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By Jeff (18th Mar 2007)

If you've seen Nintendo's new Wii console with your very own eyes and tried it, too, then you've also seen Wii Sports. For the rest of you out there (and I know there are many, based on how quickly all the newly distributed batches of consoles tend to sell out), the advice is this: Definitely, definitely have a look...

Wii Sports comes bundled with Nintendo's new console, and this fact alone makes it the most-played Wii game available to date, regardless of how much people actually enjoy playing it. The game has a total of five different sports to offer, and allows you to choose between Golf, Tennis, Bowling, Boxing and Baseball. Since most of us have had, at some point, a run in with the amazing depth and complexity of the various Golf, Tennis, or Baseball simulations already available for other platforms, the list of five choices included in the Wii bundle might initially rake up high expectations with the seasoned sports game aficionado. But Wii Sports is quite a different story.

To begin with, there are a few things to consider when looking at the first game for this new console that is so unlike anything we've seen before: Since it's free and included with every console, is there even a point in reviewing or recommending it? There's really nothing to compare it to, so would it be fair to think about the Wii Sports Golf version in the context of the EA Sports Golf series? What about the truly genius (or at least totally new) gameplay? Since Wii Sports is especially designed to make full use of the Wiimote as well as the Nunchuk controllers, it comes across as so singular and original that, again, it just doesn't compare to anything else available right now.

Ultimately, of course, there's also the question of what Wii Sports wants to be in the first place. Some bitter players out there have insinuated that both Wii Sports and its follow-up Wii Play (a series of quite engaging mini-games) are nothing but little gadgety playthings that have no real purpose other than helping gamers to "calibrate" their new controllers. Well, truth be told, Wii Sports will indeed help you to get a grip (quite literally) on the Wiimote and the Nunchuuk - but it also offers so much more beyond that. The game is a much appreciated first look at some of what the new and revolutionary Wii console can do. Furthermore, Wii Sports is fun, fun, fun. The longer you play it, the more fun it gets! The more people you have playing along, the more fun it gets! And so on...

So let's take a very quick look at the five sports, one by one:
Before getting started, the game invites you to set up your own little avatar, a so-called "Mii," who will reappear in later games such as Wii Play. Playing with your own Mii (which will help you save your progress and determine your Wii Sports "fitness") makes the various games in Wii Sports quite a bit more fun - and of course it's even more fun to knock out your friends when you can actually recognize them in their respective Mii avatars.

On to the Tennis court: Unsurprisingly, the Wiimote here serves as a tennis racket. The default tennis match in Wii Sports is the double, regardless of whether you play alone or with friends. This can be a little frustrating, since all players who are not controlled via a Wiimote will simply be taken over by the console. Using the Wiimote as a racket is harder than it sounds, and you might find yourself grateful that the console takes care of moving your Mii around on the field. I've found the Wii to be very responsive to my various servings and backhands, lobs and smashes, but it still takes a good deal of training to play a game without repeatedly setting the tennis ball adrift into the ranks of disapproving spectators. Wii Sports tennis is great fun, and despite the fact that the game options are very limited (there is no such thing as a tournament mode, for example), I'm finding myself coming back for yet another re-match again and again.

It's the same in the Bowling hall. I know very little about the sport, and I've been bowling no more than two or three times in my life. Nevertheless, the Wii Sports version has me throwing strike after strike (well, actually I land in the gutter quite a bit), and since you can play against your friends, it's just as much fun as tennis. What's more, the controller seems to work better with bowling, which makes for less frustration all around.

Boxing is where the Nunchuk comes in. Once you're used to the two-handed controlling system, you're gonna start wondering whether boxing was actually invented for the Wii. The ways to punch your opponent are varied and intuitive, and after some initial practicing, again I found the Wii's responsiveness and accuracy to be very satisfying. The only down-side of this mini-game is that, just as the others, it lacks a bit in depth: Your Mii avatar will never get stronger, older, or more beat-up, and after a while you might find the fights to be quite repetitive and even straining.

Now over to the Golf links. Golf actually appears to have the most depth of all the mini-games included in Wii Sports. The selection of holes is quite large (well, at least 9 holes are better than 1 tennis court), and you will find that no two games of golf will be quite the same. Unfortunately, this has to do also with the fact that it is nearly impossible (at least in my experience) to develop any kind of expertise at using the Wiimote accurately. Even after a large number of tries, my golf ball continues to go too far, or disappears off the field to the left or to the right.

The last sport to quickly mention is Baseball. I can't say that I know much about the game (being European and all...), so I wasn't exactly prepared for how much fun this simplified version actually is. At first, the options here seem quite limited - you either bat or pitch, everything else is taken care of by the Wii. But once again, it is surprising how accurate the control mechanisms are, and after a while, you'll find yourself engaged in merciless little battles with your real-life opponent...

As mentioned above, Wii Sports has no intention to offer you the densely complex sports simulations that are so popular on some of the other consoles. Wii Sports will get you to work up a sweat, no doubt (and you might even strain your shoulder!), but where the big simulations are all about realism and immersiveness, this Wii Sports is simply about fun. Replay options are kept simple, the graphics are cute at best (even though well-rendered and very smooth-running), and yet you will find yourself coming back for more until you're simply too out-of-breath to continue. For once, you can really enjoy a game of baseball even if baseball happens not to be your national sport (having spent a good long while in North America, I dare say this is a real rarity). And for once, the sporty and fit dude could actually beat the nerdy gamer type at a round of console tennis (clearly another rarity until now!).

Overall, the multi-player modes are where the individual Wii Sports games really excel. A mixed-double tennis match with some inebriated friends? Striking out your lover with a mean fastball in a late night baseball showdown? Oh yeah, baby! In today's age of HDTV and monster-resource graphics, Wii Sports might not look like all that much. But regardless, I hear the piercing battle cry of a Little Big Console, and after having demonstrated its revolutionary uniqueness in the simplicity of Wii Sports, the Wii is sure to come back for more... Beat pure machine power with innovative input devices! Kick some overpriced console-ass with well though-out online channels! Slap around some big-budget original releases with the most well-loved videogame back-catalogue in the world! This will be the way to go for the Wii, and Wii Sports is a great first step in that direction.

All this leaves me with just one question: Since Wii Sports is designed as a true multi-player affair - just how could I talk about those minimalist and cute Mii avatars in the plural? Are they the Miis? Or, as in the odd plural of cactus (pl. ‘cacti'), are they the Miii? Oh boy, what do we call many Wii consoles, then? Wiii? Okay, it seems we're gonna have to have this one out in the boxing rink...

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