The sports included might not fit everyone’s taste, I personally didn’t like the cycling that much, but their is something for everyone to play of all ages. Of particular mention are a few games, Archery is probably one of the favourites, the Wii Remote acts as the bow as you hold it, arm outstretched while using the nunchuk as the draw string. What’s great is the level of accuracy that the MotionPlus addition adds to the controller. It’s a sport which is easy to get into with it taking into account a steady hand for increased accuracy, but like the real sport, it’s something easy to try but hard to master. Table Tennis is another fun game and probably the most fun multiplayer game out of the lot, the game tracks all your rackets movements precisely including the tilt, turn, height and speed of your racket, it’s very similar to the real sport, you may even find while playing you start to lurch forward as you get into the game without even realizing it.
Another sport worth mentioning is the swordplay, the swordplay minigame is very similar to the original games Boxing but with the addition of the bamboo Shinai which is what’s used in the real life sport, Kendo. Swordplay see’s you fighting to knock each other off a platform and into the water while trying to block your enemy’s attacks and fight back at the same time. It becomes pretty hectic seeing you flinging your arms about wildly trying to get your hit in before they do, it’s also one of the most physically demanding, since after a few games you’ll probably find yourself wanting to sit down and rest but that isn’t the end of it. Swordplay isn’t just about whacking each other with bamboo sticks, the game pits you and a friend if played together against objects which must be sliced in the correct manner. Diamonds must be smashed upon while bread must be sliced, it’s a speed slice event as to who gets the job done first and is satisfyingly fun.
Some of the other Resort games are pretty dull, like the earlier mentioned Cycling which will see you waving your arms in the air in a pedal motion, which if you want to tire your arms out and be too tired to play any of the other more - better resort games, this is the one you should be playing. Kayaking is similarly as bad, having you use the remote to paddle from left to the right of your body, it’s uninspiring and seems more like content filler than a full blown minigame, but they can be forgiven since the other latter mentioned sports offer fun activities to participate in especially when you play through all the games with a few friends.
All in all, what shines most about Wii Sports Resort is it’s accessibility to all, your family and friends will no doubt enjoy playing through the various minigames in multiplayer, and while the single player offers nothing different than playing the multiplayer it’s a title which really is a party game at it's core. How Wii Sports and Wii Fit presented their hardware additions to the Wii generation, Wii MotionPlus does a stunning job of showing the capabilities of the new hardware with improved controls all over the board, it’s just a shame that it wasn’t introduced when the Wii was first released. Maybe one day the consoles Wii Remote will come with MotionPlus already built inside, but time will tell.
So if you have a few friends round and are looking for something which is fun for everyone concerned, you shouldn’t miss out on Wii Sports Resort.
