Is Wii Sports Resort the worthy sequel fans of the original have been waiting for?

When Nintendo needed a showpiece for the unique motion control system of their upcoming Wii console, their developers came up with the original Wii Sports title that was eventually packed in with the system. Needless to say, it's become one of the most beloved titles for the console and, in all honesty, was the perfect pack-in title to show of the Wii console's advanced control capabilities.

So what do you do if you're Nintendo and you're getting ready to release an upgraded motion sensor attachment for your Wii console? You create a brand new Wii Sports package to show it off, of course. Only this time around, Nintendo didn't skimp with only a handful of sports, instead choosing to pack this title chock full of resort-style sports for gamers to take part in. And not only does the more precise motion controls add a lot more accuracy and playability to the mix, but many of these new sports games are not only a blast to play, but extremely authentic in the way they play as well.

In Wii Sports Resort, there are 12 different games to choose from, many of which have several sub-games within themselves. You can use your Mii characters as your players, and you can also choose to import Miis from the Check Mii Out channel to be used as opponents and spectators. Of course you can also choose not to do this and just make use of the game's built-in set of Mii characters. And while there's no online gameplay or leader boards available, the fact that you can play with up to four players on many of the sports gives gamers plenty of options for multiplayer fun.

It's also worth noting that you cannot play any game on Wii Sports Resort without the use of the new Wii Motion Plus accessory. So if you're looking to make use of the multiplayer functions, you'd better remember to pick up a few extra Wii Motion Plus attachments beforehand. Now that we've covered the basics, it's time to take a look at the many individual sports available in the package and what they each have to offer.

Swordplay

There are three modes to Swordplay: Duel, Speed Slice, and Showdown. Duel mode is basically just one-on-one sword fighting to see who can knock the other player off of the high-rise platform and into the water below first. You hold the Wii Remote like a sword and make your various swinging motions as you would with a real sword. You can also use the button to block. You'll quickly learn that just swinging away won't get it done against some of the more skilled opponents. You can even take on a second player in a bout as well if you’re looking for some multiplayer action.

The Speed Slice mode pits you against either a computer opponent or another player and the two of you will square off side by side in a slicing contest. The judge will toss out an item in from of each of you and the item will have an arrow indicating the direction you must slice it. He'll toss everything from watermelons to birthday cakes and everything in between. The first person to accurately slice their object gets a point. The first player to reach 10 points wins the match. The judge will even occasionally toss them at varying speeds which will keep you on your toes.

Showdown pits you against a whole barrage of sword fighters. Your character will begin walking as other sword fighters approach you. You must take them out one at a time in order to progress. You can only take three hits before you're knocked out, so you have to be careful when and how you attack each fighter. It's best to try to take them out in combos if you can. You'll also have to be more defensive if you're to have any chance of unlocking all 10 stages. The secret to getting your enjoyment out of the Swordplay game is sticking with it long enough to learn how to really play it as far as learning to block and how/when to attack your opponent. While wildly swinging might work early on, you'll soon learn that it just won't cut it in the later stages of the game.

Wakeboarding

Wakeboarding is another one of those sports in the package that feels fairly authentic in its execution. You hold onto the Wii Remote just like you would a wakeboarding tow line in real life. You then tilt the Wii Remote in the direction you want your character to move. Your goal is to swing back towards the wake that's left by the boat in order to catch some air and perform tricks for style points. You can jerk up on the Wii Remote at the exact moment you hit the wake to catch some big air. Of course you also have to be sure you level the Wii Remote and your wakeboard out before you land or you won't be awarded any points for an awkward landing.

Performing tricks is fairly random as you just have to twist the Wii Remote while in mid-air to pull of some flashy tricks. The more air you can get off of the wake, the better tricks you can perform. There's really not much to this game, but for those who are fans of the sport, it can be fun to experiment with how to get the best air from the current wake. You'll also be able to unlock harder difficulties that will present you with certain hazards to deal with like water buoys and channel markers that must be avoided while you're catching big air. This is probably one of the weaker sports in the package with its lack of variety, but it should still offer up enough enjoyment until you're ready to move onto to something bigger and better.

