Games
Hands On With: Wii Sports Resort
By Eli Green June 26, 2009 - 16:55
People
got their first look at Wii
Sports Resort,
the follow up to the original Wii
Sports game
bundled with Wii consoles, last year, at E3
2008.
This year, at E3
2009,
Nintendo gave a more thorough demonstration of the game, showed off
more of the sports that would be available and announced that it
would be releasing next month, on July 26th
to be exact. And while most journalists were able to get their hands
on the game on the show floor, I was, unfortunately, relegated to
another year of sitting at home and watching all the goings on from
my desk. Thankfully, as it did last
year,
Nintendo brought its upcoming offerings up North for another
E3 review,
this Tuesday, so I got a full look at Wii
Sports Resort for
myself.
The
big difference between Wii
Sports and
Wii
Sports Resort
is improved motion capture accurary. This is Nintendo's first first
party title to use its new Wii
MotionPlus
accessory, which means that, unlike the original Wii
Sports,
you actually have to perform the full movements if you want your Mii
to actually play properly. Actions aren't brought down to simple
flicks of the wrist anymore and, moreover, you can now be more
accurate with your timing, because Wii MotionPlus doesn't just track
your movements on a 1:1 scale, it also tracks them in real time.
Of
course, the best motion tracking in the world doesn't really matter
if the games you're playing suck. So I guess it's a good thing that
the sports in Wii
Sports Resort don't
suck. The gameincludes
a large number of new sports to take on and introduce you to Wii
MotionPlus. In all, I believe there are about a dozen activities you
can play, including basketball, archery, table tennis, canoeing,
skydiving and more. Graphically speaking, there isn't very much new
stuff to speak about. The styling is still very Mii-centric, so the
bright colours and lush, but not particularly impressive environments
are instantly recognizable and happily familiar, at least if you've
already played any of the Wii
titled
games, like Wii
Sports,
Wii
Fit or
Wii
Music.
What the development team
did manage to do this time round though, is improve the player
immersion. The entire game is set on an island, and all the sports
are played at different spots either on or across it. Creating an
open play space like this also allowed the team to add in other
sports like skydiving, cycling and airplane acrobatics. With these
sports, you can either see or travel around the whole island and take
in the sights. In fact, in the airplane, you can head to different
locations on the island and get information on those spots, should
you be interested to do so.
During
my demo time with Wii
Sports Resort,
I took the time to try out a few of the different sports to try to
get a good idea not only of the quality of the games, but the
accuracy of Wii MotionPlus as well (especially because it was the
first time I had laid my hands on the accessory). Upon suggestion
from the Nintendo representatives, I started out with wakeboarding. I
can certainly see why they would suggest it as the first game to try.
It's simple to pick up and fun. You just try to lean out as far as
you can, then come back in, hit the jumps and make sure you're
holding the Wii Remote straight when you land.
Next,
I gave archery a shot (man, I've got to stop with these puns).
Archery essentially gives you an instant and complete introduction to
the accuracy level of Wii MotionPlus. It doesn't just track your
movements relative to where you're pointing at the screen anymore,
but it can also tell where you are in actual space now, compared to
the spot where you calibrated the Wii Remote's sensors, sort of like
Ubisoft's Jason Vadenberg talked about in his walkthrough of the E3
2009 Red
Steel 2 Demo.
In archery, the Wii
Remote acts as the bow, while the Nunchuck acts as the arrow. You
begin by holding the Wii Remote straight up, trying to keep it as
stable as possible, and then bring the Nunchuck up to it. You then
press the A Button on the Wii Remote to focus on the target and pull
back on the Nunchuck while holding the Z Button. Once you're ready,
all you have to do is let go of the Z Button and let the arrow fly.
While the game is quite simple, it's pretty fun. Depending on the
level you're playing on, it can be pretty challenging, as you'll have
to compensate more for wind and distance. The only issue I found with
this game was that it felt rather slow, like the arrow wasn't really
flying anywhere close to normal speed. Even when shooting closer
targets, it still felt a little slower than I would expect an arrow
to fly from a bow.
