the showpiece title for the device is Wii Sports Resort, the sequel to the pack-in, mega-popular, mega-casual system seller launch title, Wii Sports.

Wii motion plus is the future. At this point everyone can agree that the original Wii remote was somewhat lacking in precision. Based on early footage, the upcoming Sony wand will be infinitely superior to it and even Natal’s more ambitious full body tracking seems to surpass it, but once Wii motion plus is added on, its becomes a much tighter race, possibly in Nintendo favor due to their built-in installed base. Some games out now that use it such as Tiger Woods and Grand Slam Tennis, do not require the attachment, but Wii Sports Resort, and the upcoming Red Steel 2 force you upgrade as should more games if they want to take full advantage of the wondrous new opportunities Wii motion plus offers them. After some brief calibration, every movements and twist is reflected on screen in true 1 to 1. The tracking quality can start to deteriorate but the game smartly recalibrates itself using the sensor bar without the player even noticing. The device itself is an innocuous white cube that comes jammed inside a new Wii jacket but can luckily be removed with some effort. 

Like the relationship between Wii Sports and the Wii itself, Wii Sports Resort is somewhat of a tech demo for a new Nintendo technology, albeit an amazing tech demo for an amazing new technology. Still, it manages to build a complete feeling game around its demonstrations of Wii motion plus. The game is set on Wuhu Island, apparently the island from Wii Fit, a tropical paradise fit for vacationing and harassment of domesticated natives. All the events you compete in take place on, or around the island. One game has you holding the Wii remote like a paper plane and flying an virtual plane around the island and this lets you see how well-realized the island actually is. Whether you are flying down a volcano, around a light house or to the archipelago where the golf courses are, Wuhu Island is a big place with lots of fun stuff to do. 

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Most of those things have you using Wii motion plus to perform feats never before possible on the system. The first event, which doubles as the most epic title screen for a casual game, has you skydiving onto the resort and using the Wii remote the pose your Mii for some cute snapshots. Once on the island you can choose from other activities such as Swordplay, Table Tennis, Kayaking, Wave Race but not actually called Wave Race, Basketball, wakeboarding, archery, bike riding, golf, bowling, and Frisbee. With so many “sports” to partake in, many with alternate unlockable variations, I guess the best way review the game is to comment on each on of them.

Swordplay - Who does not want to wield full control over a sword in a video game? From its foam pads to its rounded blades, Wii Sports Resort tries its hardest to take away as much violence from the concept as they could. Still, the controls are fantastic, angles are important whether you are attacking or defending. Now that the dream of Wii swordplay has been realized, it’s up to some more mature developers to take advantage of its enormous potential whether hardcore or casual. Lightsabers appeal to everyone. 

Table Tennis - According to the stat tracker, this is my favorite game of the bunch. Being an actual tennis player, I know how stuff like spin and wrist flicks would affect the ball in real life and table tennis here reflects that with admirable accuracy. It does feel like the game is easier than its should be, and you can not do more powerful shots whenever you please, but Rockstar should look to this if they ever feel like putting out another random ping pong game.

Kayaking - The 1 to 1 paddle motion here is impressive but this game is boring, tiresome and repetitive. However, it is also an accurate depiction of what I imagine actual kayaking must be like so it’s really not the game’s fault.

Wakeboarding - Flick the Wii remote to jump and keep it level to land. Trying to beat your best score and is fun and its satisfying to watch your aquatic acrobatics get more and more complicated. This simple event did not seem like it needed Wii motion plus though.

Power Cruising - Use the Wii remote and nunchuk to race a jet ski. The controls work, and while the courses are not too varied, they get tougher as more and more waves are thrown at you. Revving the Wii remote to go faster is a cute touch.

Air Sports - Includes plane flying and skydiving which I already touched on. This one can be quite relaxing and can eat up a lot of time if you are not careful. Dog fighting is alright, if a little slow. The only bad part is the completely unnecessary timer distracting you from your island exploration. 

Bowling and Golf - Two enhanced versions of original Wii Sports games. Bowling was already great, especially with extras like hundred pin mode, and Golf is good but according to most people Tiger Woods using Wii motion plus is much better. These two are not that impressive on their own but they are enjoyable and nicely round out the package as a whole.

Archery - Aiming in this game is almost as accurate as IR and you never actually point at the screen. Targets get further and further away, wind that becomes more of an issue, and the various secret targets strewn about levels make this game that needs to be played for a while before calling yourself a master. Also, between this, Swordplay and some boomerang/Frisbee action, all Wii Sports Resort needed was some annoying fairies before you call it “The Legend of Zelda: The Secret of Wuhu Island”.

Frisbee - Speaking of Frisbees, I can’t throw a Frisbee in real life and I appreciate how that is reflected in Wii Sports resort. The two modes are the tropical, self-explanatory disc golf and disc dog where you throw a Frisbee to a dog hoping he catches it in certain areas for more points. Watching the hand onscreen hold the Frisbee exactly you do is mesmerizing from a technical standpoint and every bad throw is a mistake you can feel the instant you let go. The only nitpick I have, and this really is a nitpick, is that Frisbee is kind of a sport for hippies. All we need now is some Wii hacky sack.

Basketball - This is another game that just feels right. Throwing a basketball is a complex, multi-step motion and part of me feels that the game is cheating, making shots better than they really are because it can not read the full motion. But many of the essential elements of free throws are present like the jump and the follow through. Unlike the first Wii remote where too many games were playable while sitting on the couch waggling away, games like basketball work much better if you actually get up.

Bicycling is just a bad, wasted use of Wii motion plus that does not deserve more than one sentence.

All games feature the same polished but simple graphics of all games that feature Miis prominent. Also, perhaps I am over-analyzing, but it seems likes Miis are tanner in this game than they usually are. That would be a subtle appreciated touch to go along with the noticeably improved graphics engine. Songs are either new or remixes of classic Wii Sports theme and the look and feel of the package is in line with the rest of Nintendo’s “Wii_____” series. The only thing that makes this appealing to the more core consumer is experiencing the new gameplay mechanics brought on by Wii motion plus. There’s no online but there is an achievement system that requires the player to complete some very hardcore tasks. I had to make a map to find all 80 points of interest on the island to get one of the air sports achievements.

Get Wii motion plus because it fixes the Wii can/will do awesome things for gaming. Get Wii Sports Resort because it comes with Wii motion plus and is currently the best example by far of what it is capable of doing. Not all games are great but the power and possibilities of the peripheral combined with the quality of the games that use it effectively render the bad ones borderline irrelevant. Get this game. You’d also have to get a Wii too I suppose. At least now they are cheaper.

Rating: 5 out of 5
- Jordan Minor

Posted by admin on 10/08 at 09:08 PM
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