Frisbee

Frisbee features two different games: Frisbee Dog and Frisbee Golf. Frisbee Dog is about tossing the frisbee into the air and having your dog catch it before it hits the ground. But there's a catch. You've got to toss the frisbee towards a target and have your dog catch the frisbee as close to this target as possible. The closer to the center of the target you get, the more points you'll score. Of course you'll have various balloons pop up that you can aim for and pop for extra points along the way as well. Tossing the frisbee is much like it is in real life. You grasp the frisbee, or Wii Remote in this case, by pressing the button and then flick the Wii Remote like you would a real frisbee. It takes a bit of practice to get a feel for when to let go of the button, but you'll soon be tossing the frisbee around more accurately in no time. Up to four players can participate in the game with the highest point total winning.

Frisbee Golf is basically what it sounds like. You take on the various Wii Sports Resort golf courses, but this time you do it with one of three frisbees. Each frisbee can travel a certain distance varying from 30-180 yards. You basically choose the frisbee you want to toss from the three choices and then toss away. Your goal is to get your frisbee onto the target that's located on the green where the hole and flagstick would normally be. The same basic rules apply; the only difference is that you use a frisbee instead of a golf ball. You can even put some serious curves on the frisbee to avoid hazards like water and trees that are in your way. It's actually even more fun than regular golf once you get the hang of it, so much so that we're considering taking a frisbee to the local golf course this weekend to try it out for real.

Archery

Archery is where you start to see the true benefits of Wii Motion Plus shine through. You'd better have a steady hand if you're going to succeed at this sport. There are three difficulty settings to play through - Easy, Intermediate, and Expert. The Easy mode has a still target and the distance and winds aren't terribly challenging once you get the hang of it. But once you hit the Intermediate and Expert levels, you'll encounter everything from moving targets to obstacles placed in front of the moving targets for you to avoid. There are four distances you shoot from in each match with three shots per distance. At the end of the round, your scores from all four distances will be totaled.

To shoot your bow and arrow, you hold the Wii Remote upright and press the button to make your character raise his bow up. You then press the button on the Nunchuk and draw it back as if it were the bowstring. You'll see a circle pop up that you use to aim with. When you've sighted in your target, you simply release the button to fire the arrow. Of course you'll have to use the proper trajectory to correspond with the distance and windage. And once you start shooting at the moving targets, you'll then have to learn to shoot just ahead of them in order to make contact when your arrow reaches the target. It's this true-to-life archery gameplay that makes it one of the best games in the package and one you'll catch yourself coming back to time and time again. It's quite possibly the best overall game in the bunch, all things considered.

Basketball

You can choose to play one of two games in Basketball: 3-Point Contest or Pickup Game. The 3-Point Contest will be instantly familiar to those of you who watch the NBA All Star Weekend each year. You're presented with 5 racks of balls around the 3-point line. There are 4 regular balls and one multi-colored money ball. The regular balls are worth one point and the money ball is worth two points. Up to four players can play, alternating turns. You have a 60 second time limit in which to shoot as many of the balls as you can before the time expires. Your points are then tallied up and the person with the highest point total wins. You use the button on the Wii Remote to grab a ball from the rack and then you hold the Wii Remote above your head and flick your wrist like you were shooting a real basketball. How hard you flick your wrist and where your wrist stops determines how far and with how much arc the ball travels. It takes a bit of practice, but once you get in a rhythm, you'll have no trouble making shots at will. But you've also got to remember to be quick or time will quickly run out on you.