Moving
on, I tried out table tennis next. This is yet another game where you
can really see Wii MotionPlus in action, as you can watch your Mii's
hand precisely follow the movements you make. Actually, to be honest,
all the games show it off quite sufficiently, as Wii
Sports Resort,
like Wii
Sports
was designed to introduce you to a new way to play, which in this
case is Wii MotionPlus. Playing table tennis on my own was certainly
enjoyable, but it was far more fun against a real opponent. Switching
up between slow backspin shots, curve shots, slams and high speed
topspin shots is a lot of fun when the person you're playing against
is actually there, reacting to your attempts to throw them off their
guard. I had a couple of great moments when playing against Got
Game's Zack
Cooper
when I barely won thanks to the ball hitting right at the edge of the
table. The show's Bryan Calhoun though, gave me a run for my money in
the jet ski game. I'll get you next time Calhoun, next time.
Unfortunately,
the table tennis in Wii
Sports Resort suffers
from a similar issue as the archery. It just feels too slow. Even
those high speed topspin I mentioned before. Maybe it's just because
this game is meant to be an introduction to Wii MotionPlus and was
mainly designed for casual gamers. I'm not really 100% sure at this
point. I suppose in the hands of a company like Rockstar Games, we
could see some serious, fast-paced table tennis action, just with
1:1, real time motion capture this time around.
I tried canoeing next. It
was definitely interesting and demonstrated the motion control quite
well, but I wasn't particularly impressed. I think I would have to
spend a bit more time with it, getting to the more challenging levels
and lengthier tracks, before I pass a more definitive judgement on
it. I will say this though. If you're playing tandem canoeing with a
friend and want to perform very well, you'd both better know what
you're doing and not be afraid to tell one another to row on a
different side. Also, I have a feeling this is one of those sports
that just makes more sense doing in the real world. It's just too
different, especially with the severely reduced weight of the Wii
Remote when compared to an actual oar.
I gave the three point
basketball challenge a shot next. It's a lot of fun. Not much else
needs to be said really. I found myself making the general movements
of picking up and shooting the ball. The weight difference between
the Wii Remote and a real basketball didn't feel too significant.
After watching Matt Ryan
play around with the skydiving game, I decided to give it a shot. It
turns out there's a lot more to it than I originally thought when I
watched Nintendo's Media Briefing at E3 this year. Add that to my
list of complaints about all the stuff they didn't, but should have
shown. That said, during the skydiving game, you can group, or
“catch”, your Mii together with other skydiving Miis and take
photos midair. It becomes a whole game of trying to get together an
entire group of Miis and then have them all turn toward the camera
and smile in time. This all culminates with one massive formation
before you all pull your parachutes. It's simple, but fun, and it's a
feature that they really should have shown off at the Briefing.
The Swordplay games are
pretty simple as well. The one I tried was basically a “winner
slashes first” competition in which objects are thrown in front of
you and you have to slice in the proper direction. There is also an
“adventure” mode which lets you run around a track slamming Miis
in the head (don't worry, they're wearing protective gear) with a
foam sword, as well as a vs. mode, which is pretty similar to the
“adventure” mode, except your goal is to knock your opponent off
of the combat platform.
Finally, I took the
airplane out for a spin around the island. Aside from taking in the
sights, you can also do some in air acrobatics. It's pretty nice, but
not all that impressive. Though I was happy to see that the game has
an eco-friendly spin to it (there are windmills on the island that
“power” it).
I
enjoyed Wii
Sports Resort. It's
a fun game, with lots to do. Compared to the original Wii
Sports,
it is a full featured game that will be able to stand out on its own,
at the right price. Thankfully, that right price will be more fair
either way, because the game will launch with one Wii MotionPlus
accessory in the box. The only issue for me is that, even though it's
a full featured game when compared to Wii
Sports,
it only feels like it will be worth it for casual gamers to purchase.
More dedicated gamers may find it amusing for a little while, but
will likely grow bored with it rather quickly, cracking it open every
once in a while when non-gamer friends are over. Dedicated gamers
looking to pick up a Wii MotionPlus compatible game already have the
option of picking up Tiger
Woods PGA Tour 10,
and other compatible games will be launching over the next year,
including Red
Steel 2,
which will be releasing this holiday. Each of these games comes, or
will be coming, bundled with Wii MotionPlus. So the only other reason
I can see dedicated gamers wanting to pick up Wii
Sports Resort is
because it means you get another Wii MotionPlus unit, plus another
game. For casual gamers though, this is a must have for your
collection. It's a fun, family friendly social gaming experience.
Wii
Sports Resort will
be releasing exclusively for Wii on July 26th
for $49.99 USD/$59.99 CAD and is rated E for Everyone.