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Wii

Best of the Wii: Our Top 10 First-Party Wii Games

#10 - Wii Sports Resort

by Zachary Miller - September 6, 2012, 7:55 am EDT
Total comments: 14

Bowling just got better.

Wii Sports and its sequel, Wii Play, were basically tech demos to get people invested in the Wii’s unique control scheme, and, by gum, it worked. It worked so well that the Wii was perpetually sold out for almost two years following its release. Wii Sports made me a believer, and it made my wife’s family a believer. I took the Wii to their house one Christmas and we played bowling, golf, and tennis every damn night. I never got Wii Play, because I didn’t need the extra Wii Remote, but almost three years after the Wii launched, we got Wii Sports Resort—and it came with a new doohickey that improved every Wii sport it was involved with.

It’s easy to forget that, when the Wii Remote Plus launched, it was just a cube stuffed in a big Wii Remote Jacket that plugged into the bottom of the Wii Remote. Wii Sports Resort actually opens with a tutorial video showing you how to connect the dongle to the Remote. It’s a gyroscope, kids, so now your Wii Remote can recognize tilt. This made games like bowling and golf feel completely different. Suddenly, putting spin on the ball actually meant something, and golf suddenly became more difficult. Most of the other games in the collection (frisbee, archery, sword fighting, etc.) show off the Wii Remote Plus in different ways. Not all the games are fun, though—wakeboarding in particular seems half-baked—but they are all worth a shot, and are all more feature-heavy than any of the games in Wii Sports or Wii Play. These are games that, if you really wanted to, you could play solo.

But Wii Sports Resort is still a game I play with other people in the room. My wife still gets a hankering for some kayaking and bowling once in a blue moon. When her family is visiting, golf is the name of the game. There’s really something for everyone in Wii Sports Resort, and it really is the best game in the “series” (if you can call it that). We had to have one of these Wii Sports games on our list—they’re what made the Wii so damn successful, and we went with the best one. Now I kind of want to go play some archer. I’m really very good at it.

Talkback

CericSeptember 06, 2012

There's a game I always intended to buy but never did.

ejamerSeptember 06, 2012

Quote from: Ceric

There's a game I always intended to buy but never did.

Recently picked this up for a great price. Haven't had time to try playing yet... maybe after getting through other backlog items...

TJ SpykeSeptember 06, 2012

I never liked the golf or Frisbee activities because I suck at them. My favorite part of the game was just flying over the island, I always wished I could get rid of the 5 minute time limit though and explore an unlimited time.

Fatty The HuttSeptember 06, 2012

The archery is fantastic. Definitely the standout. Make sure you try to get the hidden cupcakes and such!
Also love the frisbee golf and 2 player sword battle.

And I still really love the plane flying stuff and just exploring Wuhu Island in general. I think it was Miyamoto who said that Wuhu Isalnd was being treated almost like a new Nintendo character and I think they have mad good on that. The isalnd has featured in Wii Fit, Pilotwings Resort and Mario Kart 7. I like that place and would enjoy returning to it in future games.

Ian SaneSeptember 06, 2012

I don't have it but my friend does and I played it at his house.  Eh, it's a sequel to Wii Sports.  If you liked Wii Sports you'll like this game.  If you're not into the Wii Series, this won't convert you.

To me these Wii Series games are like if Super Mario 64 was JUST the castle and you could run around it and that's it.  Make fun from that.  Or if they let you do all the sword fighting and bomb throwing in Skyward Sword but didn't put a quest around it.  Like you just get some obstacle course to do all this stuff but no "game" to make use of it.  I need them to take that next step where I actually DO something with the gameplay mechanic.

I think it's simply that these games are for a certain level of player and I passed that level at least 20 years ago, so I'm just BORED.  I can get like a weekend out of this stuff at best.  If Zelda is like a fantasy novel THIS is like reading an instruction manual.  It's probably the best Wii Series game though and I imagine it would be like Super Mario Bros. 3 to anyone who was introduced to videogames by Wii Sports.

StogiSeptember 06, 2012

Quote from: Ian

I don't have it but my friend does and I played it at his house.

Somehow I doubt that. Not that you played it, but that you have friends.

Quote from: Ian

Or if they let you do all the sword fighting and bomb throwing in Skyward Sword but didn't put a quest around it.

This sentence is pure IanSANE gold.

Quote from: Ian

To me these Wii Series games are like if Super Mario 64 was JUST the castle and you could run around it and that's it.  Make fun from that.

T-T

You just belittled a good 6+ hours of what my friends and I did with Mario 64 back in the day!

Next you'll tell me that our hours playing "Kart Tag" on those same Castle grounds in Mario Kart 64 wasn't a valid gaming experience either!

