Archery next. Someone's thought about this one. This one needs the Nunchuk and also requires a righty like me to switch the Wii-mote to the left hand. Why? Simple, the left hand holds the bow while the right draws the string (or whatever technical term bow-and-arrowers use for... the string). It's quite remarkably immersive; given that I suck at the wakeboarding as there's about the same level of feedback as surfing had on the Atari Lynx, and I'll deal with sword-play last – it's possibly the most immersive part of
WSR.
So, the swordplay. This was the most anticipated part of the new
Wii Sports Resort down here in the SPOnG office. How was the feedback of sword-against-sword going to work? Was there going to be noise and vibration as one blade made contact with the other? Well, no. I struggled with boxing in the previous because of the lack of actual feedback, and I'm struggling with loving the sword-play here for the same reason. It just doesn't work for me as it feels utterly random as well as being distancing.
Unlike golf and Frisbee golf. Love the Frizbee. Given a rainy afternoon or a dark evening with some pals around the place who don't want to bother with 18 holes of the more taxing new golf using the Wii Motion Plus, I'd say that there are few better uses for a Wii than a few rounds on the Frisbee golf course. It's not exactly a simulation as it lacks the true wrist flick of the real Frizzer. But I am being churlish here. It was the one part of
WSR that had the accompanying crew laughing out loud while still offering some compulsive gameplay.
I'm going to let some other members of the team talk about their experiences of the game in a moment, but lastly for my part: the golf. Has it changed? Has it changed for the better? Yes and yes. For a starter there's more choice – the course has 18 holes and you can tackle the original
Wii Sports holes with your new-fangled MotionPlus. Secondly, my old technique of playing each drive and approach like a straight cover drive (that's cricket – all flat wrist, with forearms and wrists rigid) has gone bye the bye. I had got to the point in
Wii Sports whereby I hardly needed to move, simply wrist-flicking would send the ball up the fairway or onto the green. This version means that you've got to concentrate... actually concentrate on your shot or it will hook into the rough. As for putting! My old technique had simply been to stab the Wii Remote down and watch the ball roll holewards. Again, this time things have changed and putting is a matter of skill rather than arrogance.
By Elizabeth Atkinson
Wii Sports Resort (
WSR) is a fantastic sequel to the previous
Wii Sports, incorporating new games; wake boarding, archery, basketball. The game also incorporates Nintendo's new 'Wii Motion Plus'.
WSR is not so much fun by yourself, because it's fairly easy and virtually everything is unlockable within an hour or so, although it's a challenge trying to beat your own high scores. But with friends and family, it's a great night in. One of my favourites would have to be the archery, because it's towards the harder end of the games difficulty spectrum. Archery uses the Nunchuck, so you can fully adopt the archer's stance, which requires a high level of stability. Archery is a great laugh to play with friends – putting each other off is fun!
The Frisbee is also another highlight for me, the WiiMote seems to pick up everything quite accurately – you can even put the Frisbee behind your head (You know... if you like that sort of thing). Another good feature of it is the very cute puppy that runs around after the flying disk trying to nab it. I suppose this makes you try harder; you don't want to see the puppy upset when you utterly miss the target.
Overall, and in the brief time I've had with it,
WRS is a great game, very playable and cute. Basically, I thought that the game is well worth buying.