The Pickup Game lets you and one other player take control of three characters on each team. You can pass the basketball between them and even tap the Wii Remote up and down in order to dribble around opponents. If you get close enough to the basket you can even dunk the ball. Most of the time your best bet is to pass it around a couple of times and then shoot from the outside. After a missed shot, the ball automatically goes over to the other side. You can pass to the left player using the button or the player on your right by pressing a direction on the . On defense you can even flick the Wii Remote to attempt to steal the ball when your opponent dribbles it out in front of you. While this game of basketball is very basic in design and can be a bit clunky at times, once you get the hang of it you'll actually begin to see how much variety it truly offers, at least if you can keep your expectations at a realistic level. Both basketball games are quite fun, but the 3-Point Contest is the one most players will likely spend most of their time with.

Table Tennis

Table Tennis offers up two challenges: Match and Return Challenge. Match is basically just a regular game of table tennis that can be played by one or two players. The rules are very standard and if you've ever played ping pong before, you should feel right at home. The first player to 6 points wins, although you must win by two points. You basically use the Wii Remote as your paddle and swing away at the ball as it comes your way. If the ball bounces high enough, you can even perform a smash shot to catch the other player off guard. Your player will move around on their own, the only thing you'll have to keep track of is which side to swing your paddle from in order to keep the ball on the table. Of course with Wii Motion Plus, the control tends to be very sensitive, so you'll have to be fairly accurate in your swinging motion in order to succeed. But this also means that you can impart spin on the ball by tilting the Wii Remote forwards or backwards a little in order to produce topspin and backspin. This can also be a good way to keep your opponent on their toes. Of all the table tennis games out there for the Wii currently, this is probably the best one overall. It's just very well executed and a lot of fun to play.

Return Challenge can be played with up to four players, each taking turns. The object of the game is to return as many balls as possible as the server continuously serves balls at you at an ever-increasing rate of speed. You try to return as many in a row as possible and you'll catch yourself going back for more in an attempt to beat your highest number of returns. While not as much fun as the Match mode, it's still a fun diversion and offers a lot of replay value in the process.

Golf

Golf feels very familiar to the original Wii Sports version, but there are a few added twists courtesy of Wii Motion Plus that do make things a bit more interesting. Now there's a lot more sensitivity in the actual swinging process. No longer can you just swing the desired speed - now you must lock your wrist into place in order to keep the power bar from weaving to one side or the other thus making your shot draw and fade at times when you need a straight shot. Of course if you want to purposely add a little draw or fade to your shot, it's as easy as twisting your wrist as you follow through with your swing. There are three Classic courses and three Resort golf courses to play and you can choose to play each of them in three, nine, or eighteen hole modes with up to four players alternating turns. The addition of the Wii Motion Plus takes what was already a solid Wii Sports game and makes it even more playable and realistic, not to mention adds in a ton of new holes to take on. As good as Golf was in the original Wii Sports release, it's that much better in this title.

Bowling

Bowling consists of three games: Standard, 100-Pin, and Spin Control game modes and can all be played with up to four players taking turns. The Standard game will be quite familiar to fans of the original Wii Sports release as they're almost identical, albeit with a bit more control sensitivity courtesy of the Wii Motion Plus peripheral. While the aiming is still the same, this time pressing the button will only prepare your bowler to begin the throwing motion. Your player will not begin moving forward until you draw back your arm with the Wii Remote in hand. This adds a bit more realism to the experience this time around. You can still impart spin on the ball by twisting your wrist one way or the other as you are throwing the ball down the alley. The added sensitivity of Wii Motion Plus makes it much easier to do so as well.

The 100-Pin game mode is where things get a bit more interesting. Instead of the usual 10 pins to knock down, this game presents you with 100 of them. While the goal of the game is still basically the same, there's nothing quite like knocking down 100 pins with one shot to get you fired up. Not to mention some of the insanely tricky spares you'll have to try to pick up.

The Spin Control game mode is where your skills will truly be tested. The bowling action is fairly standard, but now there will be various barriers placed along the lane that you must spin your ball around. And as if that weren't enough, some of these barriers will be moving back and forth. If your ball is stopped by a barrier, you won't score any points at all for that throw, so you'd better be careful how and when you make your throws. You'd also better learn to put a lot of spin on your ball if you're going to have any chance at mastering this tricky bowling mode. Bowling was good in the original Wii Sports title, but it's absolutely fantastic in Wii Sports Resort.

