Wii Sports Resort

Rather than being just a simple follow up to Wii Sports, Wii Sports Resort faces its own monumental task: familiarise Wii owners with the new MotionPlus accessory

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Pros

  • MotionPlus is excellent when well-utilised, many strong events including Archery and Swordplay

Cons

  • A few so-so sports, no online play, not all games show off MotionPlus tech

Bottom Line

Though time will tell whether it achieves the same phenomenal success of the original, Wii Sports Resort has the great same mix of innovation and accessibility. Much like how you marvelled at the first swing of the bat in Wii Sports, tossing your first frisbee or shooting your first arrow will be just as fun as it is memorable. Andrew's right--it's not perfect, but it is an awesome tech showcase and a damned fun game.

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MotionMinus

Many of the other games make less of an impact, whether due to uninteresting gameplay or the lack of MotionPlus implementation. Wakeboarding and Power Cruising (jet ski racing) are both decent water-based events, but neither offers a particularly compelling experience. The Basketball games lack a realistic throwing motion, but the Three-Point Contest remains a decent diversion; the Pickup Game mode is just a poorly realised imitation of the real thing, however. The Air Sports (skydiving and sightseeing/dueling in airplanes) are pleasant, relaxing counterparts to the more active events, but the remaining games, Cycling and Canoeing, both come across as Wii Fit castoffs, with constant, tiring motions and lengthy challenges.

As with its predecessor, Wii Sports Resort is best experienced with local pals (up to four players in most games), though the score-based challenges mean events like bowling, archery, and Frisbee Dog hold up well with repeated solo play. Still, it's tough to justify the lack of online play modes or even leaderboards, especially since the game has some online implementation via the excellent option to automatically download top user-created Miis from the Check Mii Out channel for opponents and bystanders. This alone is enough to ding the overall score.

Staycation

But even without that crucial feature, Wii Sports Resort still feels like an accomplishment, not only because it offers a fun and accessible experience built around the MotionPlus attachment, but because it may very well renew optimism in those jaded by the lacklustre motion controls seen over the last couple years. It's a very strong follow-up to the original and I can only hope that upcoming titles will build on the momentum that Resort has generated.

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