Wii Sports
Wii
Nostalgia Factor:
Believe it or not, there was a time when Wii Sports ruled the world. Everyone had a friend who had this game. Then when you went over and played it with them, it made you want to go out and get a Wii too. Almost everyone I knew had a Wii, and as a result - they all had Wii Sports, which came bundled with the system. Even I was so impressed that I went out and bought a Wii so I could play this.
As all fads eventually do, both the Wii and Wii Sports lost steam. The game faded away into obscurity as motion controlled games became a novelty and people packed away their Wiis and moved on to the next generation in console gaming.
I still have a lot of fun memories of playing this game with friends, but will it hold up in single player in the present day? Let's find out.
Story:
Nothing! No story. None! You heard me.
Gameplay:
What made this game so groundbreaking when it first came out was its clever use of motion controls. It got people up off of the couch and got them swinging their arms around and waving that Wii remote like a magic wand. The purpose of the game is to mimic arm motions that are made when playing real sports. You swing your arm in a bowling motion when you play bowling. You swing the remote like a bat when you are playing baseball. Swing it like a golf club when golfing. You get the idea. This is especially fun during party atmospheres, as it is funny to watch people like grandma and grandpa swinging the remote back and forth in the air.
I mention multiplayer because the game is best played when you have friends over. You can play the game single player, but without that added element of competition, the game just isn't as exciting to play. The cool thing about this game is that anyone can pick it up and play it and have fun, not just hardcore gamers. I think that is why it appealed to so many people back when it first came out.
There are five game modes to choose from in Wii Sports: bowling, baseball, boxing, golf, and tennis.
Tennis seems like it would be the most fun well-suited to the motion controls, but I always have a terrible time playing tennis. The ball doesn't go where I want it to go. I never seem to hit the ball with the amount of force that I am trying to put into it. I routinely lose to the computer during single player mode, even when matched up against easier opponents. There are practice modes you can play, but I am terrible at those, too. That game where you have to bounce the tennis ball back and forth against the brick wall? I tried and tried, but I just can't do it. No way around it: I suck at it. I feel like I should be taking this personally, as I generally am pretty good at video games. It hurts my ego that I would suck so bad at tennis, and that after all these years I still haven't gotten the hang of it. Oh well, there are several other game modes, right?
Yep. Next, we shall talk about what is probably the game's most popular sport: its bowling mode. Controls are pretty self explanatory here. You hold down the button on the back of the remote and swing your arm like you are bowling. You want to let go of the button at the same instant you would let go of the ball in real life. Bowling is a blast to play when you are with friends. In single player, it gets old fast. I quickly turned to challenge mode to look for alternative, fun ways to bowl in this game. On the whole, bowling is definitely Wii Sports' top mini-game.
Baseball and golf are two others. As far as golfing goes, there are plenty of other games out there that handle golfing better, like Hot Shots Golf or even Super Mario Golf on the GameCube. But hey, if you have friends over it can be a fun game to check out. The motion controls do make golf mode worth at least trying. Same can be said for baseball. In theory, it would be fun swinging the Wii remote around like a baseball bat and hitting home runs out of the virtual ballpark. It is easier said than done, however. Most baseball games are low scoring affairs where you'll foul the ball off so many times you almost just want to concede the out. Challenge mode has you trying to angle your hits so you are hitting the ball into certain specific areas of the ballpark. Good luck with that. And I still haven't figured out pitching. Most of the time I just shake my controller like a mad man and it seems to confuse the crap out of the computer AI. I find that when playing with friends, baseball is one of the the least fun out of all the game modes.
And then there is boxing. This is another one I can't get the hang of. It doesn't seem like my character reliably swings his punches as I am swinging the Wii remote in real life. I end up just furiously shaking both the remote and the nunchuk in my hand whenever I play this, and hope for the best. Playing against a person can be fun, I guess. Against the computer, it is very dull and boring. Boxing is BY FAR my least favorite of all the sports in the game.
Graphics:
If you are looking for graphics that are going to blow you out of the water with their realism, you've come to the wrong place. This is a very simplistic game. The characters and the game environments are very bright and cartoony. Characters have big heads, with digit-less limbs that aren't quite attached to their bodies. Everything looks fine and cutesy until you start noticing the characters' blank and lifeless faces that never change their expressions.
Those blank faces perfectly summarize the whole feel of the game for me. While they aren't anything to get excited about, the graphics do their job. The tennis court looks like a tennis court. As does the bowling alley. As do the golf courses. So on and so forth. But when you start looking closer, you notice how bland everything is. There are no little personal touches. No Nintendo Easter Eggs or fun little background characters thrown in as a shout out to past Nintendo titles. Nothing. Most Nintendo titles are just oozing with fun and charm. The world of Wii Sports feels oddly empty and sterile. I don't know if this bothers anyone else, but it sure does me.
Sound:
The game's music and sound effects perfectly match its visual style. I like the cheesy announcer guy. The game's music is nothing to remember, but it does its job. It is catchy and I found myself humming along to it quite often.
All in all I can't complain about this game's audio. It's good, but nothing too remarkable.
Overall:
I will always look fondly upon Wii Sports because of all the great memories I have of playing this game with friends in the late 2000s. Unfortunately, the fad died pretty quickly. No one plays this anymore. Now that all I have is single player, I find that the game is still fun. It is not as fun as it was when it was brand new, but it is still a decent time.
Some of the sports I don't think are worth too much of your time and effort. Boxing sucks, and I only played it just to say I gave it a shot. Golfing is not my favorite either, but it can be fun from time to time. Tennis is all right. Baseball is all right. Bowling still stands out as the best sport on the disc. I liked playing all of the challenge modes and trying to beat my old scores from whenever it was I last played this game in the past. You unlock medals with high scores as well. Wii Sports does have a decent amount of replay value to it, even when you are playing in single player.
In my opinion, Wii Sports still holds up as a decently fun game. It isn't exciting now as it was when it first came out. It has definitely lost most of its novelty over the years. But it is still something you can pick up and jump into, even after not playing for years, and return to without losing a beat. It is welcoming to new game players as well, which speaks volumes about the game's design. It is not easy to make something that everyone from all walks of life can play and like. You can play this with your friends, your family, your coworkers, anyone. Singe player and all of the challenge modes are fun to play alone, as well.
Wii Sports was a great game in the late 2000s. It is just a good game now. It holds up as fun for what it is. The bowling is cool. The other games are occasionally fun, but on the whole they are nothing outstanding. Trying to put nostalgia aside, I think my final grade sums up my thoughts about that.
Final Score:
B-
If you liked my review of Wii Sports, check out some of my other game reviews:
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