Quote from: Fatty_The_Hutt

The isalnd has featured in Wii Fit, Pilotwings Resort and Mario 3D Kart. I like that place and would enjoy returning to it in future games.

My favorite use of WuHu Island is "jogging" through it in Wii Fit.

Ian SaneSeptember 06, 2012

Quote from: Kairon

You just belittled a good 6+ hours of what my friends and I did with Mario 64 back in the day!

I enjoyed doing that in Super Mario 64, too, but that wasn't IT.  If that was the whole game, Super Mario 64 would be really lame.

Quote from: Ian

Quote from: Kairon

You just belittled a good 6+ hours of what my friends and I did with Mario 64 back in the day!

I enjoyed doing that in Super Mario 64, too, but that wasn't IT.  If that was the whole game, Super Mario 64 would be really lame.

Agreed. Thankfully it wasn't. And I'm not of the opinion that Wii Sports, or Wii Sports Resort, were like that either.

ShyGuySeptember 06, 2012

WuHu Island is the best character of this gen.

azekeSeptember 07, 2012

Quote from: TJ

My favorite part of the game was just flying over the island, I always wished I could get rid of the 5 minute time limit though and explore an unlimited time.

A week ago, i discovered this mini game, man, i didn't even knew what i was missing all that time.
Love it, it's so relaxing.
And it just comes together so nicely when you fly over places you played on before -- "hey, this is a bowling hall", "hey this is archer's lane!".
People often disregard "wii line" stuff for being too sterile and character less, but this was just brilliant in my opinion.

BeautifulShySeptember 07, 2012

I really enjoy playing this game and it is just a game to have fun with the controls and to enjoy the game on its own merits and just to have fun with it. The game is packed enough for what game it is and that is fine for me.

HeyItsMeSeptember 08, 2012

Everytime you guys have a feature like these it always makes me wanna go back and play them. I did the same for the discussion on Kirby's Epic Yarn. Hahaha. Kept playing it until i got 100 percent.

EasyCureOctober 03, 2012

Quote from: Ian

I don't have it but my friend does and I played it at his house.  Eh, it's a sequel to Wii Sports.  If you liked Wii Sports you'll like this game.  If you're not into the Wii Series, this won't convert you.

To me these Wii Series games are like if Super Mario 64 was JUST the castle and you could run around it and that's it.  Make fun from that.  Or if they let you do all the sword fighting and bomb throwing in Skyward Sword but didn't put a quest around it.  Like you just get some obstacle course to do all this stuff but no "game" to make use of it.  I need them to take that next step where I actually DO something with the gameplay mechanic.

I think it's simply that these games are for a certain level of player and I passed that level at least 20 years ago, so I'm just BORED.  I can get like a weekend out of this stuff at best.  If Zelda is like a fantasy novel THIS is like reading an instruction manual.  It's probably the best Wii Series game though and I imagine it would be like Super Mario Bros. 3 to anyone who was introduced to videogames by Wii Sports.

While I get what you're saying, Ian, I can't help but disagree with your overall point here.


Some people like to shoot baskets without playing a full match. Some people like to practice archery without realizing they're using weapons. I'm sure when you were younger you use to have hours of fun making up your own silly games with friends or family where rules didn't matter and it boiled down to you just running from point a to point b without a single purpose other than to entertain yourself.


I know two things about you Ian: You like music, and you like hockey. Right?
I promise you that any of your favorite musicians and any of your favorite players can enjoy the experience just the same if they were: jamming with buddies without producers, without worrying about recording, and not even playing in key - or having an informal match in the driveway at home with no gear, announcers, or fans.


You say you're BORED? What makes you think you're better than any of those professionals who can still have fun within their respective roles?


At the end of the day these are all GAMES, and whether your end result is completing a dungeon or beating your personal high score, it's just a form of entertainment to be enjoyed. If you can't see that than I honestly feel bad for you, because life must of hit you really hard. I say next time you feel the urge to spout negative nonsense about a video game that never did anything to hurt you, just leave the computer and pretend every other tile is hot lava and make your own unique path away from the desk. Or you go outside, take a deep breath, and jump in some leaves, splash in a puddle, or just dig up some worms from the dirt.


BUT.. that's your opinion, man. My opinion is that your opinion could of easily stopped at "this isn't really a game for me" because no matter how big your tv is, no matter what the resolution, the frame rate, the pixel count, etc.. you are nothing more than overgrown children playing with toys. The difference is an adult can realize a game is a game and can enjoy it for whatever it may be, but a child is to obsessed trying to prove themselves as older/more mature that they make up a rules and structures that need to be upheld to their supposed standards and think that any thing but is beneath them.






pre-edit: I actually feel bad being so condescending, when I could of just stopped at my first sentence and gotten my point across and fits my general posting personality.. but the words just came to me.

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