I'm going to let you all in on a little secret, which almost seems shameful in the context I'm writing in here. The first E3 I ever went to was E3 2006, when Nintendo finally let the public play Wii. And while I was surrounded by others who were ready to buy a Wii on the strength of Zelda, Metroid Prime 3, Super Smash Bros. Brawl or (and very rightfully so) Super Mario Galaxy, I had one experience in mind that put me over the edge: Wii Sports' Tennis. I was prepared to pay hundreds of dollars to play primarily this in my home.
It seems a bit simplistic in retrospect; most of the game was just about timing your swing. I still recall the complaints about how you didn't even control your Mii's movement on the court. But there was just something about the simple-yet-visceral games of Wii Sports that moved me, convinced me to buy into Wii on the ground floor complete with a set of four Remotes for play with family and friends.
Now it's 2009, and Nintendo wants to rekindle that same interest again with two plays: the Wii MotionPlus, a gyro in a box that attaches to the tail end of the remote, and Wii Sports Resort, a sequel whose mission is to show off—much like the original Wii Sports—what's possible with their new bit of plastic and circuitry.
Resort hits it out of the park right off the bat with the very first activity: Swordplay. Unlike some of the other games in the package, it's immediately obvious this would not be possible without MotionPlus. It's fairly straightforward: you can take swings at your opponent, or block his by holding the B and positioning your sword at a right angle to his incoming strikes; but it works just so incredibly well and ramps up smoothly into a substantial challenge that you can't help but love it.
On a much less kinetic level, but still fantastic, are sports like Frisbee, which uses MotionPlus' new tracking capabilities to give you the ability to simply toss an imaginary disc into the air, and have its flight take into effect speed, angle, tilt... you name it. (This one took a little getting used to, actually, but now that I've got the hang of it, I love it.) There's also the challenging Basketball—or, at least, the 3-Point Contest mode, which I found works better than the somewhat convoluted and slow-paced Pickup Game—where you just need to make overhand tosses holding the Remote and your strength, arc, and angle of throw are all taken into effect to determine whether you'll sink the shots or not.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the excellent Archery. While it's a little short on levels, its MotionPlus-augmented aiming and Nintendo playfulness with hidden targets simply delight. I'm sure that anyone who plays this mode will be looking forward to seeing a mechanic like this in the next Zelda game, but for now, you can enjoy it simply as it is—and what it is, is good fun.
The best three sports from Wii Sports also make notable returns, though Tennis gets remade as Table Tennis, changing mostly in number of players and size of court as well as a few minor mechanics. Bowling hardly seems different at all—still very good, and with a delightful 100-pin mode to boot—but Golf blows its predecessor away simply by using MotionPlus' abilities to track the angle at which you take your swing. It makes an already decent game into something else entirely.
Finally, there's one other markedly relaxing activity that I heartily recommend: the Island Flyover. It's got one control quirk—since you're holding the Remote "like a paper plane", someone got it in their head that it'd be a good idea to map a "toss" forward thrust to a burst of speed, which really doesn't work well at all—but the rest of it is gold. Nintendo has added to the simple tilt mechanics of flying the plane an exploration mode, challenging you to find all the points of interest on Wuhu Island (which I'm about ⅔ done with, and itching to continue), and layering on things like shooting down balloons.
I do have to call attention to one travesty, though: Cycling. There's a reason you don't steer a real bike with your feet, and the idea of pumping your hands to pedal as well as trying to lean them to steer just doesn't work well for anyone that I've seen or read. It's pretty much an abomination and sullies the whole package unreasonably. I'd rather have had them stop at 11 sports than include it, though I do kind of wish they'd made it work better if only because I love the idea of playing co-op on a tandem bike.
Now, while the original Wii Sports ended up gaining a reputation as a party game—and there is good multiplayer fun to be had in Resort, mind, from one-on-one duels to team play options—Nintendo has added quite a bit of single-player value this time around. Most of the games ramp up their challenge smoothly as you get better, and I don't see myself easily learning Resort's activities to an absolute level of mastery as I had in Sports.
Additionally, every single-player-playable activity features five "stamps" (achievements) that range from simply getting a particular score to out-there tasks like nailing your Table Tennis opponent in the face or leading baby ducklings to their mother in Canoeing's practice mode. Getting them all—except Cycling's, of course—looks from here like it'll be a nice, long-lived, and quite enjoyable experience.