Power Cruising

For Power Cruising there are basically two different game modes. Slalom is the main game and up to four players can take turns driving their jet ski through circular slaloms. The faster you get from one slalom to the next, the more points you earn. Occasionally a smaller life preserver will pop up inside the slaloms. If you can drive your jet ski through it, you'll receive double the points. Once you cross the finish line your score is then tallied.

Piloting the jet ski is very much like you would operate one in real life, as you hold the Wii Remote and Nunchuk out in front of you as if you're holding the handlebars of a real jet ski. You can use the or buttons to accelerate, and you can even twist back on the Wii Remote for a temporary speed boost, although this can drag you a bit off course if you're not careful. You just turn the Wii Remote and Nunchuck like you would the handlebars to steer your jet ski. You'll even have to deal with wakes that are constantly moving across your path during each run. The whole experience takes a bit of getting used to, but it becomes very intuitive with a little practice. There's also a VS mode where two players can race each other driving through the slaloms and trying to reach the finish line first. The control in Power Cruising is about as authentic as you can get without a real jet ski and the Wii Motion Plus makes the control very responsive and easy to make use of.

Canoeing

Canoeing is probably the Wii Sport that will give you the best overall workout. It's also one that requires some practice in order to get a feel for it. There are two game modes in Canoeing: Speed Challenge and VS. Speed Challenge can be played with up to four players and basically sets a distance goal for you to reach within the required 60 second time limit. Each time you complete a distance, the game increases the distance to see how far you can ultimately paddle your canoe within the set time limit. The farther the distance, the better the record. This will also allow you to unlock the Intermediate and Expert modes. These play virtually the same, but there are more hazards to deal with like sharks that will knock you off course or grass and lily pads that can slow you down. Of course the actual channel way gets smaller which requires you to be more accurate with your paddling as well.

VS mode allows you and up to three more players to race to various channel markers. The first player to make it to a channel marker gets a point. The first player to five points wins. You'd be surprised how challenging the VS game can be given that you can make up some serious ground in a hurry if you can get into a good paddling rhythm. You basically hold the Wii Remote upright with both hands just as you would a real paddle. You then tilt it to one side or the other and come down in a paddling motion to get your canoe moving. You can navigate to one side or the other by paddling an extra time or two on the same side depending on which direction you want to steer your canoe in. The control is fairly precise and about as authentic as you can get without an actual canoe at your disposal. It can be very tiring on the arms after long playing sessions, so you might want to heed the advice of the game when it tells you to take a break on this one. While not as much fun as some of the other sports, it can be quite enjoyable if you give yourself time to become accustomed to the controls.

Cycling

Cycling is probably the least enjoyable of the 12 sports simply because its control is very basic and often feels more erratic than anything else. Up to two players can take part in one of two game modes. Road Race is where you basically start out in last place and try to work your way up through the 30 other riders in the race. VS mode gives you the opportunity to only race against the other player, which can be a bit more fun if you want to compete with each other without having to constantly weave your way in and out of the other cyclists the whole time. You can also choose to race a single stage race or multi-stage race, depending on how long you want the experience to last.

To ride your bicycle, you simply hold the Wii Remote and Nunchuk upright in front of you and move them in an up and down motion to simulate the peddling of a bicycle. Of course you're doing it with your hands, oddly enough. You tilt the Wii Remote and Nunchuck left or right to turn in that direction, but this can be a bit tricky, especially when you're peddling really fast in sprint mode. If you thought some of the other sports made your arms tired, wait until you race through a multi-stage race in this sport. There are 6 different tracks to choose from, each with their own pros and cons. The change of scenery can be nice, but given that this sport offers very little in the way of strategy or variety, it's not likely one you'll stick with long enough to get tired of the scenery.

