Wii Sports Resort (Wii) with Wii MotionPlus Accessory

A really well crafted flagship game for the Wii; this is what the console was made for. With a wonderful selection of mini-games Wii Sport Resort brings you high quality entertainment for all ages. My parents recently visited and to watch my 70 year old father sword fight my 60 year old mother was hilarious. My mother's a complete techno-phob and she couldn't get enough of it. Swordplay, Table Tennis, Archery and Frisbee were the favourites.

The games are:

Swordplay - Brilliant 1 or 2 player fun, worth the price on its own. In 1 player the opponents get tougher as you go, so there's always a challenge. Needs 2 Motion Plus controllers for 2 players.

Wakeboarding - A giggle and simple. Only need one Motion Plus for 2 players (or more) as you take turns.

Frisbee - With a dog catching it or frisbee golf. Tricky to master at first, but fun. Only need one Motion Plus for 2 players (or more) as you take turns.

Archery - I had to use this to get my parents heart rates down. Only need one Motion Plus for 2 players (or more) as you take turns.

Basketball - To be totally honest I haven't got round to this one, but what I've tried of it was ok. Needs 2 Motion Plus controllers for 2 players.

Table Tennis - Excellent game, brings out the competitor in everyone. Needs 2 Motion Plus controllers for 2 players.

Golf - Actually quite advanced for a mini-game; the putting is a bit simplified, but the game doesn't suffer for it. Only need one Motion Plus for 2 players (or more) as you take turns.

Bowling - Better than the original Sports version (probably because of the Motion Plus). Only need one Motion Plus for 2 players (or more) as you take turns.

Power Cruising - Nobody really got on with this game; oh well, one duffer's not bad. Needs 2 Motion Plus controllers for 2 players.

Canoeing - You use the control as a paddle and this can absolutely exhaust you if you go for the full rowing action, good fun. Needs 2 Motion Plus controllers for 2 players.

Cycling - A little weird, peddling with your hands using the remotes. Needs 2 Motion Plus controllers for 2 players.
Air Sports - Harmless fun, skydiving, touring the island in a plane or Dog-fighting (2 player only). Needs 2 Motion Plus controllers for 2 players.

One word of warning, the Motion Plus things `eat' batteries, so get a recharger if you haven't already.

I've been lucky enough to obtain Wii Sports Resort a week in advance, so have had a few days to try it out. Here's my first ever review!

One sentence summary (if you're short on time): Resort gives you back 80-90% of that feeling you got when you first played Wii Sports. If you loved Wii Sports, you'll love this.

As ever, two player action is far more fun, so you'll need a second motion plus unit. This does make the package over £50 in these tight economic times, so maybe birthday money should be used!

The Technology

Having tried the Motion Plus unit with Grand Slam Tennis, I was slightly disappointed that it wasn't as good as I'd hoped. However, I'm now putting that down my inability to play tennis, rather than any failing in the device.

For me, the Motion Plus is very good. Good enough that you quickly forget the technology behind it, and take the accuracy for granted.

The Gameplay

So far my children (age 6 & 10) and I have tried:

Swordplay (great!) - The first on the menu, and an obvious one to gain appreciation of the motion plus enhancement. Initially there is a temptation to assume thrashing the Wii remote about is a winning strategy, but the use of blocks by your opponent disorientates your character which can then be counter attacked.

Archery (excellent) - One you get the hang of the controls, they become intuitive, and the satisfaction of hearing the Arrow fly and 'thud' into the target is great.

Frisbee (very good) - For realism, I'd say that my kids actual ability to throw a frisbee properly is reflected in the game version - fairly poor!

Canoeing (fair)

The Aeroplane one (fun)

Bowling is pretty much a clone of the original, though the spin applied to the ball is more accurate.

The Golf is similar enough to the original to be familiar, but has more courses (6 I think), and 18 holes per course. Golf was always my favourite on Wii Sports.

Other Details

As ever, the attention to detail from Nintendo gives the game lots of endearing touches - At the main screen details of who has played the game recently appear, with their respective Mii's sitting or standing together tapping their feet to the music.

'Stamps' are the equivalent of trophies on the PS3, although they are really just for your own satisfaction.

There is a full soundtrack in the style of the original game.

Gripes

If only you could play on-line....

Summary

Once again, the selection of games might not have 30 hours of new content each, but most are more than just technology demonstrations. Resort, like the original has games that you can pick up and play when you have 15 minutes, and just want to have fun rather than intense action. Having said that 2 hours went far too quickly...

I think Golf, Archery, and possibly Frisbee and Swordplay will have us coming back for months to come.

Right now, my 6 year old wants to Swordfight again, and claims he is going to 'Take me down to Chinatown...'

Enjoy!

WII SPORTS came free with the NINTENDO WII console and is one of the best-selling games of all time, introducing gaming to new audiences young and old, male and female and set new standards to how games are played using the innovative motion sensitive controls of the Wii remote and nunchuck . WII SPORTS RESORT is its sequel, showing off what Nintendo's new WII MOTIONPLUS can do (there is 1 included in the package).

There are 12 sports included in this game, all of which have at least 2 or 3 different ways of playing (for example - bowling now has regular, 100-pin and spin master modes; air sports has flying where you find locations and pop balloons as well as dog fights ;basketball has free-throw challenge and 3-on-3), making this game literally endless fun. The sports included are:
1 Bowling
2 Table Tennis
3 Canoeing
4 Fencing
5 Archery
6 Cycling
7 Golf
8 Frisbee
9 Basketball
10 Air Sports
11 Power Cruising
12 Wakeboarding

If you thought you were good at bowling or golf from the previous game, you'll need to learn it all again on this one as it is so much more accurate than before, making this game so realistic. Each sport is so much fun and with the MOTIONPLUS they all feel as if you are really playing the sport (especially golf, table tennis and Frisbee). As well as having a personal score for your Mii, you now have stamps that record your achievements. You can now also play team games on a lot of the games, making this more competitive on multiplayer.

There are a few things that let this down such as no online play and also having to buy addition MOTIONPLUS units to play multiplayer (without having to share a remote) means that this can get expensive if you want to play with 4 players.

Overall this is probably the best and most enjoyable game I have played on the Wii since the original WII SPORTS and there is just so much to learn and unlock so I can see myself playing this for years to come (I have literally only stopped playing the original - some 2 and a half years since I bought it - now because of this!) so this is money well spent. If you have a Wii then you HAVE to buy this!!