If you enjoy motion controls in any shape or form, you simply need to get Wii Sports Resort. (Who am I kidding? You've probably already preordered it.) Apart from a couple negligible missteps, it's a game that is both going to be your personal obsession as well as a fun experience for when you've got friends over. Solidly recommended.
It seems a bit simplistic in retrospect; most of the game was just about timing your swing. I still recall the complaints about how you didn't even control your Mii's movement on the court. But there was just something about the simple-yet-visceral games of Wii Sports that moved me, convinced me to buy into Wii on the ground floor complete with a set of four Remotes for play with family and friends.
Now it's 2009, and Nintendo wants to rekindle that same interest again with two plays: the Wii MotionPlus, a gyro in a box that attaches to the tail end of the remote, and Wii Sports Resort, a sequel whose mission is to show off—much like the original Wii Sports—what's possible with their new bit of plastic and circuitry.
Resort hits it out of the park right off the bat with the very first activity: Swordplay. Unlike some of the other games in the package, it's immediately obvious this would not be possible without MotionPlus. It's fairly straightforward: you can take swings at your opponent, or block his by holding the B and positioning your sword at a right angle to his incoming strikes; but it works just so incredibly well and ramps up smoothly into a substantial challenge that you can't help but love it.
On a much less kinetic level, but still fantastic, are sports like Frisbee, which uses MotionPlus' new tracking capabilities to give you the ability to simply toss an imaginary disc into the air, and have its flight take into effect speed, angle, tilt... you name it. (This one took a little getting used to, actually, but now that I've got the hang of it, I love it.) There's also the challenging Basketball—or, at least, the 3-Point Contest mode, which I found works better than the somewhat convoluted and slow-paced Pickup Game—where you just need to make overhand tosses holding the Remote and your strength, arc, and angle of throw are all taken into effect to determine whether you'll sink the shots or not.
I'd also be remiss if I didn't mention the excellent Archery. While it's a little short on levels, its MotionPlus-augmented aiming and Nintendo playfulness with hidden targets simply delight. I'm sure that anyone who plays this mode will be looking forward to seeing a mechanic like this in the next Zelda game, but for now, you can enjoy it simply as it is—and what it is, is good fun.
The best three sports from Wii Sports also make notable returns, though Tennis gets remade as Table Tennis, changing mostly in number of players and size of court as well as a few minor mechanics. Bowling hardly seems different at all—still very good, and with a delightful 100-pin mode to boot—but Golf blows its predecessor away simply by using MotionPlus' abilities to track the angle at which you take your swing. It makes an already decent game into something else entirely.
Finally, there's one other markedly relaxing activity that I heartily recommend: the Island Flyover. It's got one control quirk—since you're holding the Remote "like a paper plane", someone got it in their head that it'd be a good idea to map a "toss" forward thrust to a burst of speed, which really doesn't work well at all—but the rest of it is gold. Nintendo has added to the simple tilt mechanics of flying the plane an exploration mode, challenging you to find all the points of interest on Wuhu Island (which I'm about ⅔ done with, and itching to continue), and layering on things like shooting down balloons.
I do have to call attention to one travesty, though: Cycling. There's a reason you don't steer a real bike with your feet, and the idea of pumping your hands to pedal as well as trying to lean them to steer just doesn't work well for anyone that I've seen or read. It's pretty much an abomination and sullies the whole package unreasonably. I'd rather have had them stop at 11 sports than include it, though I do kind of wish they'd made it work better if only because I love the idea of playing co-op on a tandem bike.
Now, while the original Wii Sports ended up gaining a reputation as a party game—and there is good multiplayer fun to be had in Resort, mind, from one-on-one duels to team play options—Nintendo has added quite a bit of single-player value this time around. Most of the games ramp up their challenge smoothly as you get better, and I don't see myself easily learning Resort's activities to an absolute level of mastery as I had in Sports.
Additionally, every single-player-playable activity features five "stamps" (achievements) that range from simply getting a particular score to out-there tasks like nailing your Table Tennis opponent in the face or leading baby ducklings to their mother in Canoeing's practice mode. Getting them all—except Cycling's, of course—looks from here like it'll be a nice, long-lived, and quite enjoyable experience.
If you enjoy motion controls in any shape or form, you simply need to get Wii Sports Resort. (Who am I kidding? You've probably already preordered it.) Apart from a couple negligible missteps, it's a game that is both going to be your personal obsession as well as a fun experience for when you've got friends over. Solidly recommended.