Cycling
In this mode, you put a Nunchuk in your left hand and the Remote in the other and pump them back and forth to pedal. Turning is handled by leaning both hands one way or the other. If you're good enough at steering, you can draft behind other cyclers to conserve energy.
Swinging the Nunchuk and Remote quickly will make your Mii do a sprint. If you pedal too fast or too long, you'll get tired (in-game, though I suppose you could get tired in real life too swinging your arms around like this.) You have three hearts which deplete as you get tired, and if you lose all three, you'll be out-of-breath and unable to pedal, dragging your feet on the ground, until you get a chance to recover.
Road Race
Players: 1-2 (co-op)
Six courses await which you can play in 1-, 3-, and 6-stage modes. If you play with two players, you'll be riding a tandem (two-seater) bike—so you'll have to synchronize your pedaling.
Stamps:
- Last Gasp: Finish a race out of breath.
- First of Many: Finish any race in first place.
- 1-Stage Master: Finish all 1-stage races in first place.
- 3-Stage Master: Finish both 3-stage races in first place.
- 6-Stage Master: Finish the 6-stage race in first place—you only have to come in first in the final stage.
VS
Players: 2 (simultaneous)
In this split-screen race, choose any one of the six courses to go head-to-head against a friend.
Stamps:
There are no stamps in this mode.
Air Sports
Skydiving
Players: 1
You'll play this game when you first turn Wii Sports Resort on. Jump out of a plane and go skydiving down onto Wuhu Island. On the way down, angle your Wii Remote to control your descent.
Holding the Remote flat will make you go slowly, angling downward will make you go faster, and tilting will move you to other skydivers you can link up with for pictures. Once you catch the first skydiver, a timer will count down; you can link up to four more divers before your picture is taken. When the photographer swings around to take the picture, angle the Wii Remote so that everyone's smiling at the camera for bonus points.
Stamps:
- High Five: Link up with four other skydivers and turn everyone's face to the camera.
- For the Birds: Take a photo with a bird in it.
- Friends in High Places: Catch at least 29 Miis during your dive, then join them for the final formation and have your picture taken.
- Camera Shy: If you don't catch anyone at all during your dive, the photographer will join you for your shot.
- 200-point Dive: Get a score of 200 or more.
Island Flyover
Players: 1
Fly your plane around Wuhu Island in the daytime, evening, and at night, visiting all 80 information points. You hold the Remote like a paper airplane to do this, tilting it in any direction to turn or angle your plane. You can get a burst of speed by thrusting your Remote forward like you're throwing said paper plane, or pull it back to slow down.
You've also got access to a balloon blaster with A, which (when you unlock them) can be used to pop the hundreds of balloons available all over Wuhu. If you like, you can also cut your plane's engine by tapping B, or send up a flare with 1 (useful for finding the guide plane, but also pretty cool-looking.) Finally, if you connect a Nunchuk, you'll be able to use the control stick to temporarily swing the camera.
Stamps:
- Island Hopper: Visit any info point on the remote Wedge Island.
- Pop Frenzy: Pop 150 balloons in one flight.
- Follow That Plane: Follow Miguel's guide plane for at least three minutes.
- Wuhu Tour Guide: Collect all 80 info points in all three times-of-day. The points are the same, but they have new info at each time.
- Balloonatic: Pop every white balloon at all times of day. They'll turn colors next time you play.
Dogfight
Players: 2 (simultaneous)
Uses the same controls as Island Flyover, but now you're in a split-screen battle to shoot the balloon on the tail of your opponent's plane. Your balloon shows the number of hits it can take on it; getting hit reduces this count. Crashing cuts this number in half.
During the dogfight, various locations will have balloon bonuses you can fly into to increase your balloon's hit points.
Stamps:
There are no stamps in this mode.
We hope you've enjoyed our preview of all the content Wii Sports Resort has to offer. If you're interested, you can pick your copy up Sunday (or maybe earlier, if the retail monkeys aren't on the ball) at many fine establishments. If you're not quite sure yet, our full review is coming up tomorrow. Thanks for reading!