Air Sports

Air Sports is broken down into three modes: Skydiving, Island Flyover, and Dogfight. Skydiving is a single-player experience and is about what you'd expect. You basically jump out of the plane and during your dive; you attempt to hook up with other nearby skydivers. To perform moves during a skydive you simply hold your Wii Remote out in front of you and move it as if the Wii Remote were you in a skydive. You can twist it and tilt it forward to pick up speed or leave it in a horizontal position in order to slow your descent. On the way down a fellow skydiver with a camera will automatically snap photos of you performing tricks and hooking up with fellow skydivers. You'll get a short countdown which gives you plenty of time to smile for the camera, which will also earn you more points. You'll also earn an additional picture if you can link up with all of the skydivers in a particular group.

In Island Flyover you get to fly over the island in an airplane at different periods of the day. Much like the skydive control; controlling the plane is very similar. You simply move the Wii Remote around as if it were the actual plane. Your goal is to locate and pick up as many i-Points that are strung around the island as you can in the allotted time. You can also do aerial tricks that will turn your stomach and you can even shoot some i-Point planes down, not to mention cut the power to the plane using the button to allow yourself to glide for a bit. Just be careful not to glide for too long or you'll crash. This is easily the most fun mode of Air Sports and will keep you busy for quite some time. It sports some of the most responsive flying controls you're likely to play with.

If you're feeling like a little competitive action, Dogfight is your game. Two players can take each other on in an aerial dogfight in which each player tries to pop the opponent's balloons. The player with the most balloons left when the time runs out wins. If you've got another player around, this game will likely steal a lot of your Wii Sports Resort playing time, as it's a blast to play. It's like an aerial version of the Battle Mode in Super Mario Kart and every bit as much fun, if not more.

We're almost done!

There's certainly no denying that Wii Motion Plus brings a much more realistic and accurate form of motion controls to the table and Wii Sports Resort makes great use of it from start to finish. Sure some of the games are better than others and you'll have to occasionally re-calibrate the Wii Remote by placing it on a flat surface for a few seconds, but as a whole, the package features plenty of playability to go around. As a single-player experience, the game is solid and will provide you with plenty of hours of fun. You can even go back and try to earn the achievement stamps in each sport for some added replay value. But if you want to see what Wii Sports Resort is really all about, you need to round up some players to come over and have some real fun. Because as much fun as the original Wii Sports release was, Wii Sports Resort absolutely blows it away in terms of overall fun factor.

The audio/visual presentation in Wii Sports Resort is very similar in style to the original Wii Sports title. Of course the new island resort theme does allow Nintendo to kick some of the surroundings up a notch or two, but don't expect things to go too much beyond what you've already seen in the previous release. Everything is very colorful and vibrant and the fact that each game features its own unique visual look means that there's never really a problem when it comes to variety. The Mii characters still look a bit awkward and out of place at times, but they still fit in with the cute and cuddly theme Nintendo likes to push in these Wii Sports titles.

Much like the original release, the music in Wii Sports Resort is top notch all the way and about as catchy as you're ever likely to hear. There are tons of tunes strung throughout the game's twelve different sports and each one is just as upbeat and catchy as the last. Many of the game's announcing and sound effects were plucked straight from the original release, but there's still enough new material to keep things interesting. As usual, Nintendo has once again done a phenomenal job of bringing their Wuhu Island resort to life onscreen, both visually and musically, and the end result is of course top shelf as usual.

It's obvious that Nintendo didn't try to reinvent the wheel when it came to developing a sequel to their unbelievably popular Wii Sports title. Instead they chose to take everything that was good about the original and add in as many new games as possible, each showing off their brand new Wii Motion Plus control system. The end result is a sports package that's absolutely chock full of sports gaming goodness and enough replay value to keep gamers coming back for more. You might find sports packages that offer up a more in-depth gameplay experience for an individual sport , but you'd be hard pressed to find a package with more variety and fun than the one found in Wii Sports Resort. If you've been looking for an excuse to invest in the Wii Motion Plus attachment, you've just found it.